Cantalao International Sculpture Competition

The purpose of this Sculpture Competition is aimed at Chile’s desire to honor the memory of the Poet Pablo Neruda through a work of sculptural art. The sculpture will be exhibited outdoors on the Cantalao site, donated by the Neruda Foundation, and within a cultural venue created in his name.

Cantalao is located in Isla Negra in the municipality of El Quisco, Region of Valparaíso, approximately 100 kilometers west of Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The area of Cantalao makes up part of the urban zone of the municipality of El Quisco and is considered a “Typical and Picturesque Zone”, where Neruda´s museum house is located.

The area where the work will be located, at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, is approximately 2,500mt2 within the 43,000mt2 that make up the surface of the total land.

Before the construction of the gateway and surrounding fence, spontaneous and unrestricted use of the land has resulted in dirt “roads” and trails that can be seen in various photographs. The local landscape has also been damaged due to the same reason. The Neruda Foundation intends on reducing these marked pathways and decreasing their width. There will be a much narrower strip for vehicles, than the one that currently exists, which will be parallel to the eastern limit. It will run from the vehicular entrance to the north, and will end at the cabin. This circuit will also allow access to the facilities of the future Cantalao Centre located at the heart of the site. The poet participated in a sketch of the Cantalao Centre.

Presently, the Neruda Foundation has initiated the process of restoring the site’s primitive conditions, recovering its flora and fauna, developing the idea of creating an ecological sculpture park with a natural amphitheatre for poetry, literary and musical events.

The Foundation hopes to recover Pablo Neruda’s dream: with the word ‘Cantalao’ he visualized “a cultural venue where artists can relate to each other, as well as coexist in harmony to exchange their experiences, in search for a way of re-enchanting urban citizens with nature through education.”

More Information:
http://www.concursocantalao.cl