A life-size Victor Hugo bust will be unveiled next week before going on public display.
It has been designed by internationally acclaimed sculptor and fashion designer Nicole Farhi CBE as a gift to the Victor Hugo Centre which is being planned to open in the former tourism office on the North Esplanade.
Ms Farhi’s bronze sculpture will be unveiled at a celebration dinner next Saturday night marking the 170th anniversary of Hugo’s first arrival in Guernsey.
She and her husband, award-winning British playwright, Sir David Hare, will be at the private ticketed dinner during their first visit to Guernsey.
Ms Farhi said she is hoping to learn more about the place Hugo described as “the rock of hospitality and freedom”.
“Victor Hugo’s legacy of literature, poetry and art, as well as his humanitarian values of human rights, social justice, equality and freedom, have an enduring significance – in France, Guernsey and world-wide. To mark 170 years since Hugo arrived in Guernsey on 31 October 1855, I am offering this life-size bronze bust to honour the island that sheltered and inspired him. Let it stand as a small bridge between France and Guernsey, between art and conscience, between the past of exile and the present of welcome.”
Larry Malcic, chair of the Victor Hugo Centre, said: “Victor Hugo is one of the world’s most recognisable literary figures and his many creative years in Guernsey will inspire islanders and increase international tourism.
“Nicole’s generous donation recalls Hugo’s lasting bond with the island, where he completed and published Les Misérables, and celebrates the Victor Hugo Centre as a focus for Guernsey’s cultural and creative community. The bust by a celebrated international artist signals to audiences in France, the UK and beyond that Guernsey was the island of inspiration for Victor Hugo, the authentic home that nurtured Hugo’s creativity and imagination.”
Before the bust is put on permanent display in the Victor Hugo Centre, people will be able to visit it at Candie Museum.