Sign of Soviet Imperialism Traditional Cache
D Force: Gone. This has had a good run. Time to make space for a new one. Thanks for hunting.
Sign of Soviet Imperialism
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This monument/abstract sculpture is also titled Barrier. It resembles three door-shaped steel pieces, with rebar sticking out of the top. There is a list of countries on the steel pieces, with some quotes on others. The three pieces are angled together like a tri-fold display board, with a strong foundation on the bottom. The height of the piece is about 14 feet, and 10 feet wide. It weighs 2,300 pounds. The monument is made of cor-ten steel, rebar, and iron.
The sculpture is dedicated to those who have been denied freedom in Soviet-controlled or Soviet-backed countries and was installed by the Captive Nations Coordinating Committee of Tucson. The names of nineteen captive countries are inscribed on the front of the sculpture. Funds for purchasing materials for the sculpture project were raised by the Cuban, Hungarian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese Clubs of Tucson. The sculpture replaced a sculpture, installed in 1983 by refugee families of the Captive Nations Committee, that had been severely vandalized. Five bricks from the first sculpture are set in the concrete foundation to honor the first effort.
The artist designed the sculpture to resemble the Iron Curtain. He stated that "the holes in it represent the holes where a few get out," and the steel "will hopefully rust away just as we hope the Iron Curtain will." Although Afghanistan appears as one of the captive countries inscribed on the front of the sculpture, local Afghans told the sculpture project organizers that they do not believe Afghan rebels have lost their war with Soviet troops. For related reading see "The Rosano Sculptures," 1984. IAS files contain a related article from the Arizona Daily Star, March 9, 1986; a dedication invitation; and a Summary of Events for the sculpture project.
I have visited 12 of the 18 countries listed!
This cache is at the start of a cool former little multi-cache titled "Little Bit of Heaven - Little Bit of Cache" (GCK6Q1) by The Fang Gang, which was here from 2004 to 2007. http://coord.info/GCK6Q1 http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCK6Q1_little-bit-of-heaven-little-bit-of-cache?guid=08d6b655-dc11-471d-af5e-9a2b1c38ecc8
Thanks tugies for revealing the former cache.
FTF: Poehunters & philbeer...WTG!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
pvgratnz