The whale in the Ardennes Cultur Boulevard
This blue whale is pure manual work, it was manufactured without the assistance of machines in Zimbabwe, in southern Africa. Only with hammer and chisel the artist created this work of art from a raw stone. The stone is a "Springstone", a hard African serpentine.
When Eddious Nyagweta, the stone sculptor from Zimbabwe, received the order for this masterpiece, he said: "I have never seen a whale before, but I will ask the soul of the stone if it is willing to climb with me into the depths of the ocean to feel the power of the whale. Then I will express this feeling in the stone".
The Blue Whale
The blue whale is the largest animal on earth, even larger than the largest dinosaurs were. It is by no means sluggish, but a good and fast swimmer and can reach up to 50 Km/h.
A blue whale can live to be 90 years old. It was almost exterminated. From formerly over 250,000 specimens only approx. 700 animals survived the commercial whaling. It is a symbol of wisdom, strength and size.
But also the exploitation of nature by humans. The greed of the whalers almost wiped out this interesting experiment of evolution.