Five landscape sculptures created as part of an international environmental art project have been put on display at the Cheng Long Wetlands (成龍濕地) in Yunlin County to raise public awareness about environmental issues.
All five installation sculptures were created by local and international artists using natural materials available in the wetlands, said Lin Hua-ching (林華慶), an ecological habitat management specialist with the Council of Agriculture’s Forestry Bureau.
In the process, Lin said, local children and residents were encouraged to work with domestic and foreign artists to find new possibilities for development of their homeland.
The 100 hectare Cheng Long wetland park was formed as a result of land subsidence because of long years of excessive extraction of groundwater, Lin said.
Owners of the 41 hectares of land agreed to join the international environmental art project, organized by the Kuan Shu Educational Foundation with a subsidy from the forestry bureau, Lin said, adding that the project attracted submissions from 81 artists in 33 countries and five entries were finally selected to be installed at the park.
One of the works was sketched by US artist Roy Staab, Kuan Shu executive Wang Chao-mei (王昭湄) said. Staab worked with local schoolchildren to make use of abundant oyster shells from the nearby village and created a sort of drawing in the water with shells placed on bamboo poles posted in the water.
“The artwork is interesting to view at different times of day and from different viewpoints,” she said.
The works will be displayed until July 25 and will then return to nature through weathering, Wang said.
Saying that over the past year, the foundation has sponsored a series of ecological exploration programs attended by local schoolchildren and residents to help them better understand the importance of environmental protection, Wang added that “the efforts have helped infuse new life into the wetland park, which now attracts at least 86 migrating bird species annually.”
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