PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia’s Art Commission has set Sept. 19 as the date for a public hearing on a controversial proposal to place a statue in the city’s Queen Village section about the suffering imposed on Korean “comfort women” in the year leading up to and including World War II.
The special hearing is to be held at 9 a.m. via Zoom. The link and more information can be obtained on the art commission’s website. People can offer their opinion at the meeting or provide written testimony beforehand.
The nine members of the panel will only hear testimony that day. They will vote at the commission’s regular meeting on Oct. 12. No more testimony will be heard at that session.
Proponents call the bronze monument "The Statue of Peace." It depicts a comfort woman sitting quietly on a chair, with a bird of peace on her shoulder.
A plaque would read: “This statue commemorates hundreds of thousands of girls and women from Asia, Oceania, and Europe who fell victim to the systemic sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army from 1931 to 1945. Starting in 1991, the survivors broke the cycle of shame and silence by testifying and urged the world to protect the future.”
Advocates, affiliated with the Korean American Association of Greater Philadelphia, say the statue will bring attention to a profound war crime. Critics, including the Japanese Association of Greater Philadelphia, say it would stir division.
The original presentation by statue advocates in February 2021 can be viewed at the commission website, at the two-hour point. An initial public hearing by city arts officials was held in February 2022 and also can be watched at the commission site. A website by opponents can be viewed friendsofserenitypark.org.
The statue has been endorsed by Mayor Jim Kenney’s arts office and in a preliminary vote by the art commission. Kenney has said he would not support or oppose the monument.
———
