Hoard Not Pictured.
As part of Westminster Council's City of Sculpture festival, a statue of Genghis Khan has been erected by Marble Arch (replacing the Jelly Family).
The 16ft tall statue is by Dashi Namdakov to honour Khan on the 850th anniversary of his birth.
Namdakov was born in a Siberian village in an area historically controlled by nomadic Mongol tribes, & was brought up in the Buryat Buddhist culture, which led to his interest in Buryat & Mongol traditions.
He says "If I wanted to show [Khan] as a warrior I would have shown him as a warrior, but he is a thinker in this case. He is a divine figure in my country."
But opposition Labour councillors have queried why the figure of a man who killed millions must loom over visitors to Marble Arch.
Blustered Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, "What on Earth were Westminster's Conservative councillors thinking when they agreed to it? Who's next? Stalin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein?"
He has a point, but I can't help thinking he's getting on quite a high horse himself...
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