Peace Dove Brochure 2024

Peace Doves Wednesday 3 January to Tuesday 13 February An installation by Peter Walker Sculptor

www.stalbanscathedral.org/peacedoves

Peace Doves “We are delighted to host Peter Walker Sculptor’s Peace Doves in the 1000 year old Norman Tower of St Albans Cathedral. In this holy place where prayers have been offered for centuries, we join our prayers with the thousands of messages of peace written on the doves by people from across our Diocese and the world, reminding us of the call to each of us to be peace makers. May you know the peace of God as you experience this wonderful installation.

The Very Reverend Jo Kelly-Moore, Dean of St Albans The Peace Doves installation is made up of thousands of doves, each with a message of peace, love or hope written by members of the community. Since September 2023, visitors to the Cathedral, the congregation and school groups have contributed their messages to the doves to create an artwork representative of St Albans.

About the artist: Peter Walker is an internationally renowned sculptor and artist.

Producing sculptures, paintings, drawings, installation pieces, and Son-et-Lumiere for large scale public art events, his extensive creative ability has led him to produce many bronze public statues permanently located around the country and have works in private and public collections worldwide. Peter Walker is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.

You can find out more at www.peterwalkersculptor.com The Peace Doves installation has been kindly sponsored by St Albans Cathedral Education Trust and St Albans BID. The theme of peace matches the offer available from City Centre Businesses for those seeking health and wellbeing services when in St Albans.

Explore all St Albans has to offer, visit www.enjoystalbans.com Learn more about the St Albans Cathedral Education Trust and Opportunities Fund on our website.

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Peace Dove Lates Experience the installation after hours with our Peace Dove Lates. A unique opportunity to immerse yourself in this mesmerising artwork after dark, accompanied by evocative music by composer David Harper.

Friday 5 January, 7pm - 8.30pm Saturday 6 January, 6.30pm - 8.30pm Thursday 11 January, 6pm - 8pm Tuesday 30 January, 7pm - 8pm Wednesday 7 February, 7.30pm - 8.30pm Tickets £5 (£3 children), half-hourly slots are available for booking on our website.

Vigil for Peace Tuesday 9 January, 7pm Doves in the Bible are often seen as a symbol of peace, and in this evening, we intend to spend time in silence and prayer, holding the needs of our broken world where there is so much violence and division. This is open to anyone of any faith or none.

Free, donations welcome.

Blue Monday Conversation Group Monday 15 January, 11am in the Cathedral Library After visiting the Peace Doves installation and enjoying its peaceful and tranquil atmosphere, stay for a chat over a hot drink and cake at the Life and Death conversation group, a safe and welcoming space where experienced facilitators will guide meaningful discussions and tackle some of the stigmas around grief and mental health.

Free, donations welcome. Over 18s only.

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St Albans Young Singers Concert

Sanctuary Supper

Monday 15 January, 5pm Bright music for a wintry time of year with St Albans Young Singers.

Monday 22 January, 6pm, in the Abbot’s Kitchen

Free, donations welcome.

This group is open to anyone who is enthusiastic about music and takes place on Mondays, 4.45pm and 5.15pm (aged 4 - 6) and 5.15pm - 6pm (aged 7 - 12). Contact our Children and Youth team for more information: children@stalbanscathedral.org

Enjoy a dinner of authentic dishes from around the world and hear the stories behind them. In partnership with Hertfordshire Community Kitchen, the meal will be prepared by asylum seekers and refugees living locally, using recipes from their home countries.

Tickets £5, available from our website. Ticket includes a welcome drink under the Peace Doves. This project has been generously supported with funding from St Albans District Council.

Yoga Experience Peace Doves through the tranquillity of yoga. Enjoy a relaxed class underneath the doves, taught by accredited teacher Ali Parker.

To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day

Monday 15 January, 10am - 11am Tuesday 23 January, 10am - 11am Thursday 25 January, 6.45pm - 7.45pm and 8pm - 9pm Wednesday 7 February, 10am - 11am Monday 12 February, 7pm - 8pm and 8.15pm - 9.15pm

Friday 26 January - Friday 2 February Using the archives of The Wiener Library, the world’s oldest collection of material on the Nazi era and the Holocaust, this exhibition tells the story of the Kindertransport through the experiences of some of the children and the loved ones they left behind.

Tickets £20, available from our website. These sessions are for all abilities.

Free, donations welcome.

Psalter: Themes for Peace Saturday 20 January, 7.30pm Acclaimed jazz musician and composer Tim Boniface premiers a new jazz work ‘Psalter: Themes for Peace’ written especially to coincide with Peter Walker Sculptors installation.

Performing alongside Tim Boniface (saxophone) is a remarkable trio including some of the most respected names in British jazz: James Pearson (piano), Malcolm Creese (bass) and Jon Ormston (drums).

