‘Art can be political’ – sculptor of Snowden-Assange-Manning monument

Art is important when it gives the possibility for people to grow up, Italian sculptor Davide Dormino told RT. He has launched a campaign to raise money to erect a “monument to courage” – a statue of three whistleblowers, Assange, Manning, and Snowden.

The founder of the Frontline Club, Vaughan Smith, and his team were inspired to create the monument after Smith got to know Julian Assange, and “got to see some of the documents that he was releasing from Bradley Manning.”

“I felt that is very important that the public do something to support. The reality is that these whistleblowers are our friends… whistleblowers are sustaining democracies by providing us with accurate information that we are not getting from our rulers,” Smith told RT.

READ MORE:‘Courage is contagious’: Artist campaigns for Snowden-Assange-Manning monument

The sculptor, Dormino said that it is going to be a public art project, and in his view art can be political.

“I think it is very important for people to learn from art. Art is important when it gives the possibility to people to grow up,” he said.

The idea of the project – which was developed by Dormino together with American journalist Charles Glass first popped up about a year ago, he said.

The life-size bronze statues of Assange, Snowden, and Manning standing on chairs almost as if they were speaking out will also have an empty fourth chair.

“That is empty for reason,” said Smith. “We are hoping that a member of the public can stand on that ... it is a manner in which we can participate in it,” he added. The monument is Dormino’s vision and it is really “a way for public involvement.”

Smith believes that we are living in the “PR century” that is why “we have so much reliance on these whistleblowers.”

“These whistleblowers have ruined their lives for us and I think it is time for us to respond and the world is full of people who wish to respond and to support them,” said the journalist.

He argues that the project will be welcomed by people who support whistleblowers and appreciate what they have done for them.

Dormino said that anyone happy to share the idea should give money. “We also are using crowd funding and people give money for this. I think that they will be happy because everyone of us wants to be courageous and courage is contagious. People need to do something different if we want to have something different,” he told RT.

Smith claims that the project is going well. He said that if they continue to get support they will confidently reach the £100,000 they need. “We have had a good start but there is more to do. We need people to continue supporting it,” he told RT.

“I think people are a little bit angry. People see that we are getting such poor information from our ruling classes. There are a lot of people out there who want to support, who want to stand on the chair and be counted,” he added.

He believes that it is a way we can communicate with whistleblowers and they are not going to be forgotten.

“We have about £7000 at the moment. We need £100,000,” said Dormino. He also claims that nobody in the team will be paid for their work. “We do this because we believe in an idea,” he added.

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