National Public Art｜Monumental Realist Sculpture｜Urban Cultural Landmark

“Hami Spirit” is a national-level public art project in China, led and conceptually designed by the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, with ODE responsible for the fabrication, on-site implementation, and installation.

All human figures within the work were individually sculpted by faculty teams from the sculpture departments of China’s four major fine arts academies. Each character was developed through one-to-one independent modeling and executed according to museum-grade sculptural standards, preserving the realism, movement, and emotional presence of each figure.

While conventional engineering sculptures are commonly cast in brass, and fine art sculptures are more often produced in tin bronze, this project uniquely adopted nickel silver for the entire casting process. Nickel silver offers outstanding resistance to corrosion, oxidation, and ultraviolet exposure, making it especially suitable for Hami’s dry climate, intense sunlight, and extreme temperature differences between day and night. This ensures long-term outdoor durability while maintaining the sculpture’s metallic texture and surface integrity.

The entire project was produced using the lost-wax precision casting process, allowing for highly detailed restoration of facial expressions, garment folds, body movements, and musical instrument textures, fully expressing the artistic depth and realism of monumental figurative sculpture within the public space.