Sculptures turn Zhejiang seaside into visual feast

Golden award: The Print of Wind, by Feng Chongli from China

Do you like sculptures? Imagine various kinds of sculptures put on the meadow in a park at the seaside – what a visual feast for sculpture lovers!

That's what the China Sculpture Institute is now doing in Haining, the seaside town in East China's Zhejiang province. By holding an international sculpture exhibition and inviting sculptors from around the world to share their works, they have made the local seaside park a paradise of fine sculptures.

"Sculpture parks have long been a popular scenery in developed countries, but it is rather new in China", says Zeng Chenggang, president of CSI, at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, held on Monday. "It is an essential step in making the art of sculpture popular because it allows people to touch the sculptures at zero distance. We hope to make the idea popular in China, too."

Zeng, who lead the whole preparation work of the event, also says they have been preparing since one year. "Every piece of sculpture must pass at least four rounds of selections before it finally comes here," he says. "Our experts spend days studying one piece and discussing fiercely before voting."

A whole of 644 artists from 49 countries and regions submitted 1,299 works in all to the organizers, from which six were selected for awards. Most of the other works have been put in the park for exhibition and for all tourists to touch. "We hope the tourists could feel the art of sculpture from the exhibition," says Zeng.

Following are the award-winning sculpture works:

Silver award: Wonderful Tide, by Filin Gueorgui from Italy