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Hayat Nazer believes in Lebanese resilience. He says those affected by the blast who saw the 2.6-meter statue, temporarily displayed in front of the damaged harbor, felt strength and hope to continue.
He is nearly three meters tall with his arm raised, the wind blows the hair from his scarred face, and a broken clock at his feet marks 6:08 am, the time when an explosion shook the port of Beirut on the afternoon of 4th of August.
The unnamed statue of Lebanese artist Hayat Nazer is made from broken glass and twisted materials that belonged to people’s homes before the explosion that left 200 dead and 6,000 injured and symbolizes the city’s hopes to rise from the rubble.
“If you look at the statue, half has a leg standing, the hand seems to have surrendered, there is a scar on the face with the hair blowing in the wind and the clock on this side, as if the explosion was still happening”, he Nazer told Reuters Television.
“But the other hand and the other leg (…) are bent as if starting to walk and raising his hand, he wants to continue, he wants to go on and get up from the rubble. And this is the truth, this is our truth, ”said the 33-year-old artist.
The massive explosion, which swept across Beirut and left an estimated 300,000 residents homeless, exacerbated Lebanon’s worst financial crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Nazer believes in Lebanese resilience.
The artist says that those affected by the explosion who saw the 2.6-meter statue, temporarily displayed in front of the damaged port, felt the strength and the hope to continue.
Nazer had already started making a sculpture of a woman before the explosion, but volunteered to clean up the destroyed houses and streets. At night, he would go back to the sculpture and use the glass fragments and pieces of metal he had collected.
“I heard that Beirut was a woman (…) who despite what she suffered is very strong,” she said.
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