Bergen Sculpture Park 2012

After participating in sculpture symposia in other countries Bergen Artist Morton Burke felt that the events and the resulting art works are something that should be hosted here in Canada. Over a five year period he was unable to convince a community in Alberta to be home to take up his idea so he just decided to go  ahead and do it himself at his acreage in Bergen. He was quite sure that although the pomp and ceremony that is normal at these events in other countries would be absent, the grassroots nature of his concept would be interesting enough to attract sculptors from around the world. The first year Morton chose 5 sculptors names from a hat, 19 of 20  friends that he sent invitations to replied they would love to create a sculpture in Canada.  In it's fourth year (2011) 178 proposals for participation were recieved!! The participants stay together in his home during the month long event and work each day except Tuesdays when they take a trip to see some Alberta sights. Go to earlier blogs to follow the creation of each of the sculptures in the park, following are pictures of each of them along with the artist's interpretation. 

This is a view of one area of the park, in the forground is "Desire to Be" in marble by Gerard Motondi of Kenya. Gerard was the gold medal winner at the 2008 Beijing Sculpture Olympics, it is wonderful that we are able to see original works of this great artist and others right here in our own back yard.  Also pictured are "Prelude"- Carlos Valezquez (Cuba), "Movement in Space"- Peerapong Dongkeaw (Thailand), "Reflection"- Tanja Roeder (Germany),  "Maintain" Nguyen Tan Cuong (Viet Nam),  "The Gates to Heaven, Everybody can go" - Chander Parkash (India) and "Ying and Yang" Tran Viet Hung (Viet Nam).  These and 12 other monumental stone sculptures are nicely displayed at the sculpture park, open daily from 10am - 5pm.  When you are in the Sundre area a trip to the Bergen Sculpture Park is well worth making. Young and old alike will appreciate this wonderful collection of international art in a beautiful country setting. The park is open year round for arts enthusiasts to stop in and enjoy the art works, there is a donation box on site if you would like to support this project, contributions are gratefully accepted. 

From the Sundre A&W travel south 6.4 km

West (right) on TWP 3.2 ---1.6 km

South (left) on Rng Rd 5.4 --- 5km

Below are photos of all of the suclptures along with some information about each of them.

Bergen Rocks 2008

"Movement in Space"- Sandstone
 Peerapong Duongkaew, Thailand
Peerapong's sculpture depicts a man diving through the air with a baby on his back. His objective with this sculpture was to create a feeling of lightness and movement from a heavy material. Well done!!

"Maintain"- Marble
Nguyen Tan Cuong, Vietnam
There are many problems in the world that man has created such as wars, drugs, pollution and discrimination. Now the world is a smaller place and we interact more than ever, we aren't doing the best job of that. If everyone made a small change in how we treat the earth and each other, and we maintain that change, the world could be a better place. It doesn't need to be a big change, only a small one like the pearl of wisdom in the palm of the hand.

"Ying and Yang"- Granite
Tran Viet Hung, Vietnam
The stylized figure balanced on the top of the column represents a family. The largest form is the man, recessed in the man is a woman with hair flowing down her back. The negative space represents a baby. Hung's statement about this sculpture "Family is a good balance for your life."

"Three Moods of the Sea"-Marble
Vahe Tokmajyan, Armenia
Three sea shells represent three moods of the sea: Peace, Tranquility and Turbulence.

 

"Ancient Cultures"-Sandstone

Paul Patrick Haggins, Ireland

Paul wanted to create a sculpture that depicts the ancient culture of Canada and of Ireland. The celtic cross is, of course, the Irish element and the eagle feather carved on the shaft represents the ancient culture of Canada.

 



Bergen Rocks 2009

Chander Parkash from India created this sculpture a community temple. There are 1000's of these temples in India. Like our community playgrounds they are found in residential areas. The area around these temples is a sacred area and is suitable for someone to pray at when they must visit a temple. Community temples are non-denominational so regardless of your religion you can visit here to pray. That feature makes the title of this sculpture especially significant, "The Gates to Heaven, Everyone Can Go". Sandstone and metal.

