Sud Obelisk is a

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

work in

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, created by

Faouzi Laatiris Faouzi Laatiris (born 1958, in Imilchil, Morocco), is an artist who lives and works in Tétouan and Martil, in Morocco. Biography A graduate of the Institut National des beaux-arts in 1983 and the École des beaux-arts in Bourges (France) in 19 ...

. The work is an engraved

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

Description

The artwork is an

, which appears directly from the ground without basing. Realized in reinforced

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

, it is covered with black

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, and covered with golden

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

. On one side, names of the city and other places in the world are engraved in Latin characters and Arabic calligraphy, which are endowed with obelisks and are reference places of art. The obelisk, belonging to the vocabulary of classical Egyptian architecture, is the most elaborate shape of universal rites of raised stones. Such monuments, of classic, modern or contemporary periods decorate most of the Western and African metropolises today. Sud Obelisk, also makes reference to the

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

, which as a

rite Rite may refer to: * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition Religion * Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations * Catho ...

is an integral part of Cameroonian life. Sud Obelisk was inaugurated during the Salon Urbain de Douala - SUD 2007.

References

Bibliography

* Pensa, Iolanda (Ed.) 2017. Public Art in Africa. Art et transformations urbaines à Douala /// Art and Urban Transformations in Douala. Genève: Metis Presses. * Verschuren, K., X. Nibbeling and L. Grandin. (2012): Making Douala 2007-2103, Rotterdam, ICU art project * Marta Pucciarelli (2014) Final Report. University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Laboratory of visual culture

{{subject bar, auto=yes, commonscat=Faouzi Laatiris, Sud obelisk, portal1=Arts, portal2=Cameroon Culture in Douala Public art in Douala

Description

See also

References

Bibliography