Robert posted an image of the Banksy marching man statue today.
This is a brilliant piece of political satire aimed at misplaced patriotism and should also be on display outside Congress, the Senate and the White House in Washington D.C.
It's also a step forward (hopefully not off his plinth) for Robert who recently seems to be shrugging off his reactionary and right wing sympathies. What's next? A rejection of Catholicism?The statue made me think about statues and how they can influence thought and political consciousness - not always in a good way. It's a massive subject though and I don't have time to cover it in any detail (The Old Girl calls ne a lazy bugger) so to follow are a few personal observations.
We all know about the recent removal (and reinstatement) of American Civil War 'hero' statues in USA depending on the political ideology of the presidential administration of the times and have seen similar criticisms and removals of statues in New Zealand that have odious colonial implications.
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| Removal of Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond Virginia. |
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| Removal of Captain John Hamilton statue: In June 2020, the Hamilton City Council removed the bronze statue of British naval Captain John Fane Charles Hamilton from Civic Square. |
Both of those statues and what they represent were rightfully removed in my view.
We've been exposed to iconic images of destroyed statues that underscore the collapse of mostly fascist and authoritarian regimes ...
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| Joseph Stalin |
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| Adolph Hitler |
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| Saddam Hussein |
... and are likely to see soon the scrapping of images of Donald Trump ...
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... although most of the replicas have been, like Banksy's one, examples of political satire:
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OK, back to me, some statues that have concerned me over my years have been these:
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| Queen Victoria |
The Queen Victoria Monument on Cambridge Terrace/Kent Terrace in Wellington is imposing. Some see it as an important expression of the values of New Zealand’s colonial past but obviously others see it as a symbol of the darker side of colonisation and Victorian morality. As a child walking past this I was a bit scared as it was dark and creepy. I've never liked it.
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| New Zealand Wars memorial Wakefield Street Auckland |
This memorial commemorates imperial and Maori troops during the New Zealand Wars who were allied with British forces. It is blatantly authoritarian and no wonder that it's been the scene of Maori protest in recent years.
There are many more examples of statuary and monuments that get up my nose particularly war memorial ones that incorporate ridiculous god and angels motifs but ... that's for another day and, as I said, I'm a lazy bugger.
Just to show that I'm not always complaining though here's a statue that I've always liked and remember admiring it (the original) when it was in the Wellington railway station foyer.
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| Painted plaster original in Wellington railway station |
The Kupe Statue (formally known as The Coming of the Māori), was sculpted by William Thomas Trethewey. It depicts the legendary Polynesian explorer Kupe, his wife Hine-te-Apārangi, and the tohunga Pekahourangi on their canoe, Matahourua, at the moment they discovered New Zealand.
History of the Statue
1940 Centennial Exhibition: The original 6.78-meter sculpture was created out of painted plaster for the 1940 New Zealand Centennial Exhibition.
Wellington Railway Station: Following the exhibition, the statue was too large for its intended home at the Dominion Museum, so it was moved to the foyer of the Wellington Railway Station. It stood there for nearly four decades and unfortunately suffered damage and vandalism.
Relocation: In 1985/1986, it was moved to the Wellington Showgrounds before being placed into storage at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Where is it now?
In 1999, the original plaster statue was successfully cast into bronze. This bronze version was unveiled on the Wellington Waterfront (Taranaki Street Wharf) in March 2000, where it remains today.
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Getting back to Robert's post which triggered this post I note that he had actually totally misrepresented Banksy's political satire and adapted it to match his idiotic Catholic beliefs. See what he wrote below.
Oh well, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
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2 comments:
Why is The Old Girl being mean to ne?
Actually, who is ne?
It "represents the dangers of following a cause blindly, to the point of self-detriment" (Google) and conforms with blinkered anarchical atheistic attitudes displayed when people follow a cause without a doctrine.
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