Host the Gandhi Statue

A full-size replica of the Peace Abbey's statue of Mohandas Gandhi is available for loan to your school, place of worship, or other organization. The Peace Abbey is in the process of scheduling exhibit dates. Time frames can be arranged to benefit a maximum number of visitors.

Contact us at 508-655-2143 or email us for more information.

Cost: Transporting the statue and materials in Boston area is $250.
Out of state: $600 Northeast


February 19, 2010

Gandhi Statue placed at St. Peter's College

The "traveling" statue of Gandhi and bust of Oscar Romero were placed at St. Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ. St. Peter's is a vibrant inner city Jesuit college that educates and inspires its students to become actively involved in the struggle for social justice and nonviolence locally and globally. This spring, a contingent of students and faculty will be traveling to El Salvador to assist their sister city in development projects. Dr. Anna Brown will be leading the group. More information and photos to come.

In celebration of International Peace Day on September 21, St. John's welcomed a larger-than-life size statue of Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi to campus. The eight-foot statue is on loan to St. John's from the Peace Abbey, a multi-faith retreat center in Sherborn dedicated to nonviolence, peacemaking and cruelty-free living.

Members of SJP Pax Christi held a morning prayer service near the statue to call attention to issues of global peace and justice. Senior Joseph Thibodeau organized several activities, including asking students to share witness testimonies to peace efforts taking place around the world, and to write prayers about the ways they are challenged to seek peace.

"The goal is to focus on the aspects of our school mission that challenge us to pursue peace and justice," said William Mackinson, religious studies teacher and SJP Pax Christi moderator. "This is one more effort to connect with the greater world and we felt this was the perfect occasion to welcome the statue of Gandhi on campus."

SJP Pax Christi is part of a national faith-based movement which seeks to witness faithful discipleship through prayer, study and action, as well as to proclaim justice and peace in our society.

The statue on display at St. John's is a replica of the original bronze statue, which stands in the center of the Pacifist Memorial on the grounds of the Peace Abbey. It was created by the internationally recognized sculptor, Lado Goudjabidze.

Last year, when the Abbey faced serious financial problems, students at the Prep organized a dress down day in support of their work. Abbey Program Coordinator Dot Walsh visited campus this spring to express her thanks and to give St. John's a prayer book as a token of appreciation. In recognition of this ongoing relationship, Walsh contacted the Prep over the summer and arranged for the Gandhi statue to be on loan at St. John's until mid-March. The statue came be seen in the hallway adjacent to the A. E. Studzinski Library.

St. John's Prep, a Xaverian Brothers sponsored secondary school for young men, is in Danvers, Massachusetts.

The Peace Abbey has obtained an exact replica of the 8.5 ft.Gandhi statue which is at the Pacifist Memorial on the grounds of the Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts. This new statue differs only in composition and weight from the original which allows the statue to be easily moved to various locations for exhibition.

The sculptor, Lado Goudjabidze was born in the Republic of Georgia (in the former USSR) in 1945, Lado V. Goudjabidze graduated from the College of Visual Arts in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1965. He married the former Shake Abajian, an artist as well, in 1968.

The exhibit of the statue will include a 113 page photo exhibition of Gandhi in two books which can be handled by visitors. The books were published by the Navajivan Publishing House in Ahmedabad, India.


Sir Ben Kingsley with Vani Manchanda, faculty and students at Montrose School.
(Photo above)

An attractively crafted visitors book for comments accompanies the exhibit.
Interested parties should contact Dot Walsh, 508-655-2143 or send an email.

The exhibit is currently at Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts. (photo at left)

The statue has been exhibited in New York Museums, Brandeis University, Harvard Divinity School, India Day on the Boston Esplanade, and the Montrose School where it was viewed by Sir Ben Kingsley (photo above).