 Park with artistic passion
By Dan Na (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-08 07:31 The 92-hectare World Sculpture Park in Changchun, capital of Jilin province, lies in the urban south on the People Street. Construction on the park started in 2002 and finished two years later. It contains both traditional landscape gardens and modern sculptures. The theme of the park is friendship, spring and peace, reflected in a 23.5-m high monument designed by famed sculptors Ye Yushan, Pan He, Cheng Yunxian, Wang Keqing and Cao Chunsheng. It now has more than 320 sculptures from over 270 artists from more than 110 countries and regions. Its 12,000-sq-m Sculpture Art Gallery and a museum display hundreds of African Makonde woodcarvings and a large number of Chinese and foreign fine sculptures. The main entrance, a viewing platform and a bridge in the park offer contemporary designs. A second-phase plan calls for areas and pavilions to display traditional pottery and other forms of sculpture. Since Changchun has established links with cities in more than 10 countries, the local government established an International Friendship City Sculpture Park. All the works selected must be from those cities. It has no fences or walls, so everyone can visit for free. The park hosted an opening ceremony on September 5 to display five new pieces, which will expand in number over the years ahead. (China Daily 09/08/2008 page11) |
