Inclusion Daily Express -- Naked, Pregnant And Proud Statue Unveiled At Trafalgar Square

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Naked, Pregnant And Proud Statue Unveiled At Trafalgar Square
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 15, 2005

LONDON, ENGLAND--It stands 12 feet high and weighs just under 12 tons and took 10 months to sculpt.

And disability groups in Britain hope the white marble sculpture of photographer Alison Lapper, which was unveiled Thursday on the Fourth Plinth (pedestal) in London's Trafalgar Square, will have as big an impact on attitudes toward people with disabilities.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone described the statue's model as "a modern heroine -- strong, formidable and full of hope".

Lapper was born with very short legs, but without arms. She posed nude for the sculpture when she was eight months pregnant. At the time, she told reporters that the work celebrates single motherhood, acceptance of disability, and her own body as a thing of beauty.

When the sculpture was unveiled for all to see, Lapper said: "I regard it is a modern tribute to femininity, disability and motherhood."

"It is so rare to see disability in everyday life -- let alone naked, pregnant and proud. The sculpture makes the ultimate statement about disability -- that it can be as beautiful and valid a form of being as any other."

Sculptor Marc Quinn said: "For me, Alison Lapper Pregnant is a monument to the future possibilities of the human race as well as the resilience of the human spirit."

"I love the idea of someone digging it up in 5,000 years' time and wondering who it was," he added.

Patricia Place, Executive Director of London Disability Arts Forum, told BBC Ouch!: "I think that it is a great statement of the disabled people's movement and of disability."

The sculpture, entitled "Alison Lapper Pregnant" will be displayed on the Fourth Plinth for 18 months. It will then be up for sale.

Related:
"Quinn prepares to unveil Trafalgar Square sculpture" (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1568604,00.html
'Alison Lapper Pregnant' unveiled" (BBC Ouch!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/news/btn/lapper/
"Square's naked sculpture revealed" (BBC News)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4247000.stm
Gallery: "Alison Lapper Pregnant' (BBC Ouch!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/news/btn/lapper/1.shtml

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