Why is there a tiny bunny in Nelson Mandela’s ear?
Two artists are drawing controversy after they placing a tiny rabbit inside the ear of a 30-foot bronze statue of Nelson Mandela to serve as a “small trademark” for their work.
Nelson Mandela laid to rest | Remembering Nelson Mandela
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- A statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela is unveiled at the Union Buildings on December 16, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. South African president Jacob Zuma unveiled a 9 meter bronze statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela as part of the Day of Reconciliation celebrations. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
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- A tiny rabbit is seen in the right ear of a 9-metre (30-feet) bronze statue of the late former South African President Nelson Mandela in Pretoria, January 21, 2014. The rabbit, which has yet to be removed, was placed by the sculptors as a “small trademark” after being told they were not allowed to add their signatures to the trousers of the nine-metre bronze statue, according to local media. They said the rabbit symbolised the tight deadline they were working under, as “haas” (rabbit) in Afrikaans also translated as haste, the local newspaper reported. Picture taken January 21, 2014. (REUTERS/Stringer)
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- A picture taken on January 16, 2014 shows a sculpture depicting late South African president Nelson Mandela at the Union building in Pretoria, on January 16, 2014. The South African government has ordered the removal of a rabbit that was secretly sculpted into a recently unveiled statue of Nelson Mandela, an official said on January 22, 2014. The artists who built the nine metre (30-foot), bronze colossus in Pretoria, added a rabbit into the ear of the statue, without clearance from government. Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren, who sculpted the 9m bronze-plated statue, told a local newspaper that the rabbit in the ear of Mandela was a “small trademark” of their work, as the department had not allow them to engrave their signatures on the statues trousers. (AFP/Getty Images)
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- Helicopters carrying the South African flag fly over a 9-meter bronze statue of South African former president Nelson Mandela which was unveiled on December 16, 2013 on the lawns of the Union Buildings, the seat of government in Pretoria where Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president in 1994. On a public holiday dedicated to reconciliation, South Africans on Monday started coming to terms with the loss of Nelson Mandela, a day after he was buried at the end of a life struggle for freedom and equality. (Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela is covered before being unveiled at the Union Buildings on December 16, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. South African president Jacob Zuma unveiled a 9 meter bronze statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela as part of the Day of Reconciliation celebrations. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
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- A statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela is unveiled at the Union Buildings on December 16, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. South African president Jacob Zuma unveiled a 9 meter bronze statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela as part of the Day of Reconciliation celebrations. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren, who sculpted the 9m bronze-plated statue, told a local newspaper that the rabbit in the ear of Mandela was a “small trademark” of their work, as the department had not allow them to engrave their signatures on the statues trousers. They said the rabbit symbolized the tight deadline they were working under, as “haas” (rabbit) in Afrikaans also translated as haste, the local newspaper reported. – Reuters
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