Tiki Central / General Tiki / UPDATE!: Canadian artist accused of altering Easter Island archeological sites
Post #153527 by Tikiwahine on Mon, Apr 18, 2005 10:05 AM
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Mon, Apr 18, 2005 10:05 AM
Canadian artist accused of altering Easter Island archeological sites Debbie Parkes
MONTREAL -- Montreal artist William Vazan has gained international acclaim for his land, sculptural and photo works. The attention he's been getting in recent days may not be quite what he had hoped for. Vazan is facing charges on Chile's remote Easter Island for allegedly moving rocks on archeological sites to form new figures for his photo works. In an interview Saturday, Vazan's daughter, Montrealer Danielle Vazan, expressed doubt her father would have moved about stones that were clearly of archeological significance. "I think that my dad is fairly intelligent and he knows about this stuff," she said. "Usually my father is respectful of something that has an official historical tag to it." She said her 71-year-old father has travelled as far away as Morocco, Israel and Peru to do his land art and has never run into legal trouble. However, this was, as far as she knows, the first time that he was attempting to do one of his creations in a protected area. She said she hadn't spoken to her father about his legal problems, and only found out about them through a reporter. William Vazan couldn't be reached at the private residence where he was staying early Saturday. He's been ordered to remain on the island while an investigation into his case continues. On Friday, a judge gave authorities 22 days to complete their work. Danielle Vazan said a Canadian Foreign Affairs official told her that embassy officials had spoken to her father but that he declined assistance. Officials at Rapa Nui National Park -- a UNESCO heritage site -- informed police Wednesday about a disturbance at one site, said Enrique Tucki, the park's chief administrator, in a telephone interview Saturday. He said William Vazan wasn't present when officials came across the rock design. However he was located that night with the help of witnesses. Park officials later discovered six more cases of stones that were moved about within the park, Tucki said. He said it appears that some of the cases are relatively minor, in that they appear to have been carried out in "nature" using rocks that aren't of archeological importance. However in two, and possibly three cases, the stones are believed to have been taken from the sites of ancient ceremonial grounds, and possibly even from ceremonial structures themselves. "As far as I know, it's the same all over the world -- you can't just go into a national park or a historical site and set things up or move things around without asking for permission and without presenting a project," said Tucki. Danielle Vazan said her father had been intending to leave Easter Island last Friday and was to have returned to Montreal on April 28. Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is located about 3,700 kilometres off the coast of Chile in the Pacific Ocean. It's best known for its mysterious collection of enormous moai volcanic rock statues that dot the hilly landscape of the island. Tucki said this is the fourth time in two years that complaints have been laid against park visitors for damaging property or moving stones. He said in one case, a Japanese tourist was found guilty of marking a moai with graffiti. In another, a British tourist was found guilty of toppling part of a moai. Last year, an Italian tourist was convicted of scratching a moai, he said. Though he didn't have precise figures in front of him, he said as best as he can remember they were fined amounts ranging from about $4,000 to $6,000 Cdn. -How sadly ironic that this should be announced so close to the anniversary of Thor Heyerdahl's passing.
[ Edited by: Tikiwahine on 2005-05-02 09:56 ] |