Holocaust Memorial Exhibition

Born Survivors Thursday 1 February, 7.30pm Join Eva Clarke, survivor of the Holocaust, and Wendy Holden, author of international bestseller Born Survivors, in a lifeaffirming celebration of the human capacity to love amid inconceivable cruelty.

Speakers: Eva Clarke, BEM and Wendy Holden, author of Born Survivors Tickets from £10 (£6 students), available from our website.

Tickets from £10, available from our website.

Romeo and Juliet Theatre Performance by OVO Theatre

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Saturday 3 February, 7.30pm A brand-new adaptation, set on the streets of Northern Ireland’s capital in 1998. Led with movement and live music, and making full use of the atmospheric surroundings of the Peace Doves installation, this is a high paced, contemporary take on a timeless classic, showing us that a fragile peace is only as durable as opposing sides permit.

Tickets from £20, available from our website.

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From St Albans...With Love Saturday 10 February, 7.30pm An evening of love; songs from film and stage alongside love poetry, readings and re-enactments of cinema’s most romantic moments. With instrumental works from Love Story to Cinema Paradiso, and songs from Grease and Mamma Mia to the Spice Girls and Whitney Houston, there is something for everyone to love!

This evening is in aid of St Albans Cathedral Education Trust and features stars from the West End and Broadway, students from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and some very special guest readers from stage and screen.

Producer Mark Robert Petty is promising “a truly magical evening celebrating music, song and the spoken word for Valentine’s Weekend, beautifully presented under Peter Walker’s “Peace Doves” installation”.

Poems for Peace Sunday 4 February, 1.30pm On World Interfaith Harmony Week, we celebrate human fellowship and love with refugees and asylum seekers from the local community. Come and enjoy a performance of renown and original poems under the Peace Doves on the themes of refuge and asylum, peace and compassion towards a greater awareness and respect of cultural and religious differences.

Free, donations welcome.

Evening Pilgrimage Tuesday 6 February, 7.15pm A guided walk through the Cathedral, accompanied by historical insights, prayers, and silence. It starts with light refreshments in the Welcome Centre, and ends with Compline by candlelight and a visit to the Shrine of St Alban.

Free, donations welcome.

Giving Words Wings: Poetry, Prayer and Peace Thursday 8 February, 7.30pm In this poetry reading Malcolm Guite will explore the themes of prayer, peace, and how poetry on paper can be given the breath of life and take flight.

Tickets from £20, available from our website.

Learn more about the St Albans Cathedral Education Trust and Opportunities Fund on our website.

Charitable Extravaganza Runway Sunday 11 February, 2pm A free extravagant fashion show under the doves in partnership with Cancer Research UK and Oaklands College.

Wear your best hat, secure a seat on the front row and get ready to spend a memorable afternoon at this charitable event. Preloved clothing will be on sale throughout the afternoon and at the Cancer Research UK charity shop on the high street in St Albans. All proceeds and donations will go to Cancer Research UK. Free, donations welcome. For more information please check the website.

Cathedral Choir Concert Sunday 11 February, 4pm The Cathedral Choir will end the celebration of the Peace Doves installation with a concert of choral music and readings on the twin themes of peace and doves that are mentioned many times in the bible, including Mendelssohn’s famous anthem, O for the wings of a dove.

Free, donations welcome.

Speaker: Malcolm Guite, poet and singer-songwriter 6

Tickets from £10, available from our website.

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St Albans Cathedral Education Trust and the Opportunities Fund The Learning programmes at the Cathedral are supported and sustained by St Albans Cathedral Education Trust. The Trust has an aspiration for every child in the Diocese of St Albans to visit the Cathedral and take part in our National Curriculum supporting activities, no matter their circumstance.

By donating to the Trust today you will allow young people to engage and be inspired by their visit to this magnificent, historical place of worship. £15 can fund a full day of activities for one child and £450 can ensure a whole class can engage in a day at the Cathedral.

To find out more please visit: www.stalbanscathedral.co.uk/opportunities-fund

Opening times The Cathedral is open daily 8.30am – 5.30pm.

Entry is free

Donations welcome. It costs £6000 a day to keep this historic Cathedral open and free of charge.

Tickets

Book online at www.stalbanscathedral.org, in person at our Box Office, located in the Cathedral Shop, or call 01727 890290.

For the latest information visit our website and sign up for our What’s On newsletter.

St Albans Cathedral Sumpter Yard, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 1BY 01727 890210 | mail@stalbanscathedral.org www.stalbanscathedral.org /StAlbansCathedralOfficial @StAlbansCathedral @StAlbansCath @StAlbansCathedral Cover Image © Peace Doves Installation at St Albans Cathedral. Installation and image by Peter Walker Sculptor.

Page 3 and page 6 image © Toby Shepheard.