01 March 2023
Reputedly the largest outdoor display of sculpture in the World, this park near Farnham in Surrey is an amazing and stunning place to visit. As soon as we entered the gate, there were sculptures to see everywhere. These were a complete mixture of abstract, realistic, large, small, European, African and using many different media. Set in a wooded valley incorporating streams and lakes, there is a maze of paths. The paths are planned so that there are four different trails to follow and thousands of different sculptures to see. Wherever I turned my eyes, I saw something different. With so much to see it was easy to spend hours wandering round and still miss noticing many superb artworks. They must be worth millions!
The staff appeared to be brimming with enthusiasm and enjoying their work. One man who was siting a new sculpture explained to us that there are over 3,000 artworks on display. He pointed out a couple of large exhibits on the water and marvelled over the engineering meaning that each segment would turn at a different speed on the breeze. It wasn’t a windy day so they weren’t moving much but on being pointed out we could see what he meant.
The same man asked us which were our favourites! It was really too difficult to pick out any single exhibit. There is so much to take in!
We noticed many sculptures carved using stones found in areas of Africa and by the indigenous people. Springstone is very hard with a soft brown outside layer. In particular Shona sculpture gets its name from the ‘Shona’ tribe of people (actually a mixture of many similar tribes with closely related language and culture) who are the largest in Zimbabwe. The artists choose their piece of stone carefully and their aim is to use their skills to reveal the beauty in the stone. The sculpture was traditionally used in local building but more recently has been developed as an art form and brought to international attention. The money earned by the tribal artists has often been invested into projects to improve infrastructure, including schools.
The positioning of the sculptures within the park in woodland, in the open and on or beside water also seems to be an art form in itself. Some of the wider views across several sculptures are evocative as well as the close up views of individual pieces.
A totally different experience is the mine installation within the park. The instructions were to keep following the left wall. After the first couple of turns, the darkness was complete. There were many turns and I lost any sense of perspective in terms of direction or distance. It seemed a very long time before I re-emerged into daylight. I was very relieved when there was a glimmer of light and I had reached the other end. I suspect that the installation was incredibly small in size and that the distance I walked wasn’t far, but it certainly seemed to continue for a long time.
This place is amazing. It was really much more engaging and exciting than I had imagined, despite having high pre-expectations of the visit. The time flew by and the comment on the web-site that most people are surprised by the length of time it takes to go round certainly rings true.
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