Sudarsan wins award at int’l sand art festival in England | Bhubaneswar News
London: Sand sculptor Sudarsan Pattnaik has won the first ever Fred Darrington award for excellence in art and culture for his 10-feet high sand sculpture of Lord Ganesha, which will be showcased in Dorset, in south-west England, until Nov.
The award was launched at SandWorld on Saturday to mark 100 years since legendary sand sculptor Darrington first started making artistic sand sculptures on the Weymouth beach in 1925.
Pattnaik, a Padma Shri award winner, is also the first Indian sculptor to exhibit at Sandworld, an annual international sand art festival that takes place in Weymouth, Dorset, where sand artists from across the world showcase their sculptures.
The Lord Ganesha sculptor has the message ‘World Peace’ on its plinth. Pattnaik was handed a gold medal containing a caricature of Darrington and a glass wave containing sand from his own sculpture. Pattnaik dedicated the award to his fans and hoped many people would come to see the Ganesha sculpture.
Darrington’s grandson Mark Anderson co-founded the festival with fellow sand artist David Hicks in 2011. In 1998, Anderson became his grandfather’s apprentice and then his assistant and now his own spot on Weymouth beach, like his grandfather did, showcasing his sculptures.
“My grandfather grew up in Weymouth just after the First World War and the beach was his playground where he made sand trenches and sand bombs. Then he got better and better and started sand sculptures professionally in 1925, aged 15, earning a living from it and people would throw money onto a matt,” Anderson told TOI.
“In the same way Sudarsan started as a very young man on the beach in Odisha forging his own way forward. We have given this award to him for the work he has done for sand sculpture over the years, as he has an academy in India and teaches people sand art. I was in Puri in Nov and invited him to attend. His Lord Ganesha is superb,” Anderson said.
CM Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated Pattnaik for winning the award. “At the International Sand Art Festival held in Weymouth, he conveyed a message of peace through a massive 10-ft tall sculpture of Lord Ganesh. His contributions have further glorified the cultural heritage of our country and state on the global stage,” Majhi posted on social media.
(With inputs from Bhubaneswar)
The award was launched at SandWorld on Saturday to mark 100 years since legendary sand sculptor Darrington first started making artistic sand sculptures on the Weymouth beach in 1925.
Pattnaik, a Padma Shri award winner, is also the first Indian sculptor to exhibit at Sandworld, an annual international sand art festival that takes place in Weymouth, Dorset, where sand artists from across the world showcase their sculptures.
The Lord Ganesha sculptor has the message ‘World Peace’ on its plinth. Pattnaik was handed a gold medal containing a caricature of Darrington and a glass wave containing sand from his own sculpture. Pattnaik dedicated the award to his fans and hoped many people would come to see the Ganesha sculpture.
Darrington’s grandson Mark Anderson co-founded the festival with fellow sand artist David Hicks in 2011. In 1998, Anderson became his grandfather’s apprentice and then his assistant and now his own spot on Weymouth beach, like his grandfather did, showcasing his sculptures.
“My grandfather grew up in Weymouth just after the First World War and the beach was his playground where he made sand trenches and sand bombs. Then he got better and better and started sand sculptures professionally in 1925, aged 15, earning a living from it and people would throw money onto a matt,” Anderson told TOI.
“In the same way Sudarsan started as a very young man on the beach in Odisha forging his own way forward. We have given this award to him for the work he has done for sand sculpture over the years, as he has an academy in India and teaches people sand art. I was in Puri in Nov and invited him to attend. His Lord Ganesha is superb,” Anderson said.
CM Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated Pattnaik for winning the award. “At the International Sand Art Festival held in Weymouth, he conveyed a message of peace through a massive 10-ft tall sculpture of Lord Ganesh. His contributions have further glorified the cultural heritage of our country and state on the global stage,” Majhi posted on social media.
(With inputs from Bhubaneswar)
