Luciano Fabro

La colonna di Genk

On 1 May 2008 the Genk column, or la colonna di Genk, as Luciano Fabro baptised his creation, found its definitive spot in Genk's city square.
It is a shame the artist could not be there…
La colonna di Genk was Fabro's final creation. Luciano Fabro, born in Turin in 1936 died unexpectedly on 22 June 2007.

As a mark of honour to Luciano Fabro and the passion and enthusiasm with which he worked on his final work, the column made its entry into Genk with the necessary spectacle during the May Day procession.

With his colonna di Genk Fabro depicted Genk history and the diversity of Genk society in a special and poetic way.

The column is constructed from two parts of a white marble Doric column, and jammed in between there is a large piece of black volcanic pumice stone. Fabro found the stone in the port of Carrara. Its shape and the deep black hue reminded him of the Genk coal mines, of the glory of the black gold and the econimic boom it generated.

However, the stone also reminded him of his many compatriots who came to Belgium, and who, together with their colleagues from Belgium and other countries, worked deep underground, black with coaldust.

The work represents the strength of a people to incorporate the past and to gain strength from it to build a beautiful and solid future. The new multicultural population is represented as the base, literally the pillar of society and the foundation of culture.

In the capital, Fabro engraved the message:

'Per millenni un populo costrui attorno a sí; bellezza, fatta di luce, di misura, di armonia, poi una generazione venne resa schiava dai suoi stessi fratelli e gettata nell'inferno buio, e informe. Qui ora si riunisce per riprendere il suo antico cammino.'

translated as:

'For thousands of years a people created beauty around it, it was made of light, measure and harmony. Then came the generation that was made into slaves by its own brothers and cast into the dark, amorphous hell. Here it is reunited to follow the old path.'

Genk-centre, Stadsplein