Liverpool visitor attraction Strawberry Field to unveil monument as a ‘symbol of hope’ to the people of Ukraine. Tony McDonough reports

A monument created “as a symbol of hope and for peace around the world” and adorned with a Ukrainian flag is to be unveiled at Strawberry Field in Liverpool.

Located at the site of a former Salvation Army children’s home immortalised by John Lennon in The Beatles’ hit, Strawberry Fields Forever, Strawberry Field is a visitor attraction in south Liverpool.

Ukrainian Peace Monument – measuring 22 ft tall and cast in aluminium, is a statue featuring a book, dove and the Ukrainian flag which sits atop a man’s outstretched arm. 

It will be situated in the grounds of Strawberry Field with messages in keeping with John Lennon’s famous anti-war anthem Give Peace a Chance.

On February 24 – exactly one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine – a smaller 4 ft maquette of the sculpture will be unveiled at the Ukrainian Art and Cultural Centre in Los Angeles.

The life-sized version will then be transported to Strawberry Field, where it will be a temporary feature at the attraction in time for the Eurovision Song Contest (May 9-13). Liverpool is hosting the event on behalf of Ukraine – winners of the 2022 contest.

This sculpture was commissioned by California-based organisation, Global Peace Initiative, and is part of a wider group of monuments It will be permanently placed in Ukraine when it’s safe to do so.

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16-year-old Mexican art prodigy, Osbelit Garcia-Morales has created Ukrainian Peace Monument. Global Peace Initiative awarded Osbelit the commission to design the sculpture after a global search.

Osbelit’s village has a population of only 686. There are no art galleries or museums, so artistic inspiration was minimal. And yet, Osbelit was creating jaw-dropping paintings by the time she reached middle school.

She said: “I’ve been listening to Strawberry Fields Forever quite a bit. John Lennon sang ‘living is easy with eyes closed’. Coming from a small town in Mexico, it is easy to close one’s eyes to the suffering of people many thousands of miles away.

“But, to have peace anywhere is to have peace everywhere, and so each of us must raise our voice in any way we can to ask that we all live in peace.”