Parikkala Sculpture Park, Outdoor sculpture garden in Koitsanlahti, Finland.
Parikkala Sculpture Park is an outdoor sculpture garden in Finland made up of around 500 concrete figures spread across an open plot of land. The statues depict people in a wide range of poses, from ordinary daily scenes to physically demanding positions.
Veijo Rönkkönen started building the first figures in 1961 using money from his first paycheck at a local paper mill. Over the following decades, the collection grew steadily into the large ensemble visitors see today.
Many of the figures show yoga poses, reflecting how the artist wove physical practices from around the world into his work. Walking slowly through the park, visitors discover these poses among the trees and can recognize familiar movements from different traditions.
The park is open at all times and free to enter, so visitors can take their time exploring without any rush. The ground between the figures can be uneven in places, so sturdy footwear is a good idea.
Some of the concrete figures contain real human teeth, a detail that most visitors only notice when they look closely. It is worth taking time to examine individual statues up close to catch this and other small surprises hidden in the work.
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