Existing comment:
"Chengtu-Kunming Railway". The ivory carving depicts the construction of the Chengtu-Kunming Railway, which was opened to traffic on 1 July 1970. The railway covers a distance of 1,085 kilometers. With the iron-chained suspension bridge on the Tatu River, over which the Chinese Red Army made a forced crossing during the Long March, as the background, this ivory carving presents in the center the Tatu River steel Bridge. It also consists of two huge peaks connected by railroad bridge and myriad mountains and rivers through which the railway passes. A multi-layer and multi-facet way of presentation was employed. It concentrates in one picture typical industrial cities, factories, mines, water conservation projects, and terraced fields as well as the joyous people.
The work was carved on eight ivory tusks, which together weighed more than 300 kilograms. The finished piece is 150 cm in length , 110 cm in height, and weighs more than 150 kilograms. The carving is displayed in the third floor passage connecting the Conference and General Assembly Buildings. The Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China made the presentation to the UN in 1974.
The guide mentioned that ivory trade was banned by the UN shortly thereafter. |