Malaysian Artist Dedicates Unique Sand Sculpture In Langkawi To The Nation’s Frontliners

Remember building sandcastles on the beach? It’s not as easy as it seems, isn’t it? Most of the time it would end up crumbling down or turning out like a lump of wet sand instead. But, not for this talented artist.

A 30-year-old visual artist named Mohammad Ikhwan Ibrahim, is known for creating beautiful art pieces through sand sculpting. This time around, he has touched the hearts of many Malaysians as he created an art piece dedicated to our hard-working frontliners to honour their dedication and sacrifices in combating the spread of Covid-19.

According to Bernama, the beautiful sand sculpture was carved at the passenger ferry terminal in Kuah. The sand sculpture is 3.048 metres (10 feet) long and 1.6764 metres high and is said to be built using 2,000 kilograms of river sand.

He explained that he intentionally built the sculpture with four figures which supposedly represent the country’s frontliners. The first figure represents the food delivery riders/drivers. The second figure is the police, to represent the uniformed personnel. The third is Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, to represent the leader of the frontliners. Lastly, nurses, to represent all the health workers.

“The sand sculpture was created as a tribute and in support of our frontliners, who have been unwavering in protecting and taking care of Malaysians throughout the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mohammad Ikhwan said.

He said that this project took 15 days for him to complete. He also added on to say that the sand sculpture would be at the location for a month.

“This time, the project was easier to carve because we were using river sand. The sculpture can last up to three months before it starts deteriorating due to texture erosion, so I expect that a month for this exhibition is a suitable duration,” he said.

National Art Gallery Langkawi (NAG Langkawi) director, Mohd Fairus Ismail said the project was made possible through the Art Charity Fund, which is open to artists.

“This project involved the cooperation of the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, Malaysia Marine Department as the location owner, and NAG Langkawi as coordinator,” he said.

“This sand sculpture is unique as it is usually done at the beach, but this has been brought indoors, so it’s a challenge to the visual artist involved, but there were no issues as he is very experienced.”

“The Kuah Passenger Ferry Terminal is a main entry point to the island and hopefully, the sand sculpture will gain wide attention.”

Kudos to Mohammad Ikhwan Ibrahim! We Malaysians are proud! 

Also Read: Thousands of Passengers Crowd Jetty To Langkawi, No Social Distancing Observed