Unveiling of Sculpture Inspired by Cyrus Charter in Los Angeles
On July 4th, coinciding with the United States Independence Day celebration, the city of Los Angeles witnessed the unveiling of a sculpture and its associated ceremony; a sculpture named Freedom whose design and concept were inspired by the Charter of Cyrus the Great, according to its designers.
The Culture Foundation, an Iranian-American nonprofit organization that organized the creation of this work, states on its website that this artwork now serves as “the freedom sculpture of America’s western coast.”
Ali Razi, founder and board chair of the Culture Foundation, told the Los Angeles Times that the Charter of Cyrus, which inspired this work, holds special symbolic value for American Independence Day.
He explains that Cyrus the Achaemenid was the first person to build a multicultural empire based on religious freedom and “instead of killing and plundering, gave people the freedom to follow their own religions.”
The designer of this sculpture is British artist Cecil Balmond, whose design was selected from among 300 other designs competing for a budget of $2.2 million to construct the sculpture.
According to Balmond, this design, inspired by the Charter of Cyrus the Great, “is a symbol of the eternal values of freedom and tolerance.”
Cecil Balmond explains that his Freedom sculpture is designed such that people passing by on Santa Monica Boulevard experience the forms on the sculpture as moving and changing writings.
According to the Culture Foundation’s website, the foundation spent four years securing financing for this work and obtaining necessary permits from the Los Angeles municipal government, with most of the work’s cost funded through voluntary donations.
According to the Culture Foundation, “more than one million people” from across America and 50 other countries donated funds for this project.
The Freedom sculpture is located in the middle of Santa Monica Boulevard near the entrance to the Beverly Hills neighborhood. According to the Los Angeles Times, this area is home to approximately half a million Iranian-American residents, the largest Iranian diaspora community outside Iran.
According to the Los Angeles Times, thousands of people gathered at the site for the sculpture’s unveiling ceremony, which was accompanied by music and Iranian food.
This artwork, weighing approximately 9,000 kilograms, is placed on a base made of travertine stone, and all of its parts were completely manufactured in the United States.
Source: Radio Farda
