Lennon Wall
Lennon Wall | |
---|---|
Lennonova zeď | |
Alternative names | John Lennon Wall |
General information | |
Type | Wall |
Location | Prague, Czech Republic |
Coordinates | 50°5′10.47″N 14°24′25.01″E / 50.0862417°N 14.4069472°E |
The Lennon Wall (Czech: Lennonova zeď) or John Lennon Wall (Czech: Zeď Johna Lennona) is a wall in Prague, Czech Republic. Since the 1980s, this once-typical wall has been filled with John Lennon–inspired graffiti, lyrics from Beatles' songs, and designs relating to local and global causes.
History and ongoing development
Located in a small and secluded square across from the
In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for
The wall continuously undergoes change, and the original portrait of Lennon is long lost under layers of new paint. Even when the wall was repainted by authorities, by the next day, it was again full of poems and flowers. Today, the wall represents a symbol of global ideals such as love and peace.
The wall is owned by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which allowed the graffiti, and is located at Velkopřevorské náměstí (Grand Priory Square), Malá Strana.[2]
On 17 November 2014, the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the wall was painted over in pure white by a group of art students, leaving only the text “wall is over” [sic]. The Knights of Malta initially filed a criminal complaint for vandalism against the students, which they later retracted after contacting them.[3] The wall mural is still there as of 23 July 2017. And the “Wall is Over” bit has been changed to “War Is Over” from the song Happy Xmas (War Is Over).
On 22 April 2019, Earth Day, the action group Extinction Rebellion repainted the entire wall with slogans demanding action from the Czech government on climate change. “KLIMATICKÁ NOUZE” was painted in large block print letters, which reads “climate emergency” in Czech. Members of the public were encouraged to add their own messages during the process, resulting in calls for action painted in several languages. A giant image of a skull was also painted. The repaint was carried out in a manner which allowed some of the existing artwork to be included on the new wall.[4]
In July 2019, artists painted a memorial on the wall for Hong Kong democracy activist
On 4 August 2019, it was reported that the wall would be put under
In October 2019, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, together with Prague 1, started the reconstruction of the Lennon Wall which lasted until November. They reacted thus to the recent situation of vandalism on the wall and its surroundings connected to the overtourism which became unbearable that summer. The place should have regained its respectable form, which was going to be introduced on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in November as an open-air gallery with new rules.[9] On 7 November 2019, the new face of the Lennon Wall as an open-air gallery was created and introduced to the public. Over 30 Czech and foreign professional artists gathered by as the Czech designer Pavel Šťastný painted the Wall. New rules of the Wall no longer allow spraying; people can leave their messages connected to freedom and love only in the white free zones and in more sensitive materials than sprays, e.g. pencil, marker, or chalk. Cameras and police monitor the wall to ensure the artistic portion is not defaced.[10]
In July 2021, a new museum about the history of the Lennon Wall, the Lennon Wall Story, was set in Prokopska Street 8 in the cool underground. The Lennon Wall Story is a new museum that tracks the history and art of one of Prague’s major attractions. Located just a few hundred metres from the famous Lennon Wall itself, the museum seeks to entice visitors with dozens of photos, historic objects, Beatles memorabilia and a half hour documentary about the history of the wall, known for political and artistic expression.[11]
Lennon Walls in Hong Kong
During the
Five years later, during the
On 21 September 2019, police in Hong Kong began tearing down Lennon Walls across the city to remove anti-government statements.[24]
Lennon Walls have also appeared outside of Hong Kong in
-
Hong Kong Umbrella Movement protests: The Lennon Wall at Central Government Offices, 21 October 2014.
-
The Lennon Wall returns amidst theanti-extradition bill protests, June 2019.
