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''Reconciliation'' (originally named ''Reunion'') is a
''News & Views'', Bradford University, November 2004
Berlin Wall Memorial
by the Coventry Cathedral in 1999 as 10th year anniversary gift for the fall of the Berlin Wall.
''Reconciliation'' (originally named ''Reunion'') is a sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
by Josefina de Vasconcellos
Josefina Alys Hermes de Vasconcellos (26 October 1904 – 20 July 2005) was an English sculptor who worked in bronze, stone, wood, lead and perspex. She was at one time the world's oldest living sculptor. She lived in Cumbria much of her wor ...
.
Originally created in 1977 and entitled ''Reunion'', it depicted a man and woman embracing each other ]. In May 1998 it was presented to University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...
as a memorial to the University's first Vice-Chancellor Professor Ted Edwards. De Vasconcellos said:"Sculptor Unveils 'Reconciliation'"''News & Views'', Bradford University, November 2004
"The sculpture was originally conceived in the aftermath of the War. Europe was in shock, people were stunned. I read in a newspaper about a woman who crossed Europe on foot to find her husband, and I was so moved that I made the sculpture. Then I thought that it wasn't only about the reunion of two people but hopefully a reunion of nations which had been fighting."Later it was taken for repairs to the sculptor's workshop, and renamed ''Reconciliation'' upon the request of the Peace Studies Department of the University. It was unveiled for the second time, under the new name, on de Vasconcellos 90th birthday, October 26, 1994. The Coventry International Prize for Peace and Reconciliation is modelled on the statue In 1995 (to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
) bronze casts of this sculpture (as ''Reconciliation'') were placed in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...
and in the Hiroshima Peace Park
is a memorial park in the center of Hiroshima, Japan. It is dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to suffer a nuclear attack at the end of World War II, and to the memories of the bomb's direct and indirect victim ...
in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. An additional cast can be found in the Stormont Estate
The Stormont Estate is an estate east of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main Parliament Buildings, which is surrounded by woods and parkland, and is often referred in contemporary media as the met ...
in Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
. To mark the opening of the rebuilt German Reichstag (parliament building) in 1999, another cast was placed as part of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
memorial. according to Stiftung Berliner Mauer, it was given to thBerlin Wall Memorial
by the Coventry Cathedral in 1999 as 10th year anniversary gift for the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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