Liverpool monument to celebrate John Lennon’s love of peace unveiled at Shanghai Expo

THE design for a sculpture commemorating John Lennon’s commitment to peace was unveiled at Liverpool’s World Expo pavilion in Shanghai yesterday.

The full-size version, due to be completed in the coming months, will be permanently installed in Liverpool and is expected to become a major attraction for tourists.

Lennon’s son, Julian, is due to unveil the monument in October as part of a two-month long festival to celebrate what would have been his father’s 70th birthday, and observe the 30th anniversary of his death.

The monument, called Peace and Harmony, is by US artist Lauren Voiers, a 19-year-old from Ohio, who said her favourite Beatles song is I Am the Walrus.

Speaking from China last night, she told the Daily Post her inspiration came from “combining the power of art and music”.

She added: “I think this sums up a lot about John Lennon and what he stood for. On a personal note, my passion is art but I also love music and I wanted to reflect this in the monument. Both art and music are universal languages.”

Incorporated into the design are doves, musical notes, a guitar and a keyboard.

At Julian’s request, there is also a white feather. The 47-year-old said this was a reference to a specific conversation he had with his father.

“One of the things my father said to me was that should he pass away, if there was some way of letting me know he was going to be OK, it was by, in some shape or form, presenting me with a white feather,” he said.

Around 10 years ago he was given a white feather by some Aborigines in Australia, which led to him founding The White Feather Foundation to spread the message of peace.

Julian and his mother Cynthia – Lennon’s ex-wife – also used items from their private collection to create the exhibition White Feather: The Spirit of Lennon, at the Beatles Story on the Pier Head, which tells the story of their life with Lennon.