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Sentosa Sandsation opens with over 30 larger-than-life sand sculptures

Remember going to the beach to build sandcastles when you were younger? Well, the castle probably toppled after two buckets. But for a group of sand sculpting masters, their sand sculptures can go as high as five metres in height.

As part of the island’s 45th anniversary celebrations, Sentosa will be hosting Southeast Asia’s largest sand festival. This huge sand art exhibition spreads over 2,400 square metres and features more than 30 larger-than-life sand sculptures.

During a media preview on Thursday (31 August) evening, JOOheng Tan, the lead sculptor and creative director of Sentosa Sandsation, said the exhibitions aim to give visitors “a moment of laughter” as they interpret and reflect upon the meaning behind the sculptures.

“We try to put a bit of character into each sculpture based on its name”, Tan said. “We even have different music played at each sculpture to further establish the connection”.

Tan is an internationally-acclaimed sand artist whose works have been showcased in over 70 cities in more than 20 countries. He has also won several overseas awards for sand sculpting.

The exhibition has three zones, each with a different experience. Zone 1 features 15 sculptures with quirky takes on various aspects of Singapore everyday life while Zone 3 is dedicated to interactive sand art pieces by Tan. Zone 2 displays works from the Sentosa International Sand Sculpting Championship on the theme “Imagination”. They were sculpted by 14 world-renowned sand masters from 13 countries.

Portugal’s Pedro Mira was crowned the winner of the inaugural Sentosa International Sand Sculpting Championship at the event on Thursday. His sculpture, titled “Broken Heart”, depicts an intricately-carved organ that represents the strongest muscle in one’s body, similar to how imagination is the strongest tool one’s mind can possess.

Speaking about his win, Mira said, “When I was given the theme of imagination, I thought about something that was important to me. In my life, one of the biggest emotions I have had is a broken heart. I imagine everyone has, at a certain point in their lives, a broken heart. So I wanted to represent that through my sand creation.”

Sentosa Sandsation is open from 1 to 17 September from 10am to 9pm at Siloso Beach in Sentosa. Admission is free. More information about Sentosa Sandsational Fun 2017 can be found here.

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