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The AIU report by Sari Gurney
I
had a truly magical time in Iceland with my friend Jorge on October 9th 2007:
Press
conference
At 1 pm a press conference was held at the
Reykjavik Art Museum. Of course Jorge and I were there among journalists (especially
Japan was well represented, starting with Japan Broadcasting Corporation NHK),
along with John&Yoko photographers Allan Tannenbaum and Bob Gruen, and Ritchie
Yorke. The museum representative was very strict about the
meaning of the press conference, that it was about peace and Imagine Peace Tower,
and the Q&A concentrated entirely on these subjects. Yoko seemed a bit nervous
in the beginning but soon relaxed and smiled a lot. Yoko was asked if John would
have liked the idea of Imagine Peace Tower, and Yoko was convinced that John loves
the idea. Yoko was also asked if other Imagine Peace Towers will be erected elsewhere
in the future, and I understood from Yoko's reply that this Icelandic monument
was intended to be one of the kind, unique.
Videy island
At
6.30 pm the ferry was about to leave for the island of Videy located close to
the harbour of Reykjavik. The guests and journalists travelled to the very windy
and cold island, but despite the weather, people were in a good mood and clearly
excited to be there. There was a feeling of togetherness when we walked past the
white flags of Nutopia, heading towards the Imagine Peace Tower site on the island. Reykjavik's
Children's Choir performed several songs in Icelandic, the last of them being,
of cource, John Lennon's Imagine. After the choir performance, Yoko made her ceremony
speech. Then Ringo Starr and Olivia Harrison joined Yoko
on the stage, Ringo making his customary jokes, and all of them making ONOCHORD
messages (i ii iii = I love you) with their small flashlights. After
this warm moment, the island fell silent when the Imagine Peace Tower was lit.
Lennon's Imagine started playing in the darkness, as the nine lights lit one by
one, sending a tower of light towards the skies. People were singing Imagine together
with John. It was a deeply touching moment.
Reception
At
the reception by the mayor of Reykjavik at the Reykjavik Art Museum songs by Yoko
Ono (Mind Train, Kurushi...) were being played in the background while the guests
mingled. Yoko made a very brief appearance at the reception, making a speech,
and then quickly disappearing behind the curtains with Ringo and Olivia. Sean
Lennon and Kyoko were among the reception guests, freely mingling. All
guests received a black bag at the door, with the Imagine Peace text in different
languages printed in white. Inside the bag were an Imagine Peace cap (also black
with white printing), a book (a special printing of Give
Peace A Chance by Yoko Ono and John Lennon by Bakhåll) and the most
special present of all, a white hand-made box with Imagine Peace texts carved
on it, with a metal key inside: "A key to open
the skies. Y.O. 2007". This piece was created especially for the
ceremony guests. Thank you Yoko for this amazing experience,
and thank you all Citizens of Nutopia for making the day so beautiful.
Imagine
Peace Tower is an illuminated column, constructed over a base with a radius of
about 10 meters, and it will be filled with messages of wishes from more than
900 000 people that have been collected so far (information according to The Japan
Times, October 2006). Imagine Peace Tower will be lit for two months each year
starting on John Lennon's birthday.
Press
conference
Imagine
Peace Tower ceremony
Reception
General
photos from Reykjavik
Photos
from the Icelandic press
"Imagine
Peace—A Ray of Light in Dark Times", by Amy Goodman
The
Associated Press
CBC.ca
Liverpool
Echo
Imagine
Peace Tower press release
Three
speeches made by Yoko Ono on October 9th 2006 in Iceland
www.IMAGINEPEACE.com
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