13.5m tall Airfix "Kit" of famous ship unveiled in Titanic Quarter

If I’d been around last night, I’d have tried to head across to Titanic Quarter so see its first piece of commissioned public art launched as part of Belfast Festival. Artist Tony Stallard was to give a talk and then unveil his "Kit" sculpture in the ground floor of the ARC Abercorn Residential Complex (ARC).

The Belfast Telegraph described the unveiling of the “giant toy modelling kit of the Titanic”:

One hundred years after Belfast's ship builders put together the original vessel, scale replicas of its component parts have now returned to docks in the form of an innovative public artwork.

Fittingly, present-day engineers from Harland and Wolff - the firm that built the famous passenger ship - helped in the construction of the towering bronze sculpture, which is inspired by the plastic frames synonymous with Airfix model kits.

Standing at 13.5 metres tall, the £200,000 piece was designed by English artist Tony Stallard and has been erected on the former shipyards at Belfast Lough.

‘Kit’ will be highlighted with blue and white phosphorous lighting at night.

The Essex-born artist said he hoped the artwork symbolised Belfast as an industrial pioneer at the time of building the Titanic.

"It references the industrial heritage of the area and can be seen as a reverie of the past, to create nostalgia of what was once heroic," said Mr Stallard.

"It is designed to act as a contemporary tribute to the shipbuilders. The sculpture is 'see through' and transient, almost mythological."

Mike Smith, chief executive of Titanic Quarter hailed the artwork.

"The Tony Stallard sculpture is magnificent," he said.

"At Titanic Quarter we are building the future from the past and Kit, with its references to the Titanic's creation and the industrial heritage of the area, is a perfect illustration of that."

(Illustrative photos from Belfast Telegraph article.)