A NEW sculpture commemorating the rich cultural heritage of Spitalfields has been chosen after shoppers voted for their favourite. Kenny Hunter has been named the winner of the first ever Spitalfields Sculpture Prize and beat seven other shortlisted desig

A NEW sculpture commemorating the rich cultural heritage of Spitalfields has been chosen after shoppers voted for their favourite.

Kenny Hunter has been named the winner of the first ever Spitalfields Sculpture Prize and beat seven other shortlisted designs to win the �45,000 commission.

His work I Goat, a hand-sculpted goat standing atop a stack of packing crates, will be in Bishops Square, Spitalfields from October.

Mr Hunter said goat stands as a symbol for the various waves of migration that have found sanctuary in Spitalfields and helped to shape it.

The goat, as an image of persecution and sacrifice, reflects how each successive group of immigrants have faced their own combination of conflict, oppression and poverty, all eventually finding a new home in London.

The crates on which it stands reference the market as well as the ongoing history of transience and human flux.

A spokesman said: "Hunter's sculpture is well conceived and has particular relevance to the changing populations of the area surrounding Spitalfields - it has a great sense of transient cultures. As a sculpture it makes a very strong visual statement."

A public vote was combined with those of the judges, including Sir Richard MacCormac, Nigel Hall and Alex Sainsbury, to decide the overall winner.

I Goat will go on display in Bishops Square this October for 18 months and will become a permanent part of the Spitalfields Public Art Collection, with the intention to create a sculpture park featuring the winning sculptures of 2010 and beyond.