Led by Japan Institute, Portland Japanese Garden’s global cultural initiative and sibling organization, public gardens around the world presented the collaborative installation: SPREAD PEACE: Wish Tree by Yoko Ono. The Wish Tree was shown simultaneously from June 7-10 at Portland Japanese Garden in its Cultural Village, Keihanna Commemorative Garden in Japan, Kokoro no Niwa in Chile, and Johannesburg Botanical Gardens in South Africa. This collaboration expanded upon the YOKO ONO: PEACE is POWER exhibition showing at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway.
Yoko Ono’s interactive artwork Wish Tree invited guests to reflect and write their wishes for peace, which then got tied to the trees’ branches. Over time, the Wish Trees became adorned with these hopeful missives, evolving into a visual representation of our community’s collective aspirations for peace in our time. This interactive art, created by Ono in 1996, has collected more than two million wishes from visitors worldwide. After the installations concluded, the wishes were brought to Ono and now will continue in connection with the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Acclaimed artist and peace advocate Yoko Ono’s artistic contributions have continued since the early 1960s. Her creative practice explores themes of love, non-violence, and human connection and is characterized by its emphasis on participatory work. Ono’s art invites visitors to engage in completing the artwork. Activating introspection, imagination, and connection, this participatory process can serve as a catalyst for personal and social transformation.
Portland Japanese Garden was founded in 1963 with the hopes that, through a public and authentically-crafted garden, the wounds of World War II could begin to heal. The Wish Tree represented what our organization has now witnessed for more than 60 years—we can bridge divides and foster dialogue through the intersection of nature, art, and cultural immersion. Through the organization’s sibling organization and global cultural initiative Japan Institute, it was honored to partner with some of the finest gardens globally, the Nobel Peace Center, and Yoko Ono’s studio in this meaningful endeavor that demonstrates how the call for peace is understood universally, although it may be expressed in many different forms.
“The Wish Tree is a suitable artistic representation of what Portland Japanese Garden stands for—the human connection with nature, art, peace and others,” commented Steve Bloom, CEO of Portland Japanese Garden & Japan Institute.
“For Yoko Ono, the message of peace and art go hand in hand,” added Kjersti Fløgstad, Executive Director at Nobel Peace Center in Norway. “In her creative universe, people can explore their own hopes and wishes for a more peaceful world – and hope is something we really need in the time we live in.”
