Sand art to generate awareness: Patnaik

New Delhi, April 14: Known for his lively creations on contemporary issues, sand sculptor Sudarshan Patnaik wants to use the art form to generate awareness among the common man on global warming. Patnaik, who is defending his title in the ongoing World Sand Competition at Tottori city in Japan from April 5-15, had been roped in by environmental activist group Greenpeace as a member of their `Blue Alert` campaign in Orissa last year.

"Creating a figure with sand is a difficult but unique form of art. I want to make optimum use of it to create awareness among the people in India and abroad as well. The constant rise in world temperature increases the water level in our seas and is threatening the world," Patnaik said. Speaking to reporters before leaving for Japan, he said global warming is a potential threat to the artefacts of human civilization. "A number of historical monuments that are located on the sea-shores -- temples in Puri or the Sun temple of Konark or the monuments of Mamallapuram -- all are very much vulnerable to the ill-effects of global warming. They might submerge and become a thing of past in future," he said, adding he wants to play his bit by spreading awareness.Squeezing of beaches will also take away the canvass of a sand artist and that will ring the death knell for the beautiful art, Patnaik said. The 32-year-old sculptor, who has won a number of awards, fell in love with the art two decades back and earned worldwide recognition for his sculpture showing a polar bear family sitting on a burning globe in Berlin World Championship last June. The latest feather in his crown came with the People of the Year 2009 award by Limca Book of Records. Patnaik rues that although the prospect of sand artistry is great, there is lack of enthusiasm on the part of the government. "Although sand sculpting is much-acclaimed throughout the world, it doesn`t have much recognition in India. Government is also not much interested in helping the sand artists," Patnaik said. Patnaik runs a school, "Golden Sand Art Institute" founded in 1995 that draws enthusiasts from many parts of the country and abroad. Bureau Report