"Prelude" - Marble
 Carlos Valazquez Darias,  Cuba
 In a predominately cubic style this sculpture depicts a couple sharing a kiss.

"Spring" - Marble
Pham Minh Chien, Vietnam
This sculpture is the first in a series of 4, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. It depicts a flower in the spring that is ready to bloom and reproduce. It an also be viewed as the lower torso of a young lady, like the flower, ready to bloom and be fruitful. This feature of the sculpture is referred to as "dual representational".

"The Elder" - Sandstone

Paul Patrick Haggins, Ireland

The second celtic cross created by Paul. He wanted to do a cross that looked as if it had been here for thousands of years. On one side it has an eagle feather and on the other the face of the cross features the Celtic Tri-spiral representing the earth, sun and moon. Paul was glad to use sandstone for his two crosses as that is the material that the ancient high-crosses in Ireland are made from. 

Bergen Rocks 2010

"Canuk" - Mable
Tony Deguglielmo, Canada
Canuk is a beautifully stylized Iriquois indian head. The style transitions from organic on the left (the face) to cubicon the right (the head dress)  In addition to being a beautiful form this transition speaks to the transition of life in Canada since the Europeans came to Canada, transforming the way of life from living harmoniously with nature to the way we live now with a gridwork of roadways and predominately cubic building styles.

"The Ancient One" Marble
Mohamed Reza Yazdi, Iran
 The goat is an important animal in the Iranian culture, Mohamed chose to share it with us. The stylized goat with the dramatic horns is obviously the leader of the herd. The kid, his son, looks up at his father imagining the time when he will have the opportunity to look after and over the herd.

"Reflection" - Marble
Tanja Roeder, Germany
Bergen Rocks was the 45th international sculpture symposium for Tanja, her works are truly spread across the globe. She is very well known for her stylized torsos, and we are so glad to have one here in Canada. The base stone is much larger than the torso but carved in exactly the same form. You might look at the composition as a lady standing at the shore of a lake with her reflection visible in the water in front of her.

"Rising Sun" - Marble
Peerapong Doungkaew, Thailand
"Rising Sun" is Peerapong's second sculpture in the park and was inspired by his time here at the first Bergn Rocks event. When he woke in the morning and came out to exercise on the lawn he would see the sun rising over the tree tops to the east between the two trees where this sculpture is placed. In his submission for the third Bergen Rocks he actually specified that if he was chosen to participate again this sculpture should be placed here. Cool that he would chose the location based on his memory of watching the sun rise each morning.



"Repression" - Sandstone

Saeid Amadi, Iran

"Repression" creates the illusion of a solid material actually being twisted by the pressure created by the cables and wires bending it. An analogy to life in our modern times and by some governments. The pressures of our lives may actually cause our will and character to be twisted.

Bergen Rocks 2011

"Spring" - Marble
Giang Chu, China
Chu did not intend for "Spring" to make statement or have an interpretation. It is simply an interesting form depicting something we are all familiar with. A jazz musician playing his instrument.

"Journey  the Phoenix" - Marble
Ebru Akinci, Turkey
Ebru's sculpture depicts her interpretation of  a phoenix figure riding a boat that is meandering down a slow river....the journey of life. The segments of the boat include a representation of water adding continuity and an important element of life to the sculpture.

"Connection" - Marble
Min Kyoung Uk, Korea
Two ropes coming together into a knot. Uk says that the millions of fibres that would be inside these ropes represent the peoples of the world. We are all interacting more in these modern times now and when we figure out how to do it properly, with respect for each other the knot will come together. We will have made the right connection.

Below:
"Holy Horses" - Marble
Amgalan Tsevegmid, Mongolia
Two horses standing together on  windy day on the steppes of Mongolia. A beautiful sculpture that captures the wind in the blowing manes and tails of the horses. Small birds are flying out of the bushes that the horses are standing amongst.