Shinki Kato

Nara ties strengthened through sculpture

THE TIES that bind Canberra to its Japanese sister city are about to be enshrined in a steel sculpture.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has given Japanese artist Shinki Kato approval to create an 8m high pagoda to be installed at Yarralumla's Nara Park.

The $200,000 work, Toku, will be a homage to the links between the capital and the 1300-year-old city of Nara.

Kato has modelled his design on Nara's five-story pagoda, built in 725 under the reign of Empress Komyoh.

The sculpture is made of rusted steel plates, with a main hall of natural stone placed off the ground so as to appear to be floating.

The commissioning coincides with a government decision to rename Nara Park Nara Peace Park.

"In deciding to rename the park, I was mindful of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's public call, during his own visit to the Hiroshima Peace Park and Memorial in Japan, for the people of the Asia-Pacific region to make the 21st century a century of peace," Mr Stanhope said.

"We each have a part to play in turning that aspiration into a reality, and our sister city relationships, driven from the grassroots of our community, are a big part of making that happen."

The Chief Minister met Nara's former mayor, Akira Fujiwara, when the latter visited Canberra in September 2008, and the two agreed to commission an artwork for the park in Lennox Gardens.

Kato's design was among five short-listed.

"The concept of my monument rests upon the idea that the five-storied pagoda represents the city of Canberra and the main hall, the city of Nara, thereby expressing in concrete forms the amicable relationship and mutual understanding shared by the two cities, as well as the sister city interaction that has kept the two cities in close touch for many years," he said in his submission.