Non-Violence Sculpture - Caen, France
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 49° 11.873 W 000° 23.062
30U E 690545 N 5452746
The Non-Violence sculpture is a pro-peace sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd. This copy is located on the grounds of the Memorial of Caen.
Waymark Code: WMHP7E
Location: Normandie, France
Date Posted: 07/30/2013
Views: 30
Memorial of Caen began as a military museum to tell the story of World War II. More recently, it has been expanded to include the Cold War and the search for peace. It now considers itself a peace memorial.
On the grounds of the museum there is one of 16 copies of the famous Non-Violence sculpture, also known as The Knotted Gun by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd. The sculpture depicts an 5' long by 2.5' high Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver with a the barrel knotted and pointing upwards. The sculpture rests on a 1' high bronze plinth which rests on a 4' high by 6' long by 3' wide by rectangular stone base.
On the plinth is inscribed NON-VIOLENCE.
A small plaque on the front of the base is inscribed:
Non-Violence
Knotted Gun
Bronze,
don de l'artiste Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd
(gift of the artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd)
After the death of John Lennon at the hands of Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980, Yoko Ono asked his grieving friend, the sculptor Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, to create a tribute to John and his vision and advocacy for a more peaceful and non-violent world as expressed in the lyrics of many of his songs, particularly his 1971 song -
Imagine.
"You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I am not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one"
The result was the now famous bronze Non-Violence sculpture. The Non-Violence sculpture has become a worldwide symbol of the non-violence movement. Three originals of this sculpture are located at United Nations Building in New York City, Malmö, Sweden, and Luxembourg. In addition to this one in Caen, 12 others can be found in China, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa and Sweden.