NEWSWEEK.COM 47
The Living Desert
and Sculptures
Broken Hill, Australia
Opened in 1993, this
park in central Australia
features 12 sandstone
carvings by artists
from Georgia, Mexico,
Syria and Australia. At
sunset, the rocks light
up, creating an eerie,
magical effect only
found in the Outback.Hakone Open Air Museum
Hakone, Japan
Japan’s ɿrst open-air museum
consists of sculptures, gardens
and interactive exhibits set against
the backdrop of lush greenery.
Children can climb inside clear
cubes, and anyone can rest their
feet in the trickling foot baths
sourced from a local hot spring.Buddha Park
Vientiane, Laos
Constructed to look as though they
were carved hundreds of years ago,
the buddha statues inhabiting Xieng
Khuan (Buddha Park) weren’t built until- The sculptures were created by
a priest-shaman and his students, none
of whom were trained artists. The 200
oversized statues sit on the banks of
the Mekong River and encapsulate Thai
and Laotian culture through portrayals
of both Buddhist and Hindu icons.
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Chapungu Sculpture Park
Harare, Zimbabwe
The sculpture garden in the capital
city of Zimbabwe was created to
highlight and elevate the work of
traditional Zimbabwean stone
sculptors. Founded before gaining
independence (the country was
formerly known as Rhodesia),
the park now exports part of the
exhibition to botanical gardens
around the world to share the
Zimbabwean traditional art form.06
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Memento Park
Budapest, Hungary
A larger-than-life sculpture
cemetery of former communist
leaders, Memento Park in Budapest
is a tongue-in-cheek sculpture park
focusing on the fall of communism.
A phone box allows you to travel
back in time to listen to the voices
of Stalin and Mao, among others.05
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