Sapporo Art Park

I had most of the day free before the late afternoon train to my next destination, Furano, east of Sapporo.

Sapporo Art Park was on my list of places to visit, and I was glad I could squeeze it in before leaving Sapporo. First, I had to get the subway and change lines. The changeover was, for once, not straightforward. The signs to the required subway line disappeared midway through my search in an underground shopping arcade. Luckily, a person I spoke to could speak English and was going to the same line. After getting the subway, I had a short bus journey to the park.

The park is about forty hectares and consists of several facilities: the Art Museum (closed for renovation), Sculpture Garden, Craft Hall, Craft Studio, and the Art Park Centre.

In the Craft Studio, there were these beautiful hand-made wooden speakers for smartphones. You inserted the phone (speaker-side down) into the slot and the music was amplified, filling the room. I asked the studio manager if I could buy one, but he said they weren’t for sale. I had to book into the workshop to make one; there were no workshops that day.

When I got off the bus, which was terminating at the park, I wondered why most people had stayed on. There was a sign to the park. Afterwards, I realised that the penultimate stop was not the main entrance. It didn’t make much of a difference: I just ended up walking the park in reverse.

The main entrance was where the Art Centre was located, which I saw at the end, where I had my packed lunch and got the bus back from:

If I’d gone to the main entrance, I may have spent more time at the Art Centre and not had enough time for the Sculpture Garden. So, it turned out well.

The Sculpture Garden was a combination of green space and art. I spent most of my time at the park in the Sculpture Garden. It was beautiful and I didn’t want to leave. There were seventy-four sculptures, which were briefly described in a leaflet.

Also in the Sculpture Garden were works by the Norwegian sculptor, Gustav Vigeland. Many years ago, I’d seen his major installation in Oslo. These works were rare examples of Vigeland’s sculptures outside of Norway.