Skip to main content

24 April 2017: International Sculpture Day – a sculpture in tribute to war dogs



On Monday 24 April 2017 the world will celebrate the art of sculpture during the third annual International Sculpture Day.

The aim of International Sculpture Day is to advance the creation and understanding of sculpture and its unique contribution to society. Hundreds of artists, organizations and institutions in over 20 countries will celebrate the day in 2017 with open studios, unveiling public sculptures, sculpture scavenger hunts, pop up exhibitions, and demonstrations.

The sculpture I am featuring today honours ANZAC Day, held in Australia on 25 April each year. At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra is a commemorative sculpture in tribute to the Explosive Detection Dogs deployed during conflicts. The red poppies draped over the statue are to commemorate Anzac Day – for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (the ANZACs) and all Australians who have served in all wars and conflicts.

The bronze sculpture by Ewen Coate is called Elevation of the senses (2015) to commemorate Explosive Detective Dogs and their handlers.

The tunnel through the base of the sculpture alludes to the rigorous training undertaken by the dogs, while the rocky outcrops on top of the columns represent the foreign landscapes of deployment.

The elevation of the dog on the central column, where it crouches eye-to-eye with its human handler, highlights the deep bonds forged between animal and man, as well as their mutual dependence on which their work is based.

The column beside the sculpture includes the engraved names of the Explosive Detection Dogs that have died in duty:

Lucky on 4 July 2011
Herbie with Sapper Darren Smith 2CER 7 June 2010
Nova on 23 October 2009
Andy on 23 November 2007
Razz on 21 September 2007
Merlin on 31 August 2007

The Australian War Memorial has a range of sculptures in the grounds and inside. It also has a Roll of Honour, the tomb of the unknown soldier, the eternal flame, exhibitions, library, museum, bookshop, restaurant, and commemorative statues.

























MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass
Post a Comment
Read more

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou
8 comments
Read more