SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
A 2.6-metre statue of US President Donald Trump, naked and coated in gold leaf, went on display inside the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week, drawing praise from some lawmakers and anger from others.
Titled “The Orange Plague”, the sculpture was unveiled on Tuesday, October 6, according to the Denver Gazette. Its creator, Danish artist Jens Galschiot, announced the unveiling on X a day earlier. The figure is covered in 23-carat gold leaf, which Galschiot says only makes Trump’s nakedness shine brighter.
The European Parliament’s press service has confirmed that the statue is on show at its Winston Churchill building in Strasbourg, fact-checking site Snopes reported.
What the statue shows
The statue depicts a heavyset Trump holding a golf club in one hand, with a golf ball shaped like the world beside him, and the scales of justice in the other. According to the Daily Beast, he is shown riding a frail figure.
Galschiot’s website says the work represents the Trump administration’s assault on climate action and the rule-based world order. The gold plays on Hans Christian Andersen’s fable of the emperor with no clothes, in which the ruler believes his finery makes him great while everyone else can see he is naked.
Who brought it in
Danish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Per Clausen of the left, who invited the artist, sponsored the exhibition. A spokesperson for Clausen told Snopes the two had discussed showing the statue in Parliament for a couple of years.
Clausen defended the display, saying that anyone too thin-skinned to tolerate the sculpture being exhibited has no place on the world stage, the Daily Beast reported. He also said he stands behind challenging and exposing power.
The Sweden Democrats’ group in the European Parliament criticised the exhibit, accusing the far left of dragging an anti-Trump stunt into the chamber.
What happens next
The statue is scheduled to remain in the Parliament until Thursday, October 8, before moving on to the COP31 United Nations climate conference, the Daily Beast reported.
Galschiot has reportedly handed out around 6,000 miniature copies of the statue to delegates and visitors. His spokesperson has said he has no plans to make another Trump statue.
SOURCE : SIASAT
