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Merlion
11-02-2005, 10:54 AM
China is a huge country that has seen fast economic growth over more than two decades. It is by now an important economic growth engine for the world. I mention this here as this causes China to have a great appetite for installing public sculptures in many cities.

I just notice two news items about plans for new public sculptures in Shanghai, the commercial capital of China, very much like what New York city is to the USA. I quote excerpts from these news items.

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US sculptor casing the city for art locations

JESUS Moroles, the well-known US granite sculptor, is currently in town exploring possible locations particularly within the 5.28-square-kilometer World Expo zone — for public sculptures.

According to Wang Kaifeng, an artist with the Architecture and Urban Planning College of Tongji University — the body in charge of the design plan for the expo, Moroles could be invited back to help generate sculptures for the world's fair.

Wang said the city government had provided a "sculpture vacancy map" to Moroles to see where and how granite sculptures could be set up. [snip]

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2005/11/02/209605/US_sculptor_casing_the_city_for_art_locations.htm

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Parks planned to solve lack of good statues

SHANGHAI has too few publicly displayed sculptures, and most of the art works that do exist aren't very good. To solve the problem, the city will set up several sculpture parks over the next several years. [snip]

Last month, officials in Zhabei District announced they would build a sculpture park based on Chinese and Western fables in time for the opening of the 2010 World Expo.

A recent survey conducted by the city's urban planning authority revealed that the city currently has 1,034 street statues, but experts only consider 10 percent of them to be masterpieces.

Officials behind the planned park in Putuo say they will select a large number of excellent candidate statues, and then allow district residents to make the final choice of which sculptures get a spot in the park. [snip]

Meanwhile, the government will also rebuild part of the public infrastructure — including the lighting and landscaping arrangement — around the park.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2005/11/03/209983/Parks_planned_to_solve_lack_of_good_statues.htm

JAZ
11-02-2005, 08:04 PM
Merlion,
Thank you for posting this. It is so helpful to see what is going on in your area. I believe that Jesus Moroles' work is an excellent choice because of his familiarity with china and the appropriateness of his personal aesthetic. there is an excellent interview wiht him in the November issue of Sculpture magazine, where he mentions the commission you describe. At the end of the article he says, "I want to create places around the world where people will wan tot go. After they've gone to one, they will want to go to the next one and connect the world together."
That sounds wonderful to me.
His site: www.moroles.com
JAZ