Imagine heading out for a casual stroll on New Year’s Day to try and shake off the last dregs of your hangover, and you see a new statue has been erected in your town in the distance.
Then you get closer to find, it truly has been erected – because its main feature is a huge penis…
That was actually the case for residents close to Moche, in the western province of Trujillo in Peru, at the start of 2022.
The 10ft tall indigenous statue was installed to mark the new year, but local reports say the event surprised people and drivers passing the area.
Moche district mayor, Cesar Arturo Fernandez, said the statue was donated by a local plastics artist who wanted to contribute something cultural to the area.
He added: ‘A plastics artist asked for permission to install it there. We have always promoted two types of huaco: huaco busts and erotic ones.
‘In our culture, it does not represent eroticism but faith to God. In addition, sexuality must be seen as something normal and natural.’
‘Huaco’ is the Peruvian term for earthen vessels and other pottery works by indigenous people of the Americas. They are often found in ancient burial sites and temples.
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Video footage shows the massive interest around the statue, as crowds of people posed with the phallic monument and stunned motorists slowed down to take a proper look.
The Moche civilisation lived in northern Peru between 100 AD and 700 AD, and its capital was near the present-day Moche.
Its citizens developed a strong tradition of ceramic work, creating figurines, and engineering feats including building irrigation canals and dams to expand their agricultural capabilities.
Giant penis-like statues have also been causing a stir over on the other side of the world during the first few days of 2022.
A four-metre long statue of a potato has been toppled by vandals in Cyprus.
Locals called it the ‘Big Potato’ when it was unveiled last October, but it soon became a viral star for looking like the veined shaft of something quite rude.
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