麻豆传媒映画

There are at least five Easter Island statues in France, according to a counting by The Connexion.

The statues, known as Moai, are renowned monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, a remote island in the Pacific 2,200 miles away from Chile. 600 of them are identified on the island.

The stories behind the five located in France range from standard to quirky.

Three of them are exhibited in the Louvre and the Mus茅e du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, which features 3,500 indigenous art objects year round from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The most monumental, a two-metre-high carved head, is located at the Louvre鈥檚 Pavillon des Sessions, which display several of Quai Branly鈥檚 objects as part of a partnership.

鈥淭his head represents two-fifths of a sculpture that was supposed to be five metres high. The top of the skull is flat: like other moai, the statue was supposed to wear a large flat circular headdress made of red volcanic rock,鈥� reads the caption on the Louvre website.

The other two are in the Oceania section of the Quai Branly. One was restored in 2004 and believed to have been carved between the 11th and 15th Century.

鈥淭he head is one of the most important testimonies to the ancient civilisation of Easter Island. Showcased in a grand glass-sealed vitrine at the Caf茅-jardin, it is the first oeuvre seen by visitors walking by the garden,鈥� said Philippe Peltier, the museum鈥檚 curator and who participated in the restoration.

The fourth is located in Tarascon-sur-Ari猫ge (Ari猫ge). It is exhibited in the public park near the centre-town church and the cinema Espace Fran莽ois Mitterrand.

It was carved and gifted by the Rapanui people as part of a Latin-American festival organised by the town in 1998.

The entry doorway of Tarascon-sur-Ariege鈥檚 mairie also has a miniature-sized rendition of an Easter island statue.

The Connexion was unavailable to reach out the owner of the fifth.

Its existence was, however, confirmed over an interview with the owner of Urban Moto, the motor shop right by its location on 17 boulevard Schloesing in the tenth district of Marseille (叠辞耻肠丑别蝉-诲耻-搁丑么苍别).

The statue sits right by the front door of his owner, surrounded by motorcycles and scooters, as seen on Google Maps, using Street view images. It looks like it is at least three metres high, the top of the head reaching the window of the first floor of the building.

It is a privately-owned statue that was commissioned by the owner, who enjoys Easter Island art oeuvres, and crafted by a local sculptor of Ard猫che.