There is a new addition at Emancipation Park in Kingston with the creation of ‘Heroes Walk’ a historic corridor featuring busts of Jamaica’s seven national heroes.
Located at the south-eastern end of the park immediately after leaving the ‘Redemption Song’ statue, each bust is conveniently mounted facing another,with short easily readable inscriptions on the base.
Sculptor, Basil Watson in an exclusive interview with Jamaicaglobalonline noted that the busts have been arranged in historical sequence beginning with Nanny and ending with the busts of Norman Manley and Alexander Bustamante. Queried about the empty base facing the statue of Nanny, Watson says it symbolically, represents the next national hero.
We suggested to Watson that creating the bust of Nanny must have been the most challenging of the seven. Not so says the artist, explaining that because there is no commonly accepted image of Nanny, it gave him the freedom to create the features that he thought best characterized her. As for the others, he relied on photographs as well as his own knowledge, backed up by research into the careers, personalities and exploits of each hero. All told, it took him eight months to complete all seven busts.
He even suspended work on the heroes busts to create the 7-foot statue of Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce which has also been completed and is to be unveiled in October.
And as if he didn’t have enough major projects on his plate Watson revealed that even before the Fraser-Pryce statue is mounted and unveiled, Jamaica will have a statue of Louise Bennett as early as the first week in September this year. The 8-foot statue of Miss Lou is nearing completion and will be mounted in Gordon Town, St Andrew, the village where Miss Lou lived for many years.
Watson expressed to jamaicaglobalonline his wish that with the erection of these busts and statues, Jamaicans will develop an appreciation of the importance of public monuments. He rues the fact that there is currently no listing of the various statues and monuments that exist throughout the island and no recognition given to the artists who created them.
Maquette of statue of Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce unveiled
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