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IndoForum Senior A
- No. Urut
- 210735
- Sejak
- 9 Jan 2013
- Pesan
- 7.471
- Nilai reaksi
- 96
- Poin
- 48
Dramatic performances by the famous Kecak Rina troupe, guitar prodigy Dewa Budjana, singer Trie Utami, up-and-coming dancer Keni Kurniasari, harpist Maya Hasan and hundreds of local residents marked the groundbreaking ceremony of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue on Friday evening at Ungasan, Badung.
The performance was inspired by the Hindu tale of Garuda, an invincible bird of prey that searches for the elixir of immortality Amerta as a ransom to liberate its mother, who is being held captive by the dragons. Garuda defeats everything that stands in its path, from demons to gods, until Lord Wisnu the Sustainer offers it a deal that will see its mother released and also make sure the Amerta does not fall into the wrong hands. Garuda is given the role of the bearer of Amerta and agrees to be the mount of Lord Wisnu.
The ceremony marked a new chapter in the construction of the statue after a 16-year hiatus caused by a regime change, nationwide economic crisis, internal turf wars and lack of committed investors. The new beginning for the statue, designed to be Indonesia’s tallest monument and Bali’s new cultural icon, was made possible by giant property developer PT Alam Sutera Realty Tbk (ASR), which committed Rp 450 billion (US$40,000,000) to finance the construction of the statue and other undisclosed funding to develop the cultural park and integrated tourism facility in parts of the 60-hectare site of the monument.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place at precisely 5:50 p.m. when Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, billionaire The Ning King, who is the founder of Argo Manunggal Group — the parent company of ASR, Badung Regent, Anak Agung Gde Agung and sculptor Nyoman Nuarta placed their right hands over each other, and pushed the button that sounded a siren. As the siren wailed, five mixer trucks poured tons of concrete into a large rectangular opening on the designated site of the statue’s pedestal.
“Of course I am very happy to see the statue getting closer to completion. More so because I finally will be able to keep my promise to the Balinese people,” famed sculptor Nyoman Nuarta said.
The “new” GWK statue will be constructed on a site 300 meters to the south of the existing 20-meter- tall bust of Wisnu, which, alongside the head and several minor parts of the mythical bird Garuda, were constructed and installed by Nuarta during the difficult period of the monument.
“I am both very happy and proud and I hope GWK will bring many benefits to the island and Balinese people,” Governor Made Mangku Pastika said.
Nuarta estimated that the construction and installation of the GWK statue would take around three years to complete. The 75-meter-high statue, which is made of copper and brass sheeting, stainless steel framework and skeleton, is being constructed in Nuarta’s workshop in the Sarijadi area, Bandung, West Java. The outer parts of the statue, some 22,000 square meters in size, and their stainless steel framework will be chopped into 700 modules before being transported to Bali. The modules will require 400 trucks to transport.
“Here the modules will be welded together before being mounted on the pedestal and supported by the core column made of steel and concrete. The pedestal and core column will be constructed by other companies,” he said.
In its final form, the GWK statue will be 75 meters tall with a wingspan of 64 meters. The statue will stand on a lofty pedestal that will bring the total height of the monument to 126 meters, some 30 meters taller than the Statue of Liberty in the US. It will weigh 3,000 tons and its volume will be 11 times greater than that of the Statue of Liberty.
Art expert Jean Couteau likened the opposition to the project experienced in its initial years to that suffered by French engineer Gustave Eiffel when in the late 1880s he designed the tower in the heart of Paris that later became a global cultural icon.
“Nuarta was criticized because he is one of a few Balinese who has the courage to move forward and refuses to be forever bound by the past. Bali has undergone a major transformation from a traditional, agricultural-based society into a modern, urbanized society. This new Bali needs a different kind of cultural symbol and creative language. In this context, Nuarta is a visionary,” he said.
He also pointed out that the statue aptly represented the cultural identity and character of the Balinese and Indonesians as well as the nation’s longing to contribute something meaningful to the global community.
“Lord Wisnu the Sustainer is responsible for maintaining the cosmic harmony and the life of all beings. The statue, therefore, symbolizes a universal calling for all people in this world to play their parts in nurturing and protecting the Earth. It is an urgent message in this period of global warming and natural disasters,” Gde Ardika, the chairman of Yayasan Garuda Wisnu Kencana, said.
