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GARUDA WISNU KENCANA LAND ART

SAVES THE ENVIRONMENT

The land art of GWK

The present location for the Mandala Garuda Wisnu Kencana project is in existing limestone quarry that was last mined in 1990. There is a considerable a mount of erosion that has occurred over the years. With a proper design in infrastructure and implementation of landscaping, it should become a model for future Balinese landscaping.

With the assistance of Udayana University, an environmental study has been achieved. There are many issues that create obstacles for such an ambitious project as the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Park. The hill does not have adequate infrastructure to service a project of this scale let alone the environment and daily requirements of the people in general. After years of study GWK has designed a built-in infrastructure to service not only the project but also to act as the network of services to the hill for it’s future.

The Mandala Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park is being built in anticipation of the expected growth of the tourism in Southeast Asia, which should peak at 100 million by the end of the century. The estimated number of International visitor in 1.34 million in 1995, which expected to rise to 2.36 million in the year 2000 and by the year 2010 to reach 7.34 million. Domestic tourists from 1.46 million in 1995 should reach 2.57 million by the end of the century and 8 million by the year 2010.

The Mandala Garuda Wisnu Kencana project, with its multiply effect have establishing multiplier benefit for the community surrounding the location. The bukit villagers has adopted as employees and feeding up on it. Similar with the development of dam in Java island, where the project give advantages for the community of agriculture with its irrigation and the power plan, in Bali as the area of tourism center, where the community live from tourism, development of new destination of tourism in Bali, always will give more prosperity life for the people.

Today's challenge is the creation of a viable sustainable model in which able to support the tourist economy while coming to term with the seemingly unquenchable thirst for unregulated growth.

A tourist income multiplier is basically a coefficient which express the amount of income generated in an are by an additional unit of tourist spending. Tourism expenditure is an invisible export in that it creates a flow of foreign currency into the economy of the destination, regarding to this project, it is Bali and Indonesia as well.

THE DIMENSION OF GARUDA WISNU KENCANA STATUE

Outwardly the size of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue is 146 meters high and above sea level is 283 meters. Wing's wide is 66 meter with 4000 tons total weight. The statue is made from mix copper and brass welding, several parts coat with mosaic of gold. This 146 meters high has two components there are the principal constituent the statue and the pedestal with its function as the central of World Cultural Forum For the time being, the 15% of the statue figure as Wisnu with 22 meter high exhibited at Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, meanwhile the construction of the whole statue still on going process.

THE SCULPTOR OF GARUDA WISNU KENCANA

Nyoman Nuarta was born in the small town of Tabanan, Bali, on November 14, 1951 into a successful and notable business family. He received his earliest education from a highly disciplined (and strict disciplinarian) uncle who was a 'Kelihan Adat'.

Consider sculpture is his life and raison d’etre, Nuarta completed high school in Bali and later graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in 1979. Now he lives in Bandung with his wife is Cynthia L. Nuarta and two daughters are Tania and Tasya.

Even in his early chilhood the prevailing religious and cultural environment in Bali caused him to be involved in the cultural and artistic activities of his home town in which he enjoyed the full support and encouragement of Ketut Dharma Susila, his drawing teacher, the first person to introduce him into the world of fine arts.

His professional career started while he was a student, when he joined the 'Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia' (the Indonesian New Art Movement) in 1977 with his best friends Hardi, Dede Eri Supria, Harsono and art critiques Jim Supangkat, participated in group’s exhibitions in Bandung and Jakarta. In recognition of his earliest creations, the statue of Indonesian Proclamators, he received an award from Presiden Soeharto in 1979.

In the future development of his career, after having overcome many obstacles, Nuarta succeeded in establishing a group of professionals supported by young artists and served by some 40 personnel under a professional management system.