The current state of the world is one far from global peace and unity as the war in Ukraine rages on. Multimedia artist Yoko Ono, renowned for decades of unique artistic ideologies, continues to remind humanity of the importance of surrendering for peace, instead of fighting for it.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Bed-Ins for Peace project of 1969 was a peaceful act of protest against the war in Vietnam. Knowing their wedding would be a major media moment, John & Yoko chose to use the spotlight that would be on their honeymoon to promote peace. Married on March 20th 1969, they spent their honeymoon at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. For a week, starting on March 26th, they invited the world's press into their room from 9am to 9pm. Their Bed-in for Peace protest continued for another week on May 26th at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel where they invited more media figures daily and recorded the song "Give Peace a Chance”.
Fifty-three years after the Bed-Ins with John Lennon, Yoko Ono presented a new global peaceful presentation by pausing commercial advertisements on the most prominent digital screens around the world to share a message of peace with the world. “An invitation for the world to unite, Ono broadcasted her powerful, universal mantra IMAGINE PEACE every evening at 20:22 through March 2022,” as explained in Yoko Ono’s IMAGINE PEACE website.
With an ongoing war in the Ukraine, as well as in other parts of the world such as Yemen and Syria, the same message of IMAGINE PEACE has appeared every night for the month of March in cities including London in the UK, Berlin in Germany, New York in the USA, Seoul in South Korea, Melbourne in Australia and other locations. Limited edition “Imagine Peace” prints are also available, with the proceeds going to the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund.
As explained in the Washington Post, “the sale of limited edition “Imagine Peace” prints is available through Circa with the proceeds going to the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund.”
Even more recently, on April 1st of 2022, Yoko Ono acknowledged on Twitter the rebirth of a new country, Nutopia — a country originally created on the same day in 1973 by John Lennon. “As unrealistic as it may sound, the nation of Nutopia keeps our hopes up that one day we will be able to evolve to the concept of global citizens,” writes Valmira Rashiti of Youth Time Magazine. “No passports, no citizenships, but with the freedom to explore the whole world.”
The mission behind Nutopia is further explained in a post on the IMAGINE PEACE website highlighting how humanity will soon realize we are all together, and living life in peace.
Sebastian Smee in his article for the Washington Post writes: “Her three-minute billboard takeover is a call for peace, which comes as war has returned to Europe, and it is drowned out by advertising.” Ono’s pacifist message furthers the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal for Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions as well as Partnerships for the Goals, as she calls for international cooperation in the call for peace.
To help IMAGINE PEACE provide support to people in need donations can be made to the United Nations Crisis Relief who are raising funds for the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, one of the fastest ways to get urgent aid to the world's most vulnerable people when crises hit.