First floating sculpture park around the world inaugurated

In July 2023, 20 sculptors from 16 countries gathered on the banks of the Hulan River in Harbin, bringing sculptural art representing the culture of their respective countries to northern China. The large metal sculpture, completed in more than half a month, were moved along the river. Since then, the world's first floating sculpture park was inaugurated.

The event was jointly organized by Hulan District and the International Sculpture Symposium Alliance. The sculptures are made of corrosion-resistant metal materials, with a volume of between 3-10 meters, and they are mounted on hollow bases, which are rectangular barges designed by professional marine engineers. These floating sculptures can be anchored or traveled on the water's surface by means of boat anchors and power. Sophisticated wind and ballast calculations are utilized to maintain the sculpture's attitude on the water's surface.

The sculptors came from 16 countries, including Asia, Europe, North and South America, covering several major civilization belts of Ancient Greece, Ancient Babylon, Ancient India, and Ancient Maya, and are a group of top international artists including the president of the National Art Association, professors from the Academy of Fine Arts, and Olympic sculptors. With the cooperation of professional factories, 18 pieces of giant sculptures, as expected, floated on the river. In the next five years, 100 sculptures will be completed, which can travel along the Hulan River and Songhua River in summer and even reach the sea. In winter, they solidify on the surface of the Hulan River and become steel giants in the snowy plains of the country.

"The world's first floating sculpture park is a bold innovation on a global scale. The park's curator and implementer is Liu Yang, the secretary general of the International Sculpture Symposium Alliance, who has done more than 100 pieces of public sculpture in 36 countries, and knows the world's sculpture activities and sculpture parks very well. Combined with his university education background in engineering and more than 10 years of media experience, he is a unique cross-border organizer, and the Floating Sculpture Park is a perfect combination of ship technology and sculpture art.

Meanwhile, Liu Yang's "Wave Rider" is the main sculpture of the Floating Sculpture Park, which is 10 meters high and consists of 5,000 pieces of stainless steel, with full consideration of wind load, the sculpture adopts skeleton structure and is supplemented by photoelectric design. According to the regional characteristics, the sculpture has the rhythm of shamanic culture. This sculpture is the river god flowing on the river in summer, the guard of the frozen snowfield in winter, the silver-armored warrior in the daytime and the light messenger in the night.

The list of scultures:

Ali Al Jabri – Oman, "Collapse"

Andrey Balashov – Russia, "Tales of Hulan River"

Om Khattri – Nepal, "Himalaya"

Matl Peter – Ukraine, "Whisper"

Ibragim Valikhodjaev – Uzbekistan, "Oriental Market"

Liu Yang – China, "Wave Rider"

Chiu Chen Yeuh - Chinese Taiwan, "Moon Shadow on River"

Han David – America, "Drifting"

Olga Cuxart Oriol – Spain, "Dancing Leaves of Life"

Carlos Rodriguez – Colombia, "Bogota River Crab"

Liu Qin – China, "Tai Chi"

Ilker Yardimci – Turkey, "Lyrical Movement"

Ali Jabbar – Denmark, "Road Has a Heart"

Nedim Hadziahmetovic – Serbia, "CJ-23 Multipurpose User-Friendly Agriculture Robot"

Roberto Ventura – Honduras, "Defender" Thierry Ferreira – France, "Horizontal Ascent" Tutu Pattnaik – India, "Gate of Hope" Antonio Jurado – Spain, "Needle"

Arne Mæland – Norway

Hakan Sengonul – Turkey, "Water Cycle"

Contributor: Liu Yiyi

Editor: Liu Qin, Song Mingcheng

Translator: Sun Ya’nan, Sun Shuang

Legal advisor: Tao Ranting