P.J. Leo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 12/17/2011 1:55 PM

Welcome: A sculpture of Jesus The Saviour in Mt. Corcovado, Brazil, is also on display.Sand Sculpture is not so popular yet in Indonesia, unlike in Europe and the US, where this art has been familiar for decades.

As an interesting art, however, sand sculpture is worth introducing and developing in Indonesia, which has prompted artists in the country to display their works along with foreign counterparts.

The 1st Indonesia Sand Sculpture Festival is scheduled to take place  from Dec. 18, 2011 to Jan. 28, 2012 in Alam Fantasia, Taman Budaya Sentul City, Bogor, West Java. It will also be the largest such festival in Southeast Asia, with 42 sand sculpture models ranging in height from 2 to 5 meters.

The 1st Indonesia Sand Sculpture Festival was initiated by Winmark Mendawai Indonesia and the World Sand Sculpting Academy in cooperation with the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and Sentul City, by presenting 22 sand sculpture artists from various countries.

This festival occupies two tents, each measuring 800 square meters. In the first, visitors can watch different Indonesian icons such as Prambanan and Borobudur temples with images of Buddha and monks, Rumah Gadang (a West Sumatran traditional house) with dancers and buffalos, Bali’s Barong mythological character, Garuda Wisnu Kencana (Vishnu and his eagle), single-horn rhinos, komodo dragons and more.

Religious: Sculptures of two Buddhist monks praying in Borobudur temple are also displayed in the festival.The second tent takes visitors around the world to witness the diverse popular icons of the globe such as Big Ben, Dutch Windmills, London Bridge, the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids and many others.

The Sand Sculpture Festival uses selected sand totaling 2,400 tons from Cilegon, West Java. The river sand from Cilegon is considered more suitable than beach sand for tall and steep sculptures.

It also lasts longer after being compacted into a solid mass by means of a stamper. As the sand is already in solid mounds, artists carve their replicas by using wet clay and they take two weeks for the process of construction.

When The Jakarta Post arrived in Sentul City, the sand sculpture artists had left the location to fly to Europe for the next exhibition. Their young assistants in Sentul City served as maintenance personnel to keep the works in a stable condition.

The 1st Indonesia Sand Sculpture Festival indirectly promotes tourism in Indonesia.

The ticket price for weekdays is Rp 50,000 (US$5.50) per person and for Saturday, Sunday and other holidays Rp 75,000. School groups are charged Rp 30,000 per person.

— Photos by JP/P.J.LEO

SUMBER: The Jakarta Post