The New Year holiday has been rainy and cold. We were lucky to find time to get out of the house during the only sunny afternoon this week to check out the Nantou Sand Sculpture Festival [南投市貓羅溪畔沙雕藝術節]. This is the second time this event has been held.
The layout had been changed dramatically this year. I liked last year’s layout more: This year, most of the sculptures had been carved out of a huge sand wall, while last year had several mounds hosting giant sculptures on the left bank of the Maoluo River.
Sculptures at last year’s event were vandalized shortly before the opening of the event. This year was no different except vandals waited until after the event had started. It was reported on the news this morning that 20 sculptures were vandalized. I hope this doesn’t discourage the city from holding this event again next year.
For more pictures check out my flickr set, a post from Mark Forman’s visit, or my post from last year’s event.
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Those last two images remind me of India.
Vandalism is always a concern, but sand sculpture is best viewed as a performance art, like theatre. It’s nice if they last, though. We had one last over five months, until someone backed into it with a car.
This September, the largest gathering of master sculptors from around the world will take place in Federal Way, Washington, USA.
There will be sculptors who have qualified to come from contests in Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Canada, The U.S., and others from countries such as Latvia,Bulgaria, Portugal, Australia, Italy, and more.
The event was formerly at Harrison Hot Springs in British Columbia and has relocated near Seattle. Hope to see you there!
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