The simple thought which inspired the idea for this installation is an inescapable truth : although, our hearts may brandish a variety of coloured flags, they are themselves, without exception, deep red and beating a most similar tune.

Through the ages, unsung heroes, have painstakingly grown peace in their hearts, so they could offer it to the world. Boundless suffering has come to all mankind for want of peace. Unimaginable pain is still the marching song of the endless procession of innocents.

‘Hearts for Peace’ is a memorial to all of those who have suffered and suffer still. It is also a tribute to the steadfast hope of all the men and women of good will.

This is a work of urban symbolism, accessible to every citizen, of any age and from any walk of life. It addresses the city’s memory and its future, and acts to the world at large as a sign of its rebirth and primordial nature. It is above all a celebration of the spiritual sanity of the common man victimized by circumstance.

This sculpture garden is my token of gratitude, love and appreciation, towards a land that has taught me humanity, so generously and so profoundly.

Ana Corberó

Beirut, June 15^th. 1998

• The sculpture consists of aproximately fifty (50) translucent red heart shaped lamps on iron stems with three different heights (father, mother & child).
• This forest of hearts is so arranged that from the air it forms a peace sign :
• The peace sign made of hearts rests on a shallow body of water. This ‘pond of tears’ is lined in black so as to be completely reflective. During the day it will mirror the sky perfectly, at night it will loyally echo the hearts.
• The pond is a raised pool (50 cm.), 10X10M., made of pre-cast and tinted concrete blocks. The border of the pool is in fact a bench. People can sit at its edge, to contemplate, to throw coins and make wishes (as they invariably will) or to play with toy boats. The inside of the pool is simply lined with water proof asphaltic material.
• Inserted on the walls enclosing the water, perpendicular to the floor, there is an inscription, some lines from Gibran Khalil Gibran. On two sides they are in English (the de facto international language), on the remaining two in Arabic (Magrebi script) :

"AND A CRY CAME FROM THE PEOPLE AS FROM A SINGLE HEART, AND IT ROSE INTO THE DUSK AND WAS CARRIED OUT OVER THE SEA LIKE A GREAT TRUMPETING"

• At night fall the hearts will light up and beat intermittently (like heart beats). They will not light up all at once, but they will start up as part of a sequence or visual coreography. First one heart will start to beat, after a while another will keep it company, then later, perhaps two more will join in, and so on until all of them are beating. Obviously the hearts will not beat at exactly the same tempo (ie: they will not all light up and turn off at the same time), their timing will be staggered, adding another element of randomness and surprise.