"Hold Me Close" by French sculptor Louise Bourgeois goes on display at the coastal Nopparat Thara National Park. The Office of Contemporary Art and Culture funded the memorial site.

Other memorial pieces gracing landscapes of the Andaman coast include the huge stainless steel "Spirit of the Universe" by Udon Jiraksa at Phuket's Kamala Beach and Swede Lars Englund's metal creation "Stabile" at Takua Pa in Phang Nga.

Bourgeois, 96, designed the sculpture in New York last year and hopes "Hold Me Close" will become a symbol for the victims of the December 26, 2004 disaster.

She said her work was in

harmony with nature and the sculpture has a background of dense bush leading to the ocean and a view of Koh Phi Phi.

Initially the memorial was planned for the island but a dispute with land-owners saw it relocated to the mainland.

Delays saw the official opening postponed from December. The work is in fact two installation pieces hidden by bush. The first piece can be seen by taking a 40-metre wooden walkway surrounded by trees. The sculpture depicts a child's hand in bronze beneath a granite wave.

Walk towards the beach and the second section comes into view. Inside a wooden dome are the hands of a man and women in gold leaf on bronze. The women's hands were modelled from the artist's.

"Bourgeois' sculpture is designed especially to be in harmony with the national park. The artist aimed to create a tranquil atmosphere allowing the viewer to contemplate her work as a form of mental healing," said Prof Apinan Poshyanand, the director of the contemporary art office.

The work was donated to Thailand by the artist and is valued at Bt6 million. On a plaque inside the dome the artist wrote: "This tragedy reminds us how fragile our lives are and how little in life we can do except to hold onto each other. These hands say, 'I will not let you go, but do not abandon me. Hold me close forever and ever'."

"We hope the site will become a memorable, both for relaxing with art and a spiritual place for locals," Apinan said.

Phatarawadee Phataranawik

The Nation

NOPPARAT THARA BEACH, KRABI