The Bali-born, Bandung-based Nuarta first conceptualized the statue 25 years ago as a homage to his home island. The concept was supported by then minister of tourism, Joop Ave, and then minister of mining, IB Sudjana. A plan was drawn up and given to then-president Soeharto, who enthusiastically supported the project. In 1997 construction was started only to be stalled by the fall of Soeharto and a debilitating economic crisis.
The performance was inspired by the Hindu tale of Garuda, an invincible bird of prey that searches for the elixir of immortality Amerta as a ransom to liberate its mother, who is being held captive by the dragons. Garuda defeats everything that stands in its path, from demons to gods, until Lord Wisnu the Sustainer offers it a deal that will see its mother released and also make sure the Amerta does not fall into the wrong hands. Garuda is given the role of the bearer of Amerta and agrees to be the mount of Lord Wisnu.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place at precisely 5:50 p.m. when Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, billionaire The Ning King, who is the founder of Argo Manunggal Group — the parent company of ASR, Badung Regent, Anak Agung Gde Agung and sculptor Nyoman Nuarta placed their right hands over each other, and pushed the button that sounded a siren. As the siren wailed, five mixer trucks poured tons of concrete into a large rectangular opening on the designated site of the statue’s pedestal.
“Of course I am very happy to see the statue getting closer to completion. More so because I finally will be able to keep my promise to the Balinese people,” famed sculptor Nyoman Nuarta said.
The “new” GWK statue will be constructed on a site 300 meters to the south of the existing 20-meter- tall bust of Wisnu, which, alongside the head and several minor parts of the mythical bird Garuda, were constructed and installed by Nuarta during the difficult period of the monument.
“I am both very happy and proud and I hope GWK will bring many benefits to the island and Balinese people,” Governor Made Mangku Pastika said.
Nuarta estimated that the construction and installation of the GWK statue would take around three years to complete. The 75-meter-high statue, which is made of copper and brass sheeting, stainless steel framework and skeleton, is being constructed in Nuarta’s workshop in the Sarijadi area, Bandung, West Java. The outer parts of the statue, some 22,000 square meters in size, and their stainless steel framework will be chopped into 700 modules before being transported to Bali. The modules will require 400 trucks to transport.
“Here the modules will be welded together before being mounted on the pedestal and supported by the core column made of steel and concrete. The pedestal and core column will be constructed by other companies,” he said.
In its final form, the GWK statue will be 75 meters tall with a wingspan of 64 meters. The statue will stand on a lofty pedestal that will bring the total height of the monument to 126 meters, some 30 meters taller than the Statue of Liberty in the US. It will weigh 3,000 tons and its volume will be 11 times greater than that of the Statue of Liberty.
Art expert Jean Couteau likened the opposition to the project experienced in its initial years to that suffered by French engineer Gustave Eiffel when in the late 1880s he designed the tower in the heart of Paris that later became a global cultural icon.
“Nuarta was criticized because he is one of a few Balinese who has the courage to move forward and refuses to be forever bound by the past. Bali has undergone a major transformation from a traditional, agricultural-based society into a modern, urbanized society. This new Bali needs a different kind of cultural symbol and creative language. In this context, Nuarta is a visionary,” he said.
He also pointed out that the statue aptly represented the cultural identity and character of the Balinese and Indonesians as well as the nation’s longing to contribute something meaningful to the global community.
“Lord Wisnu the Sustainer is responsible for maintaining the cosmic harmony and the life of all beings. The statue, therefore, symbolizes a universal calling for all people in this world to play their parts in nurturing and protecting the Earth. It is an urgent message in this period of global warming and natural disasters,” Gde Ardika, the chairman of Yayasan Garuda Wisnu Kencana, said.
The Bali-born, Bandung-based Nuarta first conceptualized the statue 25 years ago as a homage to his home island. The concept was supported by then minister of tourism, Joop Ave, and then minister of mining, IB Sudjana. A plan was drawn up and given to then-president Soeharto, who enthusiastically supported the project. In 1997 construction was started only to be stalled by the fall of Soeharto and a debilitating economic crisis.
I went there few years ago, and it was fantastic 