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A violin, some scrap metal and a lifetime of creativity have evolved into a tangible link between UWA and Nanjing University.

Concordia , a steel sculpture by UWA's talented Len Zuks, has been installed in Nanjing which has double connections with Perth. The Chinese city has a sister city relationship with Perth and the university has a research partnership with UWA.

The Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi, and WA's Chief Scientist, Professor Lyn Beazley, presented the sculpture to Nanjing last month during a program to promote science and education in WA throughout The People's Republic of China. UWA's Eva Chye, principal adviser on international relations for north and south-east Asia, accompanied them.

The 2.4 metre high, 2.5 metre wide zinc-dipped steel creation was made by Len for the Beijing Biennale in 2010. He was the first Australian to be invited to exhibit there and this was his third entry in the international arts festival.

Len says he was inspired by a drawing of a violin on a School of Music brochure and he created Concordia to depict femininity and harmony through the violin. "The violin becomes the violinist, an evolving journey reminiscent of life and symbolic of the growing relationship between Perth and Nanjing," he said. Concordia was the ancient Roman goddess of harmony and peace.

When Len visited Nanjing to arrange the gift to the city, he went to the foundry where another Perth artist, Tony Jones, had his sculpture of Eliza (which sits in Matilda Bay not far from UWA) fabricated.

"They were casting bronze panels for a 60 metre high statue of Buddha," he said. "It was the most amazing project I've ever seen. The yard was full of cast bronze pieces about three metres square, which were then going to be welded together on site."

Len has recently been invited to another huge biennale in South Korea next month. "I'll be going with a group of Olympic artists. We all exhibited in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics and have been invited as a group to do some wonderful things together."

Published in UWA News , 3 September 2012