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Merlion
03-25-2007, 05:59 AM
Today marks the 200th anniversary of the British parliamentary act that abolished the slave trade in Britain's colonies - though not slavery itself.

http://www.sbal.co.uk/sbal/media/images/recontriangle/liv-stat.jpg

Statue 'symbolizes forgiveness' (http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350394676)
The 'Reconciliation' monumentwill be dedicated on Fridayin a ceremony in Richmond

Mar 25, 2007.

Richmond's history is stained by the human trafficking that made it, America and other nations prosperous.

On Friday, a 15-foot-tall bronze "Reconciliation" statue will be unveiled in Shockoe Slip to acknowledge this painful past and to symbolize forgiveness.

"It's a monument to the whole issue of slavery and reconciliation," said City Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn, chairwoman of the Richmond Slave Trail Commission.

The commission has coordinated Richmond's participation in the international Reconciliation Triangle Project, which includes identical statues in Liverpool, England, and Benin in West Africa by Liverpool artist Stephen Broadbent.

Depicting two people melded in an embrace, the statue is part of a $750,000 project that includes a plaza that was built at 15th and East Main streets.....

Last month, Virginia's General Assembly voted unanimously to express "profound regret" for the involuntary servitude of Africans, and called for reconciliation among all Virginians.

The reconciliation project grew out of apologies for slavery that were issued by government officials in Liverpool and Benin in 1999.

Liverpool's wealth initially grew out of a triangle of slave trade. British ships took manufactured goods to Africa in exchange for slaves, who were carried to the Americas. Tobacco and other produce from the plantations then were delivered back to Britain.....

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the British parliamentary act that abolished the slave trade in Britain's colonies - though not slavery itself.....

The project has the potential to spark discussion, educate and help heal.

The reconciliation statue "is the first physical record of the fact that this was a place of slavery for 250 years, in fact the second largest slave market in America for about 50 years," Campbell said.

GlennT
03-25-2007, 09:24 AM
The bottom half of the sculpture has some interesting bas-relief on it, and the upper half has some of the weakest figurative modeling I have ever seen on a public monument, which also does not match the style of the lower portion. The overall composition is all right. Why were the upper figures not modeled with even just a little more definition to give them some visual strength?

Merlion
03-25-2007, 10:28 AM
It is true the top part of the statue is not very impressive. Here is a picture with a slightly better viewing angle.

But it is a bit confusing who is the artist creating this statue. I think the statue is sculptor Broadbent's work, while pupils work on the images added to the sides. See story below.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40469000/jpg/_40469781_statue203280.jpg

This picture and the story are taken from here.
World journey for slavery statues (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/3964881.stm)

Two statues are being shipped across the world from Liverpool to remember those who suffered in the slave trade.

The pieces have been created as part of a project with Richmond Virginia, USA and the west African republic of Benin.

The three areas were heavily involved in the buying and selling of slaves in the 18th century.

Children from six schools in Liverpool have helped design the statues, which were due to be handed over to Benin and Richmond representatives on Friday. ...

Pupils researched the project and designed images which reflected the slave trade and its impact.

The images, along with messages of hope and peace, were imprinted onto the bronze, four-metre tall statues, created by Liverpool sculptor Stephen Broadbent.

They are identical to Liverpool's 'Reconciliation' statue on Bold Street, in the city centre, which shows two people embracing.

The pupils worked with local artist Faith Bebbington to develop the designs.....

JamesONeil
04-03-2007, 10:18 AM
Check out the miniature reproductions we made for the unveiling event in Richmond.

Cast Iron Reproduction of Reconciliation Statue (http://www.okfoundrycompany.com/Reconciliation_Statue.htm)

We're foundrymen, and not sculptors so we're no experts on sculpted art, but I really love the design. Of course part of my affection for it is that it worked out really well in sand cast iron.

Since the figures are very conceptual in shape and the sculpted elements are either very organic (base and torso), or geometric (faces) it was easy to render in a cope and drag mold setup and our surface finish was not a critical detriment to realizing the original vision.

Cheers,

James

http://www.okfoundrycompany.com/images/ArchitecturalIron/ReconciliationStatue/statuea600x450.jpg

evaldart
04-03-2007, 10:50 AM
Glenn is right that the two styles of sculpting don't seem to be co-existing here...bad decision if you ask me. Either one throughout would have been allright with me. There is a monolithic strength to the generalness of the upper portion that I think achieves its narrative goal. And there is some nice handiwork below but but it feels busy and small underneath the "reductiveness" of the upper portion.

GlennT
04-03-2007, 10:54 AM
I think that the design works well as a miniature. It looks like a maquette or study that has been cast as a finished work. As a monumental piece, my opinion is that the work should have been further refined in the modeling, as would normally be the case. As I said earlier the composition is nice. That is why an improvement in the form would have done better justice to it.

GlennT

JamesONeil
04-03-2007, 11:22 AM
Some of the news articles said that school children from Liverpool and possibly other locations participated in making/designing the relief work on the base.

Maybe the form was compromised to allow for this participative sculpting. The first pieces of this kind were installed in Liverpool, Glasgow, and Belfast, and the form is very cohesive in style.

Reconciliation Statue Liverpool (http://www.liverpoolmonuments.co.uk/sculpture/recon01.html)

Since these first pieces were installed in 1990, I think the Richmond statue may be something derivative and not created from scratch. Overall, I think the statue was a hit in Richmond as I think it is more impressive in person, but the evolution of the form for Richmond may reflect a more participative design process.

Considering the subject matter and all the stakeholders interested in the piece, it appears to be a great success. I think there was value in going from a "known" design to get buy in and participation from both the governments of Richmond and Benin. I think Stephen Broadbent really stretched the creative process towards inclusiveness by allowing participative sculpting onto the original design.

Reconciliation Triangle (http://www.reconciliationtriangle.org/)

Cheers,

James