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Tsunami
Memorial
Monumental Sculpture in China
by Laury Dizengremel
Starting on
the 1st of May 2005, the 1st International Sculpture Festival of
Kunming China gathered 17 foreign and 13 Chinese contemporary sculptors
in Daguan Park, in the city of Kunming, Yunnan Privince.
Each of us made one large-scale outdoor sculpture.
This was my proposed design (note that the faces used here in this
image are not the ones I used on the final piece, which you see further
down the page):
I was asked to make a speech at the Opening Ceremony in front of a
large crowd, officials of the city, of the Yunnan Arts Institute and
various academics from the world of sculpture in China. Click
here for a text of the speech.
One of the sides of the bronze composition
created in Kunming (shown here in bronze resin, which was the interim
material for the closing ceremony). The faces are Thai, Indonesian,
Malay, Sri Lankan and Indian., the eyes are open and the faces are
smiling.
On the other side, faces have closed eyes and the composition is more
subdued
The finished Tsunami Memorial the day of the Closing / Unveiling
Ceremony - though the sculpture is not yet in its final permanent
position within Daguan Park.
It measures 2.20 metres wide by 2.80 metres high and approx. 80 cm deep.
A tired but happy Laury next to the finished work, before its move to
the lakeside which is the permanent location within the park
Below are a number of pictures taken during the Festival
Click on any of the thumbnails to see a larger (600 pixel) picture.
Opening Ceremony - I was asked by the organizers to give a speech on
behalf of all participating sculptors in front of the crowd and the
press.
Day 1 - my tent on the grounds of the festival inside Daguan Park,
Kunming
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Day 2 - making one of several larger than lifesize busts as elements
for the larger sculpture
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Day 3 - Have now started 4 larger than lifesize busts
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That day, after working on the sculptures, I had bought paint so we
could all paint our caps in the hotel bar
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Our painted caps! All different... We had a great time. Mine is the red
one!
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Day 4 - the wind blew down my tent overnight... the sculptures were
mostly unharmed as they were in the center of the space!
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Day 5 - the new space I had moved into the day before...
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Taking a nap after lunch on top of the canvas of one of the wind-blown
tents |
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