Positive Vibration unveils Bob Marley statue plan for Liverpool

A 7ft tall statue of Bob Marley will be unveiled in Liverpool next week as part of the city's Positive Vibration festival of reggae.

Andy Edwards, the sculptor behind the Beatles statue on the Pier Head and The Truce at Liverpool's Bombed Out Church, has been commissioned to create the new work which is planned to stand – aptly - in Jamaica Street.

It is being created in resin at Castle Fine Arts Foundry which has a site in nearby Bridgewater Street.

Festival organisers say that they decided to commission the statue because of the last difficult 18 months, adding: “The universality of Bob Marley’s message of love, unity and hope is much needed, and the festival wanted to pay tribute to that message and hopefully inspire people.”

Positive Vibration founder Rory Taylor explains: “We want the statue to be a symbol of unity. The world today seems a little bit nasty.

“Bob is a cultural icon – everyone knows who he is. And he’s my hero. We decided to depict him in double denim, with dreds, at the top of his career.

“The whole process has been fascinating. A friend of mine, Dan, who’s a young Rasta, was the model for the physical figure. And when I saw the clay version Andy had sculpted it was unreal.”

Poet Levi Tafari will officially unveil the statue on September 9. The Positive Vibration festival is due to take place at venues in the Baltic Quarter on September 10-11.

More on the festival from the website HERE