The Japanese Statue of Liberty: Made in
France
-Sylvie Thomas, France
The Coubertin foundry has created a Statue of Liberty similar
to the one in Paris, for Japan. It is a real technological feat that was asked of the
French craftsmen. The mission has been accomplished. The statue, a copy of the original,
now stands proudly at the entrance of Tokyo harbor.
Millions of visitors had come to see it and had become one of
the most photographed monuments in Tokyo. In 1999, the French Statue of Liberty, a copy of
the one in New York of >> Liberty enlightening the world<<, had been erected
for ten months in the Japanese capital, on a promenade overlooking the artificial beach of
Odaiba, on the occasion of "France-Japan Years". It had been a great success and
the Japanese had reluctantly let it return to Paris in September 1999, for the river Seine
fete' of which it was one of the stars. "When the statue left, there was a big void
and many people asked to have it back", Jitsunosuke Kawai, the deputy chairman of
Fuji television Network, explains. So Fuji TV and other companies based in Odaiba decided
to finance a copy of the work designed by French sculptor Frederic'-Auguste Bartholdi in
1886 and presented by France to the United States.
An internationally reputed foundry:
Even if this statue is four times smaller than its big
sister, holding up her flame at the entrance to New York harbor, it was still a big
challenge and presented new technical difficulties. "Everything had to be identical
to the original, from the green patina to the gold leaf covering the torch. We had to
reinvent what Bartholdi may have imagined", Sandrine Boogaerts, assistant engineer to
the project manager explains. "We had to innovate and meet the anti-earthquake
requirements in Japan. We handed over this task to the Coubertin foundry which had an
artistic approach".
The Coubertin foundry, located in Saint-Remy-les'-Chevreuse,
in the Paris area, took up the challenge. It is used to carrying out exceptional projects
and its reputation made its way abroad a long time ago. At the moment, it is working on
the reproduction, in bronze of a dancer, a work by the Senegalese sculptor, Ousmane Sow.
American artistes deliberately make the journey all the way from the United States to have
their sculptures cast in Saint-Remy.
A technical feat:
For the statue of Liberty, however, the challenge was an
almost impossible mission and all the more so as there was a strict deadline. The statue
was to be erected, inaugurated and floodlit at the end of the year 2000. "'Less than
a year is very short deadline for a work of such a scale", Jean Dubos, in charge of
the foundry, confirms." An understanding on such a scale bears some unknown elements
that only experience will enable us to overcome. It was also complicated to make this
statue identical to its model. Our furnaces were barely big enough for the three parts of
the body, the two arms and the head!" It should be noted that the foundry was also
given the task of making the statue of General de Gaulle for the gardens of the Grand
Palais, at the same time.
So, finally, the craftsmen in Saint-Remy accomplished a real
technical feat. All the elements together weigh no less than 13 tonnes. To manufacture the
base, more than six tonnes of metal had to be cast at a single stroke. The materials used
are contemporary but the method used is traditional. "We used the technique of melted
wax, which we have improved upon with time and our know-how," Jean Dubos points out.
The last elements were cast on 7 July. It then took three
weeks of cooling before the craftsmen could move onto the carving. The statue,
transported, in pieces, in a boat, was accompanied y copper bolts for assembling it, which
was carried out on the spot, on arrival. A few more touches on the patina and the statue
was ready for the inauguration in December, right on schedule. It will now no longer budge
from the prestigious place that was chosen for it, facing the majestic bridge opening up
Tokyo Harbor.
Introduction of the social market economy
One of the most difficult problems confronting the citizens
of the former German Democratic Republic, and one which is causing the biggest changes in
their lives, is the transition from a centrally planned to a social market economy.
Basically, this was a transition from a low level of security to a system, which afforded
opportunities but involved risks. Under the command economy, which prevailed in the former
GDR, there was no competition and no free pricing which reflected costs and shortages.
Many raw materials, energy, staple foodstuffs, as well as bus and train fares, rents etc.
were very cheap and price subsidies ran into billions. But the consequence was careless
waste. Bread, for instance, was fed to cattle because it was cheaper that feed. People
opened up their windows to cool overheated rooms, and houses fell into decay because rents
were not sufficient to meet running costs. The government financed such subsidies by
skimming off the profits from state enterprises, with the result that they, too, had
little funds for investment. Furthermore, wages were very low.
Goods were always scarce on home markets, which meant that
nearly everything could be sold, however, unfashionable or outdated. There was no
competition among firms manufacturing the same type of product. Goods produced in East
Germany were sometimes exported at dumping prices, which came nowhere near meeting costs.
This concealed the fact the East German products were rarely able to compete on
world-market terms.
The introduction of social market economy is drastically
changing all this. There is no price control and markets are open to all products from all
over the world. It soon became obvious that most companies in the new German states have
obsolete equipment and are ineffective, and that their workforce is too large. Many of
them have no chance of survival whatsoever because, even with heavy investment, they would
not be able to produce at the prices that would stand pressure of international
competition. Other companies require a complete overhaul. They have to reproduce
production plant and streamline the workforce. In the long term, those manufacturing new
lines in new factories, as well as the crafts and services sector, will have the best
chances. Probably in ten to twenty years, the new German states will have the most modern
equipment in Germany.
Although over a million people in the eastern regions have
meanwhile found new jobs, unemployment is still growing because more people are being laid
off than taken on. This most difficult phase of transition will continue for some time.
The former nationalized industries and real estate owned or
confiscated by the government in the GDR has already been placed in the hands of the newly
established trust agency by the East German government under Hans Modrow. This, the
"largest industrial combine in the world", was responsible for the fate of some
9,000 companies. It had to decide whether they could be privatized and, if so, whether
they should first be rehabilitated, or whether they had no future whatsoever and therefore
had to close down.
Similarly, the heavy subsidies to which the East Germans had
grown accustomed could not be maintained. Energy prices, the fares charged for public
transport, postal charges, and above all, rents have to be increased. This has to be done
without social hardship. Of course, but prices have to go up gradually so that eventually
costs can be more or less covered and there will be sufficient funds to renovate housing
and make new buildings profitable. This places a considerable burden on many people in the
new states. On the other hand, the prices of many products, especially high quality
foodstuffs, clothing, consumer durable and cars have fallen considerably, so that on
balance the purchasing power of incomes and pensions is not at all less than previously.
And access to the world markets has brought in goods of a diversity and quality previously
unknown in the GDR.
The reconstruction of East Germany's economy cannot be
completed overnight. It is a task with considerable social problems, such as a high rate
of unemployment, and causes drastic changes in people's lives. The hallmark of a 'social'
market economy, however, is that the social net consisting of unemployment benefit, social
welfare, housing allowance, child and child-rearing allowances, as well as public welfare
institutions, prevents serious want. Help is also provided through job-creation measures,
retraining the qualification schemes.
At any rate, the problems that have arisen cannot be blamed
on the new system but on the catastrophic legacy of the old one. This still holds true
despite the fact that in the transformation process some improvements could have been
carried out more quickly and that there have been omissions, and, of course, mistakes.
There is no precedent in history for a change on this scale. |
