McGill Tribune

A & E

Media Credit: mmfa.qc.ca Who needs coffee? Lennon and Ono wake up and smell the flowers. [Click to enlarge]

Forty years ago, John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged a week-long bed-in for peace, donning pajamas and chanting "Give Peace a Chance" in Suite 1742 of Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel. As Lennon and Ono explained their feelings about the Vietnam War to the global media, their hotel bedroom became a forum for spreading their message of hope, peace, and love. Lennon chronicled the experience in the lyrics of the famous Beatles song "The Ballad of John and Yoko": "The newspeople said 'Say, what're you doing in bed?' I said, 'we're only trying to get us some peace'." The bed-in was only the beginning of the famous couple's enduring quest for universal love and tolerance.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the bed-in, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is presenting an exhibit commemorating the peaceful pair and their efforts towards establishing universal peace. Imagine: The Ballad of John & Yoko retraces the fascinating lives of these cultural icons and international peace activists but, more importantly, strives to renew their timeless message.

Their remarkable journey epitomizes Ono's famous statement, "A dream you dream alone is a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." From imagining a better world to engaging in global peace projects, Lennon and Ono have inspired millions around the world and continue to inspire people to this day with their message of hope.

At 75 years old, Ono remains a highly influential and active member of the contemporary art world. Though often thought of simply as Lennon's muse and famous widow, Ono has been an important figure in the Fluxus and conceptual art movements, creating numerous innovative and experimental works in visual, cinematic, musical, and performance mediums. Ono has always promoted peace in her works, from those in the 1966 exhibition at London's Indica Gallery where she first met John Lennon, to her contemporary works, which are still exhibited throughout the world.

Ono, who lent many works to the museum in order to make the exhibit possible, spoke about art, peace, and action during a press conference at the museum to launch Imagine. Emphasizing that the world is an oasis, a place of great beauty which we have a responsibility to protect through peaceful actions, Ono explained: "It is very important that we take action to make sure that we create a world that is peaceful."

A soundscape of Lennon's music guides visitors through the galleries of the exhibit as it progresses chronologically, beginning with photographs of Lennon and Ono's childhoods and culminating in the Imagine Peace room, which Ono created specifically for the exhibit. Listening to the classic, unforgettable songs which played such a fundamental role in the motion for peace-from "Power to the People" to "Imagine"-perfectly supplements the already rich aesthetic experience.

The exhibit highlights the work that has served to establish Ono as an avant-garde artist in her own right. Ono's White Chess Set (1966) is a monochromatic chess set, table, and chairs, which Ono described as a "chess set for playing as long as you remember where all your pieces are." Her famous performance work, Cut Piece, was also projected onto a wall.

In The Bed-In (1969) gallery, visitors are greeted by Lennon and Ono's empowering chant, "Give Peace A Chance," which was originally recorded in their Montreal hotel room. On display are one of Lennon's guitars, handwritten lyrics to "Give Peace A Chance," black and white photographs of the event, and original signs from their initial Amsterdam bed-in, which read "Bed Peace" and "Hair Peace." The exhibit then continues through rooms which include Imagine (1971), Some Time in New York City (1971-1972), and War is Over! If You Want It. The Imagine Peace room is particularly memorable, with walls covered in various regional and world maps, stamped with the words "imagine peace" and "imagine la paix." A long row of Ono's iconic white chess tables, accompanied by white chairs with the words "play with trust" written on them crosses the center of the room.

The final room features a cluster of small trees, in the middle of which stands a Peace Library filled with books about different regions of the world and global cultures. The books will be donated to school libraries in underprivileged Montreal neighborhoods after the duration of the exhibit. The room also features a "wish tree" in which Ono invites visitors to write their wish for the world on a small piece of paper and hang it on the tree as a part of her enduring commitment of spreading world peace. Walking through this room and joining Ono's message for peace while the ethereally beautiful piano melody of Lennon's "Love is Real" plays in the background can be a powerful and moving experience.

Echoing the sentiments Lennon expressed in the lyrics of "Imagine," the classic song in which he envisioned a "brotherhood of man" and a day when "the world will be as one," Ono explained that the call for peace is as essential today as it was 40 years ago, and that dreams can become reality through the collective action of people who engage their imaginations in the name of peace.

"The most important thing is imagining," said Ono. "Imagining is reality."



Imagine: The Peace Ballad of John & Yoko is on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1380 Sherbrooke St. W.) until June 21. Admission is free.