TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

World Ocean Conference: Monument of hope

Putting it all together: Pintor (left) checks on the stainless-steel words part of a monument for the upcoming World Ocean Conference

Indah Setiawati (The Jakarta Post)
DENPASAR
Tue, May 5, 2009

Share This Article

Change Size

World Ocean Conference: Monument  of hope

Putting it all together: Pintor (left) checks on the stainless-steel words part of a monument for the upcoming World Ocean Conference.

A new 9-meter-high monument has been created to complement the May 11-15 World Ocean Conference (WOC) and the Coral Triangle Initiatives (CTI) summit in Manado, North Sulawesi.

However, it will not only be memorable for the conference’s participants, or simply a striking background for the photo session of the six heads of state behind the launch of the CTI, an initiative aiming to halt the degradation of coral colonies and preserve the vulnerable species from the impact of global warming.

The monument carries a deeper message for mankind to safeguard the ocean, which is the key to preventing global warming according to its designer and creator, Pintor Sirait. “The ocean contains the world’s oldest history. If we don’t protect it, that knowledge will be gone.”

He said he wanted to inspire the monument’s visitors’ curiosity about nature, to arouse their thoughts so they would come up with initiatives and actions to help save the ocean.

During an interview at his workshop in Sanur, Bali, Pintor stressed the monument was a purely public art, saying he was not afraid the design would be copied. “The more people see it, the more successful the artwork is. This is for the public. It showcases Indonesia, not me.”

The management of the Grand Kawanua Convention Center, a venue hosting the environmental conference, and a group of anonymous businesspeople initiated the establishment of this monument. Their idea instantly won the approval of the WOC 2009 committee.

Pintor’s expertise in creating high-quality, steel pieces led to him being chosen as the designer and executor of the monument.

“He chose the best stainless steel for the monument....,” said Ermilian H. Thabrani, a public relations officer and convention consultant of the WOC.

Carved in steel: The lines prepared for the World Ocean Conference monument.
Carved in steel: The lines prepared for the World Ocean Conference monument.

The monument will be placed at the front gate of the Convention Center. It will be at the center of a large pond, with the flags of the six CTI countries in the background.

Its upper part consists of six species of coral reef that represent the six countries bordering Southeast Asia’s Coral Triangle – Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.

The design of the six species of coral reef earlier initially formed a circle, but Pintor later slightly changed it by creating a space within the circle to show the Coral Triangle did not exclusively belong to the six countries.

Dubbed the “Amazon of the Seas”, the 5.7-million-square-kilometer triangle is a global center for overseas marine biodiversity to breed, featuring more than 600 coral species and 3,000 fish species.

The middle part of the monument consist of four sides of stainless steel capital letters that read “to understand and to cherish are the keys to unlocking the hidden knowledge of our vast ocean”.

The bottom part, also made of the steel, is carved with signatures of the six heads of state and a dedication saying: “Leaders of the world’s most pristine coral reefs pledge to sustainably manage and conserve the marine mega-biodiversity for generations to come.”

Pintor said the monument’s making process started with the creation of the steel capital words. The development of the coral reef design and the bottom part followed later.

“The whole process, from the design through to the execution, takes about three months.”

Pintor’s workers in Yogyakarta are making eight replicas of the monument to be presented to the six heads of state and to two donor countries.  

The monument will be the icon for the conference, which will be attended by delegations from 121 countries to discuss efforts to protect marine environments and species from the impact of climate change.

— PHOTOS COURTESY OF PINTOR SIRAIT

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.