Sculpture supporting Ukraine installed in Guildhall Square

The sculpture by Standing with Giants founder Dan Barton stands at 10 feet tall and is made of seven tonnes of sheet metal. I Want to Live, which depicts the silhouette of a soldier holding a baby whilst leading a mother and another child to safety, was originally built last year soon after the start of the war and stood in Oxford. Dan said the work took only 12 days from conception to completion.

Dan now hopes to bring the sculpture to be displayed in different places across the UK, but the next stop is undetermined.

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Dan said: ““We normally do much bigger art installations and the idea is to move [I Want to Live] up and down the country.”

Dan said it is important to produce imagery highlighting the plight of the war and hopes it can produce a positive desire for peace on both sides.

Dan said: “Hopefully through Telegram it will get through to the Russian citizens and Russian mothers especially who have lost loved ones.”

Jane Ebel of Salisbury Community Hub for Ukraine said: “It’s such a privilege to have it in Salisbury.”

The sculpture arrived in the Salisbury area a few days early and plans to display it at the Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum shortly before its installation on Guildhall Square were unsuccessful because the sculpture’s height would not allow it to enter into the Cathedral Close through the High Street Gate.

Jane said: “All’s well that ends well. We’ve got it where it absolutely should be, next to the War Memorial in Market Square.”

Archaeologist Phil Harding was on a bike ride when he happened upon the structure during its installation.

Phil said: “It is very impactful, and of course the colours of the blue and the yellow infinitely, straight away links it in, and of course, it’s Salisbury’s colours.”

I Want to Live will remain in the Guildhall Square until Friday, March 17.