After three years of being held at the Bergen-area property of Morton Burke, the fourth annual, seven-artist Bergen Rocks International Sculpture Symposium is about to get underway in Red Deer.
Burke, himself a renowned sculpture artist, says the move to Red Deer College this year will help bring the 27-day symposium to a larger audience.
“I am so pleased with this development, being held in a larger centre will make it much easier for people to come out and witness the transformation of raw stone into monumental works of art,” said Burke.
The sculpture site at Red Deer College will be open to the public every day except Tuesdays, when the participants will take a day off and enjoy a trip to some of the sights around Alberta, he said.
The artists at the 2011 symposium are Alessio Ranaldi from Italy, Kyoung Min Uk from Korea, Amgalan Tsevegmid from Mongolia, Kim Bong Soo from Korea, Jiang Chu from China, Ebru Akinci from Turkey and Chao Li from China.
“It is interesting and unique to have the opportunity to visit the worksite and witness 100,000 pounds of raw marble being transformed into art works that will remain in our society for at least 2,000 years, even take a piece home with them that was chipped off their favorite sculpture,” he said.
“There were more than 170 proposals. It was a very difficult task for the selection panel, there were so many proposals that we would like to include. We truly wish we could have chosen many more. As the event grows we hope we will be able to host more artists each year.”
More than 100,000 pounds of white marble with grey streaks will be used at this year's symposium.
The sculptors themselves are scheduled to arrive between July 25 and 27. Work on the sculptures – designed by the artists themselves – is scheduled to begin July 28.
Sculptures from this year's symposium will eventually be transported to Burke's property south of Sundre, where they will be displayed alongside past years' sculptures.
See more in this week's Mountain View Gazette.
- Dan Singleton
