Antwerp, Belgium: The Hand of Druon Antigoon

There's a reference on the Brabo Fountain entry to this blog about the legend that may have contributed to the city's name. This is another one, and I will not work on the obvious puns here. 

In 1986, a large statue of a head and hand was placed in front of a church in Paris. It was indicating that the statute was listening to music, cupping the hand to improve the quality of sound.

Antwerp decided to buy the statue in 1991, but opted to just put the hand in public. In 1992, the hand was placed in a public space in the shopping space. The sculptor apparently didn't have much say in all of this, by the way. Without the backstory, this looks merely odd. But now that you know it, it makes more sense.