World Peace (sculpture)

World peace (Russian: Maailman rauha, rauha maailmalle;[1] Swedish: Världsfreden: Russian: Мир во всем мире) is a bronze sculpture donated by the city of Moscow, Russia to the city of Helsinki, Finland, created by sculptor Oleg Kiryuhin.

The sculpture was located at Hakaniemenranta in Helsinki, and it was revealed on 14 January 1990, two months after the Berlin Wall had been broken.

[5] In 1983 a long cultural-political discussion was held about Oleg Kiryuhin's sculpture, where it was met with strong opposition.

According to a Helsingin Sanomat article in 1986 the market square plan would have also included two sculpture contest winners: Riemukaari ("the arch of triumph") cast in red brick by Jukka Vikberg and Hermeksen pöytä ("the table of Hermes") cast in red granite by Reijo Paavilainen.

[2] According to reporter Timo Kalevi Forss the old rhetoric of the Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 was still alive and well at the sculpture's revelation in 1990 and it was seen to contain "unease from great power politics and stiffness of fur cap embassies".

The mayor of Helsinki at the time, Raimo Ilaskivi (National Coalition Party) described the sculpture as a "passionate, clear and concrete appeal for peace and friendship".

The Soviet Union was represented by a delegation led by Valeri T. Saikin, the head of the executive committee of the Moscow city council, which also included the sculptor Kiryuhin.

[9] Maija Koskinen, who has studied the art of the Cold War era has said that 1990 was probably the last possible year for a sculpture exchange between Finland and the Soviet Union.

According to the group, Helsinki made a mistake by accepting the sculpture at a time when communism was nearing its end in Eastern Europe.

[14] After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the word "maailmanräyhää" (Finnish for "world rage", a parody of the sculpture's Finnish name) was written on the base of the sculpture and the base was wrapped in blue-and-yellow ribbon representing the flag of Ukraine.

A copy of the sculpture on top of a pillar in front of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia in Moscow.
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux : Quatre parties du monde at the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris .