Abdoulaye Wade of the Senegal has almost completed: Colossus

[Syt]

Senegal's pride and joy, or a towering waste of money?

Its advocates describe it as Africa's long-overdue answer to the Eiffel tower or Statue of Liberty. Its detractors call it an ugly £17m monument to hubris in a country that can ill afford grandiose gestures.

The 49 metre bronze statue, on a hilltop overlooking the Atlantic in Dakar, Senegal, has provoked debate about the role of public art and whether it represents an inspiration or an insult to the poor suffering in its shadow.

The towering structure, depicting a family rising triumphantly from a volcano, is intended to symbolise Africa's renaissance and prove that the continent can build its own monuments to rival those bequeathed by European colonialists.

Critics regard it rather differently, as Africa's latest lavish expression of presidential ego at the expense of the people.

On a rubbish-strewn path below, impoverished residents endure incessant power blackouts and flooding. For some, the situation is so desperate that they risk their lives crossing the sea on flimsy wooden boats bound for Europe.

The statue shows a muscular man in a heroic posture, outstretched arms wrapped around his wife and child. Nearly 50 North Korean workers were brought in to build it, because of their expertise with bronze art, and some Senegalese have complained of its communist-era design. It has also drawn criticism from Muslims, who make up 94% of Senegal's population, because of Islamic prohibitions on representations of the human form.

Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's octogenarian president, has compared the work to some of the west's best-known landmarks, and some Senegalese do regard it as a symbol of pride that has economic spin-offs.

Alassane Cisse, a Senegalese delegate at the world summit on arts and culture in Johannesburg, South Africa, said: "All cities need signatures, but in Dakar we have had only monuments which existed during colonisation. Africa needs its own great monuments like the Eiffel tower and the Statue of Liberty. This symbol of African renaissance will motivate people to rehabilitate and work with Africa."

He added that the site has exhibition, multimedia and conference rooms, as well as a top-floor viewing platform giving a bird's eye view of Dakar. "It will be a cultural place. Around the monument there will be a theatre and shops. Many tourists will visit there, so the economic effects will benefit the population."

But the president has sparked anger by maintaining that he is entitled to 35% of any tourist revenues it generates, because he owns the "intellectual rights".

Critics say the £17m could have been used for more pressing concerns. Djiby Diakhate, a sociologist at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop university, told the Associated Press: "Senegal is going through a profound crisis. Our economy is dying. People are struggling to eat. We should be spending money helping people survive."

Others are ambivalent. George Ajjan, an American political analyst in Dakar, said: "I pass that statue at least once a day, and more often than not, the taxi driver accompanying me makes a snide remark about what a waste of money it is in a country where many people struggle to eat.

"But for tourist purposes, the statue is well-placed, because travellers journeying from the current airport and chic area near the beach to downtown Dakar pass right below it on well-paved, well-maintained roads that hug the coastline. So despite being a boondoggle, it could make a heck of a first impression for a visitor upon arriving in Senegal."

Women walk past rubbish heaps and unfinished homes in a neighborhood at the base of the nearly-completed 50-meter-high (328-foot-high) bronze statue dubbed the Monument of the African Renaissance in Dakar, Senegal.

[jimmy olsen]

49 meters is like half of 328 feet. Buy a calculator.

[Syt]

49 meters is like half of 328 feet. Buy a calculator.

The article didn't specify which size feet they used for comparison.

[Sahib]

Doesn't seem like a wise choice for me. They don't have that many water tiles.

[Syt]

Doesn't seem like a wise choice for me. They don't have that many water tiles.

Au contraire. Dakar seems like an ideal choice.

[DisturbedPervert]

That photo of the statue and trash pile is wonderful   

Also amusing they had to bring in North Koreans to build it.

It is a nice looking statue though

[HisMajestyBOB]

It does have a very "Sovietesque" look to it.
Not that that's a bad thing - if there's one thing the Soviets did well, it was large, intimidating monuments and buildings.

[The Brain]

Why isn't it a statue of Obama? Or is it? We shall see which head they put on the guy.

[Strix]

Why isn't it a statue of Obama? Or is it? We shall see which head they put on the guy.

The jaw of the female isn't manly enough to be his wife.

[Slargos]

Why isn't it a statue of Obama? Or is it? We shall see which head they put on the guy.

The jaw of the female isn't manly enough to be his wife.

Proud black men don't haf to stay wif they baby mama anyhow. Your objection is irrelevant.

[Jaron]

Why isn't it a statue of Obama? Or is it? We shall see which head they put on the guy.

The jaw of the female isn't manly enough to be his wife.

Proud black men don't haf to stay wif they baby mama anyhow. Your objection is irrelevant.

Yay I thought Strix wrote that. Congrats.

[Josquius]

First I've seen of this. My reaction is to Africa:



Sure its just Sengal but still...This is just  typical of much of Afrca.They've got problems on a whole different scale to other countries yet they persist in stupid big projects like this as if they were real, developed countries.

[derspiess]

Why isn't it a statue of Obama? Or is it? We shall see which head they put on the guy.

The jaw of the female isn't manly enough to be his wife.

Ass ain't big enough, either

[Admiral Yi]

Does the typical Senegalese woman have Barbie hair?

[derspiess]

Does the typical Senegalese woman have Barbie hair?

So that's what that is.  I thought it was: