'Prayers in the Wind - Private Ritual, Public Art', Bermuda's first-ever large-scale public art installation, will finally be unveiled this week. Conceived and designed by Bermudian artist Kendra Ezekiel, it will feature 1,000 white flags, each inscribed with a personal prayer contributed by individual members of the local community, gracefully arched across the portico of Hamilton's City Hall and Arts Centre in an intricate network of ropes.

Tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Miss Ezekiel and a team of volunteers will be constructing the work at City Hall, which will consist of four horizontal layers of rope strung across the portico ceiling, from each of which will hang 250 flags sewn to 28 vertical ropes.

The completed work will be dedicated in a public ceremony on City Hall steps on Friday at 12.30 p.m. It will involve the ten public and private schools which have participated in the project, as well as featuring songs by more than 80 children of the Somersfield Academy choir and a dance performed by students of Dellwood Middle School. In the evening, the Bermuda National Gallery will host a ceremony and members' opening at City Hall from 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. This will also feature musical and dance pieces especially composed and choreographed for the occasion. The Mayor of Hamilton, the Wor. Lawson E. Mapp, and Town Crier Ed Christopher will be in attendance at both events.

Ms Ezekiel said that 'Prayers in the Wind', which was inspired by the Tibetan ritual of prayer flags, and reflects a long relationship between art and religion, has inspired poignant contributions from hundreds of schoolchildren, residents and visitors alike, who wrote individual prayer flags during the artist's visits to schools, or recent public participation days at City Hall.

"Many of them have been very personal. I was visiting the schools during the Iraq war and this was on the minds of the children, so a lot of their prayers were in reference to the war, world peace and violence. Now that the war is over, a lot of them have been more about healing, food distribution and that sort of thing. There have been a lot more recently about SARS too."

Miss Ezekiel said the installation was also designed to broaden public perception of what art is and what it can be.

"By encouraging people to participate in it, I hope we can get more people interested in art. If it has a positive response, perhaps more people will be encouraged to invest in other public art projects."

The artist said she was inspired to use the space at City Hall as a setting for her work because its architecture and function can seem inhibiting to the public.

"I wanted to make it more dynamic, more accessible and inviting," she explained.

The project, which has been organised by a joint committee of the Bermuda National Gallery and the Corporation of Hamilton, has been sponsored by the Department of Tourism, the Department of Education, the Bermuda Arts Council, and the Department of Community Affairs. Organisers are also grateful for the generous in-kind donations of materials and services by the Bermuda Press Ltd., the Corporation of Hamilton, Gibbons Company Ltd. and Gorham's Ltd.

Director Laura Gorham, said that the Bermuda National Gallery is "pleased and proud to be involved with this extraordinary public art project. We thank everyone involved for making it their own. Kendra Ezekiel has done a fine job of sharing her vision and imbuing this work with community spirit, her keen sense of aesthetics and inspiration. We hope that this is a catalyst for our Bermuda artists, architects and designers to incorporate more innovative public art elements in future plans for public spaces all over Bermuda".

Equally supportive was Secretary Roger Sherratt, speaking on behalf of the Corporation of Hamilton, who said: "This is probably the biggest public art project ever undertaken in Bermuda, and everyone has had an opportunity to be involved by being invited to write their own personal prayers. The Corporation is delighted that City Hall was chosen for 'Prayers in the Wind', and it should blend perfectly with this magnificent building. It shows that with creative thinking 'public art' can enrich all of our lives, and our City. We are all looking forward to its completion on May 29."

Kendra Ezekiel is a Bermudian artist who received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Fine Art from Plymouth University in Devon, UK. She is a well known artist and influential figure in Bermuda's art community. Over the years she has participated in many exhibitions, and worked closely with the Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard, the Bermuda National Gallery, and well-known artists in a variety of art productions.

'Prayers in the Wind' will remain in place through mid-September.