Non-Violence, the Knotted Gun at UN Headquarters

The knotted gun sculpture in New York is Non-Violence by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd. It stands on the Visitors' Plaza at United Nations Headquarters, First Avenue at 46th Street. Reuterswärd began the work after John Lennon was shot in December 1980, and the Government of Luxembourg gave this bronze cast to the UN in 1988.

How it connects to John Lennon

The sculpture doesn't show Lennon. It's a revolver about 2 m tall. The gun is cocked, but its barrel is tied in a knot, so it can't fire. The Lennon link is in why it was made. Reuterswärd started it in 1980 after Lennon was shot outside the Dakota. The UN's gift record quotes the artist: he was so upset and angry about Lennon's death, and about other pointless violence, that he went straight to his studio. Luxembourg's mission to the UN quotes him saying the knot was in the idea from the very beginning.

How well the two men knew each other is less clear. The UN and the Luxembourg mission both call Lennon the artist's friend. English Wikipedia says Reuterswärd was acquainted with him. The histories published by the Non-Violence Project in Sweden and by its international foundation don't mention a personal relationship at all. They describe the work only as a response to the murder. We haven't found a first-hand account of a friendship, so the safe version is the one every source shares: the gun was his reaction to Lennon's killing.

The Strawberry Fields question

The UN gift record and the Non-Violence Project Foundation both say the sculpture was first placed at Strawberry Fields in Central Park, across from the Dakota. The Swedish Non-Violence Project mentions a first showing in Central Park. None of them gives a date. The sources on Strawberry Fields itself, including the Central Park Conservancy, Yoko Ono's Imagine Peace site and Wikipedia's article on the memorial, don't mention a sculpture there. Ono's stated wish was a garden rather than a statue or monument. So treat the Central Park chapter as the UN's account rather than a confirmed episode. Our Strawberry Fields page covers the garden, about 2.9 km away in a straight line.

Luxembourg's gift and the dates that don't match

The UN cast is one of the first three versions. The Government of Luxembourg bought it and donated it to the United Nations. Yoko Ono attended the installation ceremony. Sources don't agree on when that happened:

The weapon is described two ways as well. The UN and Luxembourg call it a .45-calibre revolver. English Wikipedia and a Greenpeace photo caption identify it as a Colt Python .357 Magnum. The UN catalogue gives the size as 79 by 44 by 50 inches.

Kofi Annan later said the knotted gun put into a few curves the prayer that asks for peace, not victory.

One of more than 30 casts

Reuterswärd (1934 to 2016) saw the design spread well beyond New York. Since 1993 it has been the emblem of the Non-Violence Project, a violence-prevention charity founded by Jan Hellman and Rolf Skjöldebrand. Casts now stand in more than 30 places, including Lausanne, Luxembourg, Berlin, Beijing, Cape Town and Malmö. So if you've seen a knotted revolver somewhere else, it was probably one of these, not the UN cast.

Seeing it at the UN

The sculpture is on the Visitors' Plaza at UN Headquarters, so the UN's visitor rules apply. According to the UN's visitor FAQ, the Visitors Entrance is at 46th Street and First Avenue, and check-in is across the street at 801 First Avenue, at 45th Street. Everyone 18 or over needs an original, government-issued photo ID; copies and digital IDs are refused. Walk-ins without a tour booking are allowed, but the UN suggests arriving an hour before a tour for registration and security screening. You can take photos with a camera or phone, but video recording isn't allowed.