-
A message from Hong Kong citizens in 2019 on the John Lennon wall in Prague. It reads “~To the people of the Czech Republic 30 years ago you won the fight against the Communists. Now Hongkong is fighting against the Chinese tyranny [sic]. TP Please Support Hong Kong”
See also
- John Lennon Park — Havana, Cuba
- Strawberry Fields — Memorial in Central Park NYC
- Tsoi Wall — a similar wall near Arbat Street in Moscow
- Lennon Walls of Hong Kong
- Art of the Umbrella Movement
- 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
- Extinction Rebellion
- List of famous walls
- r/place
References
- ^ "Prague's Famous John Lennon Wall: Is It Over, or Reborn?". Smithsonian.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ "John Lennon Wall". lonelyplanet.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- Česká televize(in Czech). Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ "Extinction Rebellion: Update #7 – To Parliament, and Beyond". Extinction Rebellion. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- OCLC 1311479. Archived from the originalon 17 June 2019.
- ^ "Marco Leung Memorial Art @ Lennon Wall in Prague". Twitter CDN. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ Un, Phoenix. "Imagine that – 'support HK' messages on Prague wall". The Standard. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ Bereň, Michael (4 October 2019). "Lennonova zeď dostane novou podobu. Vznikne tu venkovní galerie?". Pražský Deník.
- ^ Johnston, Raymond (8 November 2019). "Prague's John Lennon Wall opens with new murals and new rules". Expats.cz Latest News & Articles – Prague and the Czech Republic. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ "Prague's Lennon Wall gets its own museum". Radio Prague International. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ Lau, Joyce (14 November 2014). "Art Spawned by Hong Kong Protest; Now to Make It Live On". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ Law, Violet (14 December 2014). "Hong Kong protesters seek to archive their art, words for posterity". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Sun, Becky. "Umbrella Movement Visual Archive and Research Collective". Medium. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ "The Umbrella Archives: Hong Kong artist collective fights to preserve protest art". Art Radar. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ "UMAP Digital Archives". Umbrella Movement Art Preservation. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ Yu, Verna (13 July 2019). "'Don't mess with us': the spirit of rebellion spreads in Hong Kong". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ Cheng, Kris; Chan, Holmes. "In Pictures: 'Lennon Wall' message boards appear across Hong Kong districts in support of anti-extradition bill protesters". HKFP. Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ "Lennon Walls of Hong Kong: Lennon Walls started to spread all over Hong Kong during the 2019 Anti-ELAB Movement". Twitter. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Lam, Jeffie; Lok-kei, Sum; Kang-chung, Ng; Cheung, Tony; Leung, Christy (10 July 2019). "'Lennon Walls' spring up across Hong Kong as more than 200 police in Tai Po remove messages featuring officers' personal information". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Civil servants join the fray as crisis escalates". RTHK. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ Cheng, Kris (25 July 2019). "In Pictures: 100s of Hong Kong civil servants criticise gov't handling of protests and Yuen Long mob attacks". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ "HK Lennon Wall Map (香港連儂牆地圖)". Google Maps. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ Yu, Verna (21 September 2019). "Hong Kong riot police fire teargas at protesters as unrest continues". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ "A world away from Hong Kong, a 'Lennon Wall' supporting pro-democracy demonstrators springs up in Toronto". MSN. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ Seucharan, Cherise (13 July 2019). "'Lennon wall' on Vancouver steam clock a symbol of support for Hong Kong protesters". The Star. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ "Tokyo Shibuya Lennon Wall (東京渋谷現「連儂牆」紙牌、人身代牆避免打擾日本人)". The Stand News. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ "Stand with Hong Kong in Berlin". Twitter CDN. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Un, Phoenix. "Imagine that – 'support HK' messages on Prague wall". The Standard. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- ^ Tan, Lincoln (30 July 2019). "Hong Kong dispute over China's extradition bill gets physical on University of Auckland campus". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
External links
- Digital Lennon Wall
- Google Maps location of John Lennon Wall
- Article about the Lennon Wall in the Erasmuspc World CityPoem collection
- Book of Lennon Wall