Hand of the Desert: A giant sculpture that welcomes visitors with a high five
While learning about deserts around the world, you must have heart about the famous Atacama Desert that covers Chile in the South American continent, and has Andes Mountain range to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. But that’s not why Atacama Desert is well known globally. Its claim to fame comes from the fact that it is the driest nonpolar desert and the largest fog desert in the world. But these aren’t the reasons why tourists visit the Chilean desert. The main attraction is the giant and concrete structure of a human hand that stands right in the middle of the barren Atacama, more specifically near the kilometre marker 1309 off the Pan American Highway or Route 5 of Chile. It is called the Hand of the Desert. Are you excited to know more about it? Read on.
Meet La Mano del Desierto
On an unearthly spot right in the heart of the Chilean Atacama stands a mammoth 36 feet (three storeys) high statue of a human hand made out of cement, only 1100 metres above sea level. It is called La Mano del Desierto that literally translates to The Hand of the Desert. It was constructed exactly 30 years ago in 1922 when locals of the Chilean town Antofagasta realised that there lies a vast emptiness surrounding their isolated copper mines amidst the Atacama Desert. Realising this, they commissioned a famous Chilean sculptor named Mario Mario Irarrazabal to create a monument to fill the gap and lifelessness of the desert. In March that year, he built four outstretched fingers and a thumb from concrete and made it stand over an iron frame.
Offering high fives and hand waves
Apart from filling the emptiness of the region, Antofagastans also wanted this giant hand to offer tourists and everyone passing through miles and miles of nothing but sand and low hills, a high five for doing so. It was their way of acknowledging people’s presence in one of the remotest locations on earth. Moreover, it was also meant to let people know that there was a small mining population living nearby who were waving at them while they pass by. Not only that, The Hand of the Desert also symbolises a relic of lost civilisations as well as human vulnerability and helplessness.
A piece of graffiti
Since its inception, La Mano del Desierto has been a frequent target of graffiti artists who often illegally come and paint names, slogans and morals with spray paints. While initially the Antofagasta population tried to prevent it by placing signs asking tourists not to touch the hand and even launching CCTV cameras around, no one really paid heed. This is when they realised that their attempt was in vain and decided to allow free speech. However, once every six months, they wipe off all writings and markings from the giant hand sculpture.
Interestingly, the structure is also said to symbolise a protest against human rights violation that the country faced under the Pinochet regime from 1973 to 1990. Here’s a landmark that deserves more than just a hand, don’t you agree?
The right hand is a country away
While the Hand of the Desert is a left hand inspired by the sculptor’s own hand, he had already built his right-hand statue in Uruguay, only 1200 miles east of Antofagasta. The prequel stands at the Atlantic coastal resort called Punta del Este, where five fingers rise from the beach. Mario Mario Irarrazabal had named it Man Emerging to Life, but locals there prefer to call the structure Monument to the Drowned or The Hand. Someday, we shall learn about it to. Meanwhile we can’t help but wonder how the two hands lift up a part of Atacaman South America, beautifully!