Bronze Statues of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Bradley Manning unveiled in Berlin--Powerful! [View all]

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Statues of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Bradley Manning unveiled in Berlin

Bronze statues of persecuted whistleblowers Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Bradley Manning were unveiled in Berlin on May Day. The statues are part of an art project entitled “Anything to Say?”, the work of Italian artist Davide Dormino, which pays tribute to the courage of the three.

The life-size effigies of the trio stand in a row on chairs beside one extra empty chair. The extra chair invites passersby to express their solidarity with the three whistleblowers and share their own views publicly.

In an online statement, Dormino says: “History never had a positive opinion of contemporary revolutionaries. You need courage to act, to stand up on that empty chair even if it hurts.”

Hundreds of people gathered in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz on Friday, with many adults and also children mounting the chair to air their views to the assembled crowd.



Davide Dormino and his sculptures

The WSWS spoke with Dormino, an artist who also teaches sculpture and drawing at the Rome University of Fine Arts (Libera Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma).

Stefan Steinberg: What was your motivation for this project?

Davide Dormino: I was speaking to my friend, the American author and journalist, Charles Glass, about courage and the importance of adopting a critical attitude toward authority, and gradually the concept for the project emerged.

This has been an element in my art work for many years, in fact, from the very beginning. I am a firm advocate of public art. I believe that such art is a great chance to speak to a broad audience, and I believe art is a great opportunity to help people to mature and develop their ideas.

I came up with the idea of three figures standing on chairs. Why the chairs? The chair has a double meaning. It can be something comfortable, but we can also use it to elevate ourselves and gain a new perspective. The idea was to represent three icons of our contemporary world, three men who defied the system. They chose the chair of courage … but the empty chair is the most important part of the sculpture. It is an opportunity for us to stand up, to get a better view and share their courageous stance.

Perhaps you may remember the scene in the film, Dead Poets Society [1989], where the pupils stand on the tables as an example of courage and the rejection of blind authority—I think we need such courage today.

There was an amazing reaction in Berlin at Alexanderplatz. Everybody felt that it was an all-inclusive moment. Some people stood on chairs and expressed their support for the whistleblowers, some said nothing. It was very important.

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https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/05/07/davi-m07.html