Czechs, tourists, and the world alike awoke to an unexpectedly remodeled global landmark and symbol for peace earlier this week. A group of anonymous art students called Pražská Služba, or Prague Services, painted over the John Lennon Wall in stark white to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Only the text “wall is over” remained as a pun on Lennon’s famous antiwar campaign “War Is Over! If You Want It.”
The group explained their motivation in a statement saying “twenty-five years ago, one big totalitarian wall fell…Students of art schools are expressing their commemoration of (1989) and opening room for new messages of the current generation.”
The wall originally acted as an artistic outlet against the Communist regime in the 1980s where young artists and activists would meet to light candles, lay flowers and express anti-communist mindsets. It has since become a famous graffiti covered landmark and protest site, supporting political equality and making calls for peace throughout the world. The wall named after John Lennon following his assassination because he was perceived as an emblem of peace.
The Knights of Malta, who own the wall, originally filed a criminal complaint for vandalism against the perpetrators, which has since been retracted.
The wall was painted over by Communist authorities to seize unwelcome adoration of Western musicians and ideals and was also painted over in green 2000 by a different art group. Artists have already began redecorating the John Lennon wall.
Check out the history of the wall here.