Storyline
Charlie Chaplin, Miss Piggy, grand opera spectacles and circus clowns—countless Showtime-inspired sand sculptures are emerging from the sand at the Hundested Sand Sculpture Festival in northeast Denmark.
Launched in 2012 as a creative way to put the small seaside town of 8,000 on the tourist map, the Hundested Sand Sculpture Festival is now in its fourteenth year.
Organizer Christian Warrer says, with so much going on in the world that is “not to laugh about,” they chose to explore a “funny” theme like Showtime. The sculptors have just days to complete their sandy masterpieces, but the festival runs till late October, so durability is key.
The annual event, which opened to visitors on May 23, attracts every year an array of top international sand sculptors, from Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Latvia, the UK, the United States and more.
Sixteen international artists are attending this year, most crafting two sculptures over the course of a fortnight.
Italian sand sculptor Michela Ciappini, from Bologna, is finishing this graceful figure of an elderly woman mid-dance.
“I imagine that now the very important person is the old generation who represent their entire life and actually our roots. So, I give them the dance and the freedom and the attention,” explains Ciappini.
Elsewhere, British sand sculptor Nicola Wood is finishing this Picasso-esque strongman-themed sand sculpture.
“I’ve just taken all the elements of a strong man, a woman, and pieced them all back together in a Picasso style, using his iconic parts,” she explains. “The weights, the strong arm, the bit of leopard print, some circus stripes, some circus lettering.”
Wood says sand sculpting has evolved a lot over the past 20 years.
“People are really testing the limits of sand. They’re testing its capabilities. The texture, the strength of it. People are really taking it somewhere,” she adds. “People are pushing those boundaries and using sand to tell different stories and to make political messages. That’s something that has definitely increased and evolved.”
Over 60,000 visitors are expected to gaze on these daring creations over the festival’s six-month run.
This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.
Script
[Charlie Chaplin sand sculpture on display at Hundested Sand Sculpture Festival]
[Sand sculptor carving “Miss Piggy” sand sculpture]
[Marching band sand sculpture]
[Walt Disney sand sculpture]
[“Rasmus Klump” (Danish cartoon character) sand sculpture]
[Lighthouse]
Christian Warrer (interview): “This year, we wanted to make something funny. There is so much going on in the world that is not to laugh about. And in the end, it turned out very strange because when you think about ‘Showtime’, it’s obviously what you think. But the way, the carvers, the artists, actually found out what to do is… you will see it’s strange things, some of it. But it all fits into the theme, in one way or another.”
[Sand sculptor carving elephant sculpture]
[Female sand sculpture]
[Circus-themed sand sculpture]
[Hundested Sand Sculpture Festival]
[Opera-themed sand sculpture]
Christian Warrer (interview): “The sand is from, what do you say, a sand pit? It’s not from the beach. The beach sand is round, this is more sharp. And that’s the big difference. Otherwise, it’s the same kind of sand you use in construction, building roads, there’s nothing really special about it. It has a little bit of clay in it, that is one of the secrets. Around 10 percent clay, but otherwise, it’s just sand.”
[Italian sand sculptor Michela Ciappini carving older generation-themed sand sculpture]
Michela Ciappini (interview): “I imagine that now the very important person is the old generation who represent their entire life and actually our roots. So, I give them the dance and the freedom and the attention. They stick out from the pictures that we have about them on our draw on the shelves. But now they are important and alive and they dance freely, happy.”
[Ciappini’s older generation-themed sand sculpture]
Michela Ciappini (interview): “I’ve been doing sand since 17 years, even more. And I like sand because actually it’s the only place where you can make very big sculpture and also fast because it’s very firm material but also very passionate. So, with the shovel you already move volumes, it’s super exciting for me.”
[British sand sculptor Nicola Wood carving circus strongman-themed sand sculpture]
Nicola Wood (interview): “I’ve made two sculptures here. The second one, which is behind me, is based on a circus strongman. So, I didn’t want to be too literal. I’ve done it quite Picasso-esque. So, I’ve just taken all the elements of a strong man, a woman, and pieced them all back together in a Picasso style, using his iconic parts. So, the weights, the strong arm, the bit of leopard print, some circus stripes, some circus lettering, that kind of thing.”
[“Wall of Eyes” sand sculpture]
[Sand sculptor carving washing machine-themed sand sculpture, personalities including U.S. President Donald Trump seen mixing around in washing machine]
Nicola Wood (interview): “People are really testing the limits of sand. They’re testing its capabilities. The texture, the strength of it. People are really taking it somewhere. Somewhere else, you know, it’s not just your cliched themes anymore. I mean, I think you can see here with a theme like Showtime. You know, just the subject matters. People are pushing those boundaries and using sand to tell different stories and to make political messages. That’s something that has definitely increased and evolved over certainly in the 20 years that I’ve been doing it.”
[Einstein sand sculpture]
[“Batman” sand sculpture]
[Clown puzzle-themed sand sculpture]
Christian Warrer (interview): “People are so impressed (with) what they see, of course, but that is done in sand. It’s always, yeah, and then it’s sand. Yeah, but sand is a perfect thing to work in. It’s not so difficult, it’s not so hard. You can work quite fast. But well, I think, we all did this sandcastle on the beach thing and that was it and that’s why people are so impressed about it. Because we all tried it, we all tried to do something in the sand and know how difficult it is.”
[Clown-themed sand sculpture]
[TV-themed sand sculpture]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.