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Forward Statue

I took this photo of the Forward statue in 2000. The red paint, presumably representing blood, is probably sending the message that the people of Birmingham shed blood while toiling to progress the advance of Birmingham as a manufacturing city. Like others have remarked, it does seem similar to Russian posters of the 1930s and 40s and therefore not typical of Birmingham. Dave.
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I took this photo of the Forward statue in 2000. The red paint, presumably representing blood, is probably sending the message that the people of Birmingham shed blood while toiling to progress the advance of Birmingham as a manufacturing city. Like others have remarked, it does seem similar to Russian posters of the 1930s and 40s and therefore not typical of Birmingham. Dave.
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Farmerdave I could never stand that , I thought what a total waste of money by BCC . Looks as though others agreed with me too although I would never have set light to it . The money paid for this would certainly have been a benefit to some other deserving case , I did'nt take a liking to that other eyesore Birmingham Family what a waste of money .
 
I always hated the stature and was quite glad when someone set fire to it.

It was a cheap badly made statue.

One of the things I hated was that the man's arm that was held aloft at the front was totally out of scale.

If he had put it by his side his hand would have almost reached the floor. Compare it with the length of the other arm which is against his chest.
 
I thought the Forward Sculpture would not have looked out of place in Red Square Moscow.
I disliked it intensely and it did not reflect Birmingham in any way at all.
I am a fan of the Floozie in the Jacuzzi and really like Lee and Longlands showing a carpet to a customer!
 
I stumbled upon this post and thought it'd be a good idea to revive this thread. It's really a shame that the Forward Statue was vandalized like that. It's always tough when something that was once a symbol of progress and achievement is destroyed. Perhaps the city could even consider creating Bench Monuments, which would serve as both a functional seating area and a symbol of the city's history and progress. Hopefully, with community support, we can come together to create a new symbol that is even more durable and representative of Birmingham's resilience and progress. Keep looking forward!
 
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Agreed, I can understand why people may have not liked the style of the work but I think it far better symbolised the city of Birmingham than the Gillian Wearing statues that are in front of the central library now - just my personal opinion of course!
 
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