Expressions in sand
After highlighting issues pertaining to conservation of sea turtles and polar bears, it was ‘global warming’ that sand sculptor Sudarsan Pattnaik chose for winning the championship at the International Sand Sculpture Festival ‘Sandsation’ at Berlin in June this year.
Pattnaik was in Bangalore recently in connection with his sand art for Tata Housing wherein his five-foot-tall sculpture unveiled a replica of Aquila Heights (a three-tower luxury residential complex nestled in green and comfort features, taking shape within the HMT Township at Jalahalli), soon to be the city’s tallest residential tower craning up to 105 metres.
It took five days and 45 tonnes of sand to reproduce the residential complex model for Pattnaik and his students that now occupies a huge expanse at Garuda Mall’s Atrium which would be on display for a week.
Moving experience
Why did he choose an environmental issue this time for winning the coveted prize? “I was moved by R.K. Pachauri and his team of TERI for their initiatives in environmental issues to shield the earth’s climate. When I came to know that coastal places in Orissa such as Puri, Konarak and Satabhaya will be affected by global warming, I wanted to use the powerful international forum with sand sculpture to create awareness on global warming,” he says.
Sudarsan had made a 25-foot-high sand sculpture that portrayed a polar bear on top of a globe that prayed ‘save my family’. Beneath it were three different faces representing one each from Africa, Europe and Asia.
The master sculptor has won laurels after representing India at the world championships in Denmark, Germany, U.S., U.K., Spain, Holland, Japan, Belgium, Morocco, Italy and France.
Although any sculptor would want his creation to be a permanent piece of art, Pattnaik seems to think on a different note. “Since human life isn’t permanent, I would expect my art to be an enduring one in people’s memory,” he says, hardly emotional about his art pieces being ephemeral and seeing his creations getting knocked down after the shows. Pattnaik’s rendezvous with sand began as a seven-year-old, when he used to make small-time play models at Orissa’s Puri beach.
“Sand is the prasad that Lord Jagannath bestowed on me and I have been associated with the soft earthy matter for 25 years now,” he says. Pattnaik now runs his Sudarsan Sand Art Institute in Puri which has more than 100 students.
Before the Beijing Olympics got off to a colourful start, Pattnaik wanted to greet the Indian contingent with his eight-hour work ‘Sandy Olympic Stadium’ which was thronged by hundreds of tourists at the Puri beach for a glimpse of the mind-blowing mud-art that showed 300 events with 10,000 athletes taking part.
Through his art, he has helped create awareness for the tsunami victims in India, saved the Olive Ridley turtles and spread the understanding of the dangers of AIDS and polio.
RG
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