Modern sculptures look good and are often great talking points. But sometimes they are just so big that you have no place to put them. That is unless you are part of the biggest councils in the Adelaide Hills, and you pool your resources together to create the Adelaide Hills Sculpture Trail.
Splash sculpted by Sakari Peltola - Steve Hudson
Following the success associated with the Barossa International Sculpture Symposium in 1988 and 2008, and the subsequent
Barossa Sculpture Park, a number of keen sculptors and Adelaide Hills residents got together to work out how they could create something that would 'Enrich the Hills with Sculpture'.
Spatial Tension sculpted by Luke Zwolsman - Steve Hudson
The answer was quite simple. Let's get eight international renowned sculptors along to
The Cedars at Hahndorf, along with a number of pieces of rock in April 2012 and let's let them loose to see what they can create. And then with those creations let's look to place them in iconic locations across the Adelaide Hills.
Water Stone by Hew Chee Fong - Steve Hudson
The first Adelaide Hills International Sculpture Symposium in 2012 featured five overseas sculptors amongst the eight, and combined they produced eight fantastic pieces of work that were placed in Mt Barker, Macclesfield, Hahndorf, Balhannah, Lobethal and Stirling in late 2013.
Le Peloton by Silvio Apponyi - Steve Hudson
Each site has the sculpture and an information board with details about the sculptor, the rock and the links between the sculpture and the location.
Spatial Tension at Mt Barker provides a contrast between urban and country living, while
Sailing of the Soul in Mt Barker is about the rough and smooth seas that are often experienced.
The Remoteness by Miguel Isla - Steve Hudson
by Silvio Apponyi at Balhannah needs little introduction on this popular cycling and Tour Down Under route while
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter And … sits outside the former Onkaparinga Woollen Mills in Lobethal and was also the winner of the People's Choice Award in 2012.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and ... by Hwang Seung-Woo - Steve Hudson
A successful 2012 program led to a repeat performance in April 2014 at The Cedars with another seven overseas sculptors joining an Australian to create eight more dynamic and topical pieces of work. These new eight pieces of work have been completed and have now been installed at Langhorne Creek, Mt Compass, Meadows, Stirling, Mt Barker, Littlehampton and Mt Torrens to complete what is now known as the Adelaide Hills Sculpture Trail.
Flow by Agnessa Petrova - Steve Hudson
The new works include water themed sculptures such as
Flow at Langhorne Creek,
Water Stone at Mt Compass,
Journeys in Stirling and the colourful
Hydris in Mt Barker.
Hydris by Xavier Gonzalez - Steve Hudson
However the two stars for the 2014 Symposium were
Splash, which is now on display at Littlehampton, and
The Key to the Heart of Mt Torrens and the Birdhouse, which is at Mt Torrens. With exquisite cuts and fine polish, these two pieces are talking points for ages amongst young kids and a definite to visit one day.
Fossils by Petre Petrov - Steve Hudson
They say that success breeds success, and in the case of the Adelaide Hills International Sculpture Symposium, there will be a third (and final) event in April 2016 at The Cedars, where another eight pieces will be created for ultimate display throughout the Adelaide Hills.
Angel of Hahndorf by Craig Medson - Steve Hudson
The Adelaide Hills Sculpture Trail is all outdoors and is available for viewing at any time, and best of all, it is free. A brochure is available from most visitor information centres, or is available from the
website. Further details on the Trail are available from
Adelaide Hills International Sculpture Symposium website or from their
facebook page.
