Rauhanpaasi / Peace Slab

Peace Slab was first given life in the square next to the Vanha University building, or Potato Market, as part of the European Nuclear Disarmament convention happenings of 1990. The general public was involved with the artists in deciding on the nature of the work. After the convention the commissioners of the work, Helsingin ylioppilaskunta (transl. The Student Union), donated Peace Slab to the City of Helsinki. The work belongs to the collections of the Helsinki Art Museum.

Peace Slab was then placed at the Finnish Railways Makasiini area opposite the Parliament (an area neighbouring Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art) until it moved in 2001 to Kivikko-Koillis in Helsinki. The large red granite block was transported from an area called Orivesi and quarried as a symbolic of a line of peace. The work weighs 15 tonne.