Wells Cathedral is set to become the backdrop for an uplifting art installation named Peace Doves, inviting visitors to contribute messages of hope, peace, and love.

The installation, conceptualised by artist Peter Walker, will feature around 18,000 paper doves, each carrying heartfelt messages, suspended from the Nave's ceiling on ribbons. This visually stunning piece is enhanced with various coloured lights and an emotive soundscape by David Harper.

The community, including schoolchildren, local businesses, parishes, and organisations, are encouraged to add their voice to this mass-participation artwork by creating their own peace doves. These contributions can be displayed in classrooms, shopfronts, and windows, fostering a widespread message of peace.

Dove templates are available at the Cathedral's North Transept, allowing anyone to participate in this unique artwork. The installation, which opens on April 26, seeks to offer a haven of tranquillity and reflection amidst the challenges of our times.

The Rev Canon Anne Gell, Acting Dean of Wells, emphasised the Cathedral's role as a beacon of hope and light, offering the Peace Doves installation as a means for people to find serenity, reassurance, and hope.

"We are living in turbulent and challenging times in which peace feels increasingly fragile, and so the messages that make up this installation have even greater poignancy," she said.

Peace Doves has previously been exhibited in several Church of England cathedrals, including Liverpool, Derby, and Rochester, receiving widespread acclaim for fostering a sense of community and togetherness.

Artist Peter Walker said: "I am delighted to bring Peace Doves to Wells Cathedral. Previous installations have been very well received and have created a prideful sense of community and togetherness.

"Sometimes, art has the ability to transcend just being an object and become the focus of our collective sentiments. That is the purpose of Peace Doves, which allows thousands of people to create, and express their own personal emotions as part of an ensemble which produces a beautiful final composition, and a series of smaller community works."

The exhibition will be open to the public from April 26 to June 8, featuring special events such as children's activities, storytelling, music from the Sound of Wells Festival, tours, educational visits, a specially designed prayer tree, and a local shop window competition.