As Harry Belafonte might have put it:
“Down the way where the nights are gay,
And the sun shines daily on the mountain top.
I took a trip on a sailing ship and when I reached Jamaica,
my eyes just popped!
For, just erected (if I might use that word) in Kingston’s Redemption Park is a new sculpture commemorating the liberation of Jamaican slaves. Nothing too controversial about that you might think, but it features a 7 foot naked man and 7 foot naked woman, whose nakedness is well…so true to form, that hey! We’d all be naturists if the creator had endowed us thus!
I’m afraid you’ll have to read on if you’re prurient enough to want to check it out.
The Guardian ran this piece ( I know…) which contains a photo for those uninterested in pursuing the cultural questions any further. (Sorry, couldn’t resist inserting it, so to speak – KAP)
The Wooah! furore has consumed Jamaica with commentators offering views ranging from “just because the Greeks sculpted small penises, doesn’t mean Jamaicans have to have them” to “when people look upwards all they see is a large penis and a stacked rack.” Debate about the merits of public statuary are nothing new but they usually revolve around the “what’s it supposed to be” head-scratching syndrome. In this case, however, it seems that self-evident reality is too confronting for some. Where’s Jackson Pollock when you need him? Let alone Calvin Klein undies and a Wonderbra – at the very least?
I liked this quote from the Guardian feature
“See the woman standing there naked with her high breasts,” one mother told her two daughters as they stood before the statue. “See the man standing opposite with his penis still flaccid and they’re not even touching. That is emancipation.”
And the words that adorn the statue’s base?: Bob Marley’s – ” “None but ourselves can free our minds”. Right on.
Not sure we’d all be naturists, Geoff. Seems inevitable to me that some kid would be worried — “I’m only ten inches!”
Yeah…I guess that kind of disadvantage is more common than we might think Mark…
Those are Marcus Garvey’s words y’know.
More pictures and commentary from Afflicted Yard.
That would figure Nardo. Liked the cartoon in the thread you posted…
I enjoyed reading the viewpoints of some of the posters there, too. “limited culture” and “kill the white man! park”, for example. I assume not everyone who posts there is a retard?
Whoops, shit. That’s what I get for not reading it properly.
Is now the time for a “so it’s true what they say about black men” comments?
You’re not black then Dave?
Geoff: in some ways yes, in some ways no.
That’ll be your natural rhythm….
Hate to say this, but the statue of the woman reminds me of a Robert Crumb cartoon.
Yes….I see what you mean….that dates you Gummo – and me. Robert Crumb’s fine artwork adorned the album cover of “Cheap Thrills ” by Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company. It was one of the first LP’s I ever bought. The bloke statue doesn’t look like Robert Crumb. He resembled a weedier Woody Allen.
she a little small astern, gummo .. but I hear you ..