From Monday 4th June, top artists from Japan, Mexico, Russia and the United States will create the finest works of art at the World Championship Sand Sculptures at Lange Voorhout in The Hague. On Wednesday 13th June, the professional jury will announce the world champion, after which the sand sculptures will be admired free of charge until 19th August and spectacularly lit at night.
STOP PRESS
The winner of the competition and therefore the 2018 World Champion has been announced as Englishman Baldrick Buckle.
This is the first time that the three-yearly World Sculptures Championships are taking place in the Netherlands. This international top event is part of Feest aan Zee, the successful theme year with which The Hague celebrates two hundred years of sea bathing culture. In total, nine sand sculptures are created at the World Championship, eight of which are part of the official competition. The Netherlands is excluded from the competition as a guest country but creates a special sculpture dedicated to Scheveningen out of competition that is made by Maxim Gazendam, which in 2015 was proclaimed Dutch and European Sand Sculpture Champion. The eight countries participating in the official competition are Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the Czech Republic and the United States. Top artists from these countries each create a sculpture of 40,000 kilos of special sand. The theme is ‘200 years of sea, sand and …’ The sand artists translate this theme into a broad palette of designs, which will ultimately result in an exhibition of exceptional sand art. The artists are inspired by Van Gogh, Dali, Picasso, Dutch tolerance and new dimensions in art and science.
All the finished sculptures are on view, free of charge, until 19th August.
