How sculpture parks are redefining the future of art

Five destinations, whether in the English countryside or a forest in Thailand, where the artworks and nature go hand in hand

- GISELA WILLIAMS

THE MODERN WESTERN tradition of the sculpture garden is generally thought to have first been developed during the Renaissance, when classical statues were integrated into formal gardens, although the practice of displaying artworks amid nature is much older.

Millenniums ago, Chinese scholars displayed abstract rock sculptures within private courtyard gardens that represented microcosms of nature and were intended for contemplation. More recently, artworks have found homes in wilder settings like Storm King, a 500-acre museum in New York's Hudson Valley, and Wanas Konst, a sprawling, forested site in Sweden. As demand for immersive art experiences has continued to grow over the last decade, fuelled in part by social media, international collectors and curators have started to install site-specific art projects in a new wave of unexpected landscapes.