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GWK: World's largest statue to be completed in August 2018
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Workers install the copper beak of Garudea on the steel skeleton of Bali's iconic Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue in Jimbaran, Badung regency, on Oct. 15. The 121-meter-tall statue, designed by sculptor Nyoman Nuarta, is set to be completed on Aug. 17, 2018, after enduring numerous challenges since its 1989 conception. (JP/ZUL TRIO ANGGONO)
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he installation of Bali's iconic Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue, located in the namesake cultural park in Jimbaran, Badung regency, is slated to be finally completed in August 2018, nearly three decades after its conception in 1989.
PT Nuart Consultant director Ersat B. Amidarmo told tempo.co on Wednesday that the copper statue, which is about 58 percent complete, would be the tallest and largest in the world.
The work of sculptor I Nyoman Nuarta is expected to become a phenomenal landmark that will compete with the Statue of Liberty in New York. "The Statue of Liberty is 93 meters [tall], while the GWK will reach 121 meters," said Ersat, adding that GWK's pedestal was also much larger, at about eight times the size of the Statue of Liberty's base. The completed statue will be about as tall as a 21-story building.
Read also: Temples in Bali, Central Java most popular man-made landmarks: TripAdvisor
Scheduled to be completed two months before the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings to be held in Bali in October 2018, Ersat said the targeted completion date was mere coincidence. "But it will indeed serve as a good occasion to promote the statue," he added.
The statue's designer, I Nyoman Nuarta, said the Aug. 17, 2018 deadline was "a gift" to mark the 73rd anniversary of Indonesian independence. "Hopefully, the GWK Cultural Park will serve as a cultural mecca for the world, and this work of art can generate income and attract more foreign and domestic tourists," said Nuarta.
Once complete, visitors to the massive statue can expect to stroll through its internal rooms. However, since the statue represents Vishnu, the Hindu god of creation, visitors will only be allowed to visit up to the level of its chest. (kes)
