52 Gates of Peace
Date of construction July 30, 2005
Creators and donors
Clara Halter (French artist)
Jean-Michel Wilmotte (French architect)
Shape
Ten glass gates (2.6 meters wide, 1.6 meters long and 9 meters high) stretch 75 meters east to west in parallel with the columns of the main building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on the north side of Peace Boulevard.
The word "Peace," translated in 18 alphabets and 49 languages, is inscribed on the steel-framed gates covered with tempered glass, and on the flagstone underneath. During the night the words on each gate shine in the light.
Noteworthy characteristics
1. Wall for Peace Project
In prayer for world peace, the gates were created in 2005, the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing, by French artist Clara Halter and French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, who have been working on the Wall for Peace Project under the auspices of the French government.
The aim of Wall for Peace Project is to erect and donate walls engraved with the word "Peace" in world cities, in hope of world peace. As part of this project, the Gates of Peace were donated to Hiroshima City. The Gates of Peace were so named because of their structure.
History of Wall for Peace Project
Year 2000: Millennium Event in Paris, France : Shape: Cube
Year 2003: Tercentenary celebration of Saint Petersburg, Russia : Shape: Tower
2. Ten Gates of Peace
The idea of ten gates represents the Italian poet Dante's nine circles of Hell, plus one - the living hell of Hiroshima caused by the atomic bombing, a hell unimaginable in the poet's day. The Gates of Peace symbolize the wish for human beings to overcome past traumatic experience and open the doors to a peaceful future.
