A gorilla statue appears on Wall Street: it looks at the 'Charging Bull', which is now surrounded by bananas
'19.10.2021'
Nurgul Sultanova-Chetin
On October 18, a bronze statue of Harambe, the legendary gorilla from the Cincinnati Zoo, appeared on Wall Street. The height of the monument is 2 meters, it was placed right in front of the famous statue “Attacking bull“, Informs NBC New York.
Harambe made headlines in 2016. The gorilla raised and began to carry a 3-year-old boy who climbed into the enclosure, for which she was shot, believing that the child was in danger. Then it caused controversy, because the animal did not show aggression towards the child.
The Wall Street statue of Harambe looks directly at the "Charging Bull", which is surrounded by 10 bananas (later the fruit will be donated to local food banks and public refrigerators). The idea of the composition is to emphasize inequality in the level of well-being.
Sapien.Network, which erected the statue, "prioritizes the needs and well-being of the people." Its organizers and founders said they erected the monument to show that Wall Street became bananas and completely out of touch with the needs of ordinary people.
Idea and challenge
Sapien.Network co-founders Robert Jometti, Tejay Aluru and Ankit Bhatia said they used the Harambe symbol to represent the millions of people who are struggling to survive under the US capitalist system. According to them, the system "enriches the rich elite and pays no attention to ordinary people."
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But, as Giometti said, “This is not about abandoning capitalism or the current system. It is about directing their gaze to the present future and empowering them to empower more groups of people. This is the whole point of this idea. "
“Harambe is the embodiment of something that allows us to look beyond ourselves. What are we striving for as people? It's about the connection. The simple gesture of giving someone a banana helps build a community. As a society, we must unite, ”Jometti stressed.
Harambe was shot dead in May 2016 by zoo keepers fearing for the safety of a three-year-old child. Although the gorilla did not behave aggressively towards him. Some even then said that it looked like the animal was protecting the child.
Harambe's murder sparked a heated debate over the status of primates in captivity and spawned thousands of internet memes. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk even released a new rap single based on the story. The single sold on eBay for nearly $ 100.
