Public invited to ceremony to celebrate unveiling of The Cloak of Peace in Nagasaki

16 October 2006

The public is invited to join an informal ceremony at the World Peace Bell in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens on Saturday 21 October from 3-4pm. The ceremony will take place at the same time as, Te Korowai Rangimarie - The Cloak of Peace, is unveiled by Disarmament Minister Phil Goff in Nagasaki, Japan.

This beautiful sculpture by Kingsley Baird, is a gift to Nagasaki from the people of Aotearoa/New Zealand, in particular from the cities of Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, Napier, Whakatane and Waitakere.

At the gathering, the Peace Bell will be rung and there will be several poems of peace read out.

As well, a large pounamu has also been gifted from Kai Tahu for both locations. Part of it will be placed under the World Peace Bell (at a later date) and another part will be placed under the plaque for the Nagasaki Peace Sculpture. The Christchurch piece is named 'Ira Atua Tane', which means 'the masculine life force of the Divine', and the Nagasaki gift is named ' Ira Atua Wahine', which means 'the feminine life force of the Divine'. 

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