One month, one sculpture : Celebrating the Paris Olympics, “Salon” by Alison Saar

The opening of the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024 marked the unveiling of a new public artwork by Saar in the Charles-Aznavour Garden on the city’s Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The monument, titled The Salon, depicts a Black woman holding an olive branch and a golden flame, surrounded by a circle of chairs that viewers are welcome to sit upon. It is meant to represent peace, inclusion, as well as the power of women.

Sources :
– The Olympic Museum
– France 24 English

Alison Saar (born February 5, 1956) is a Los Angeles-based artist and sculptor. Her artwork focuses on African cutlures and black female identity and is influenced by African, Caribbean, and Latin American folk art and spirituality.

She has created several public works throughout the course of her career. One of her most publicized works of the early 2000s includes a memorial to Harriet Tubman titled Swing Low.
(Check Ms Mujic’s article.)

(ESL teaching : for educational purposes only)