The project announced by President Luis Lacalle Pou would be ready in November and seeks to be a sign that Uruguay is a “peace society.”
President Luis Lacalle Pou announced that the bronze eagle of the graff spee, definitive property of the State of Uruguay, will be transformed into a dove by the sculptor Pablo Atchugarry, with the aim of turning it into a symbol that indicates that “we are a society of peace”.
The ambitious artistic project announced yesterday at a press conference intends to “transform a symbol of violence and war into a symbol of peace and union”and will be in charge of Atchugarry, who will work on an honorary basis on the artwork that would be finished in November.
The bronze eagle —which is characterized by having its wings spread and the Nazi swastika in its claws, measures 2.8 meters long by 2 meters high and weighs 350 kilos— was recovered in 2006 from the Silver river —where he participated in the battle of December 13, 1939— by private rescuers. Since 2022, and after the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justicethe piece is property of the State.
“In times of division, violence, and war in the world, our country’s signal to our people and to the outside world is that we are a society of peace and unity and we try to help with the symbols that are so important in the life of humanity”, Lacalle Pou said at the press conference, in which he also said that the idea for this project was born more than three years ago, prior to the electoral process that led him to the presidency.
For Atchugarry, it is “an exciting moment, a historic moment. I decide to accept this challenge that the president proposes to me and I believe that everything that can be done for peace is little. Although he also considered that “it will be quite complicated and quite long, we are talking about months of work,” he added.
Luis Lacalle Pou Graf Spee.jpg
What will the process be like?
During the conference, Atchugarry detailed the process for the realization of the work, which will end up measuring 1.70 meters in length. According to the sculptor, the work began in Uruguay with the initial sketch of the dove; continue in Italy with the creation of a three-dimensional marble mold of Carrara; and they will end up in the country with the casting of the bronze of the eagle, which will be in charge of a company in Montevideo.
Making the mold will take about three months and it is expected to arrive in Uruguay in September, so the estimated completion date is November. The place where the work will be exhibited has not yet been defined, although one of the options being analyzed is to locate it in the department of Maldonado, at the point where the ocean meets Atlantic and the Rio de la Plata.
Source: Ambito
