Pasay, Philippines

APEC Sculpture Garden

A melting pot of Asian-Pacific art features one symbolic sculpture from each of 20 different nations.

Scattered across the lawns of the Philippine International Convention Center on the western banks of Manila, your eyes will be met with tall towers, abstract sculptures, a grizzly bear, and a cassowary. These 20 sculptures in total make up the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Sculpture Garden, a unifying international collection of symbolic Asian-Pacific art.

Each of the 20 sculptures in the APEC Sculpture Garden stems from a different APEC member nation, encompassing all 21 member states except Peru, which is apparently late to the party. Some of the sculptures in this melting pot of international art display their country’s indigenous fauna, as can be seen from Russia’s brown bear design and Papua New Guinea’s cassowary sculpture, a bird endemic to the country. Other sculptures are more abstract: Chile’s sculpture is a tall red tower, China’s features a baby in a white circle, and Vietnam’s is a young shoot in a harsh environment, entitled “Resilience.”

While each artwork is a symbol for its respective country, together they represent the unity of the Asian-Pacific member nations, with many of the sculptures dating back to the garden’s inception in 1996.