GWK, a project comprising the monument and a cultural park, is an expensive endeavor 25 years in the making. It had a promising start before being continuously plagued by critical problems, ranging from the global financial crisis, a change of regime, lack of investors and internal strife, to opposition from Balinese scholars and activists. These problems derailed the construction for many years.
By 1999, the main buildings of the cultural park had been completed, but the statue was far from completion. The gigantic head and chest of Wisnu, the head part of the Garuda, and several minor parts were already installed on the site when the money dried up and Nuarta had to scramble to find committed investors. The project then entered its longest hiatus to date.
The optimistic tone was the result of an inked deal between Nuarta, the GWK Foundation and a giant real estate company, PT Alam Sutera Realty, which agreed to shoulder the cost of building the statue, projected at Rp 150 billion.
In 1993, Nuarta presented the plan to then-president Soeharto, who embraced it warmly and instructed his ministers to provide Rp 30 billion to finance the project.
