QMA installs five-meter Zidane ‘head-butt’ statue on Corniche

10 years ago | Posted in: Sports | 798 Views

A new landmark is being erected on Qatar’s Corniche this morning: a five-meter (16-foot) high bronze statue depicting a famous scene of two fighting footballers.

The controversial sculpture, ”Coup de Tête” – or “Head Butt” in English – was created by Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed, and captures the moment when French football player Zinedine Zidane head-butted Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup.

Zidane, who was playing in his last match, was red-carded and sent off the field. Minutes later, Italy beat France, winning the tournament.

The statue, which was bought by the Qatar Museums Authority for an undisclosed sum, will be a permanently installation on the Corniche near Al Mourjan restaurant.

It journeyed here following a successful spell outside the Pompidou center in Paris, where it was a popular draw for tourists. Jean Paul Engelen, QMA’s director of Public Art, told Doha News that he expects the sculpture to be equally popular in Qatar:

“Yes, we expect a lot of people to want to take photos with it, and of it.

It’s an impressive piece. It’s a huge sculpture, and it’s done in the same style as Greek Mythological statues, but this glorifies human defects instead. It shows that although we sometimes treat footballers like gods, they’re not – they’re just human beings.”

Coup de Tête is being installed as part of the QMA’s public art program, which was also behind eL seed’s “calligraffiti” artwork on Salwa Road underpasses, Richard Serra‘s “7” at the Museum of Islamic Art Park, Sara Lucas’ “Perceval” in Aspire Park (a life-sized bronze sculpture of a Shire horse) and Gupta’s Ghandi’s Three Monkeys at Katara. see more

source: dohanews

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