Two and a half thousand tons of sand have been used by twelve sculptors participating in the Sand Sculpture Festival which opens today in the city of Gdansk, northern Poland.

In line with its theme ‘Solidarity of Nations – Solidarity of People’, the artists have built fourteen large-size models of several Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Lech Wałęsa, Nelson Mandela, Frederik Willem de Klerk, Andrey Sakharov, Michail Gorbachov, Aung San Suu Kyi andi Martin Luther King.

The biggest sculpture, eight metres high, is that of Lech Wałęsa.

The other  sculptures present  Irena Sendler with a group of Jewish children and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, as well as such celebrities as Bono, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

The Sand Sculpture Festival, now in its 4th edition, is one of numerous events to mark the 30th anniversary of the birth of Solidarity. The exhibits are on view till the end of August. (mk)