10. UN Sculpture Garden
The Headquarters of the United Nations, in addition to holding seats of the General Assembly and the Security Council, also houses a sculpture garden with many politically inspired artworks. Perhaps the most famous sculpture is Non-Violence, a gift from the Luxembourg government that depicts a Colt Python revolver with its barrel tied in a knot. The Soviet Union gifted the sculpture Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares, a bronze statue by Evgeniy Vuchetich that advocates converting weapons into peaceful, productive tools. The UN Garden is also home to a piece of the Berlin Wall.
A fragment of the Berlin Wall
Good Defeats Evil
Other notable works include the Japanese Peace Bell, rung at the opening of each General Assembly session, and Single Form by Barbara Hepworth, a memorial to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld after his death in 1961. The UN Garden also houses a forgotten Memorial to Eleanor Roosevelt as well as a curved granite bench engraved with “1884 — Anna Eleanor Roosevelt — 1962.” Also relatively hidden is an elephant sculpture, a gift from Kenya, Namibia, and Nepal. Although the Sculpture Garden is currently closed, you can view many of these works from the street.