This year the 11th Annual International Antalya Sand Sculpture Festival (SANDLAND) will feature a 200 ton sand monument dedicated to the lives lost during the failed July 15 coup attempt, orchestrated by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Festival director, Cem Karaca, said that festival artists will use cultural and artistic works in order to effectively and meaningfully raise awareness about Turkish society to foreign tourists.
The festival committee also plans to devote a special corner of about 500 square meters to the July 15 failed coup attempt. The area will be called the "July 15th Democracy and Martyrs Day Sand Sculpture Memorial Dedicated Corner."
Alex Skarednoft and Irina Alimurzzeun, two of the world's most skilled sand artists, will make the sculpture on site using some 200 tons of sand.
Karaca explained that the artists will commence building the massive monument on April 15, and aim to finish the sculpture by May 1.
He explained that they hoped to use the universal language of art and sculpture to strongly and effectively express the ugly face of the coup attempt.
"We do not want the coup attempt to be forgotten. We also want to make the public aware of the memory of the coup attempt through the use of art," Karaca said.
Explaining that the theme of this year's festival is 'World Wonders and Mythology,' Karaca said, "The Eiffel Tower and the Tower of Pisa will also be built out of sand this year, and we will display about 100 sculptures taking up 7,500 square meters and using 10,000 tons of sand. We are expecting even more interest than last year's festival. We expect about 150,000 people to visit the festival."
SANDLAND has been held every year in Antalya since it was founded in 2006.