Viðey Island

The work is in the form of a wishing well from which a bright and powerful tower of light emerges. The words ‘Imagine Peace’ are inscribed on the well in 24 world languages.

The light tower is composed of a number of individual lights that join together to form a single beam. Six of the lights travel through corridors across a platform that surrounds the well and are reflected upwards to the sky with mirrors. The strength, intensity and brilliance of the light tower continually changes as the particles in the air fluctuate with the prevailing weather and atmospheric conditions unique to Iceland.

“Imagine all the people living life in peace”  

On October 9th 2007 the artwork was dedicated to the memory of John Lennon, who then would have become 67 years old.  The Imagine Peace Tower shines each year from October 9th (John’s birthday) until December 8th (the anniversary of his death).  The Peace Tower also shines on February 18th for Yoko’s birthday,  mid-March  (John and Yoko’s wedding and the arrival of spring), on the Winter Solstice, and on New Year’s Eve.  The electricity for the tower comes from thermal heating produced by Hellisheiði Geothermal Power Plant

The installation of the Imagine Peace Tower is a collaboration of Yoko Ono, Reykjavík City, Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík City Museum and Reykjavík Energy.

“I hope the Imagine Peace Tower will give light to the strong wis­hes of  World Peace from all corners of the pla­net and give encoura­gement, inspiration and a sense of soli­da­rity in a world now fil­led with fear and confusion. Let us come toget­her to realize a peaceful world.”

This idea for the Imagine Peace Tower comes from a conceptual artwork by Yoko Ono, entitled ‘Light House’.

“The Light House is a phantom house that is built by sheer light. You set up prisms at a certain time of day, under a certain evening light which goes through the prisms,  so the Light House appears in the middle of the field like an image, except that, with this image, you can actually go inside if you want to. The Light House may not emerge every day, just as the sun doesn’t shine every day.” Yoko Ono, 1965.

For decades Yoko Ono has gathered together the wishes and dreams of people from all over the world. These wishes are kept in time-capsules.

The Imagine Peace Tower is surrounded by more than half a million Peace Wishes from people worldwide that the artist has collected since 1981 as part of her interactive Wish Tree exhibits. The wishes are stored in capsules and buried in the ground surrounding the Imagine Peace Tower.

Yoko Ono invites you to join her and hundreds of thousands of others by sending your wishes to the Imagine Peace Tower, Po Box 1009, 121 Reykjavik, Iceland.

IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is lit annually on these dates:
• 9th October – 8th December
• 21st – 31st December
• 18th February
• 20th – 27th March

It is lit from around one hour after sunset until midnight each night, except on John's and Yoko’s birthdays and on New Year’s Eve, when it remains lit until sunrise. On 9th October and 20th – 27th March, it lights at 20:00 (8 pm).

Relative times:
• Reykjavik: 20:00 - 00:00 (8 pm-12 pm)
• Liverpool & London: 19:00 - 23:00 (7 pm-11 pm)
• New York: 16:00 - 20:00 (4 pm-8 pm)
• Los Angeles:13:00 - 17:00 (1 pm-5 pm)
• Tokyo: 05:00 - 09:00 (5 am-9 am)

The Ima­gine Peace Tower

Work of art concei­ved by the leg­end­ary art­ist, musician and peace advocate Yoko Ono as a beacon for world peace.

The Imagine Peace Tower

Work of art conceived by the legendary artist, musician and peace advocate Yoko Ono as a beacon for world peace.