Sand Sculpture Festivals, Creativity Takes Shape
The beach and the sand always remind us of our childhood and the endless time spent on giving birth to our imagination, to build castles and mermaids, and in the end to show the stunning creation to our parents. We all are undiscovered artists and some childhood passions still hunt us today. Lately, this hobby became an unconventional way to sculpture creativity and so the sand sculpture festivals appeared.
“Sand festivals or festivals of sand sculpture are exhibitions of sculptures made of sand carried out in various places around the world and these events usually include a competition. Traditional sand sculptures are sandcastles. However, at sand festivals one may see virtually any kinds of sculptures you would expect to see in stone, bronze or wood.” (Wikipedia)
The sculptures variate in shape, size and they usually represent historical events, characters, animals, buildings or a surrealistic way of expression.
The International Sand Sculpture Festival held in Pêra, Portugal is described as one of the largest sand sculpture events in the world. Just to make us a panoramic picture, the site occupies 15,000 square metres (3.7 acres) and every year about 60 artists use 35000 tons of sand to create 50 works of art.
Each year the exhibition has a different theme: 2009 – discoveries, 2008 – Hollywood films and characters, 2007 – wonders of the World, 2006 – mythology. The exhibition is open in the evenings with atmospheric lighting. In 2010, the exhibition is open to the public every day between 22 May and 22 October.
More information about the festival you will find here.
Pictures via 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
