APRIL 24, 2002- Held every two years in Monaco’s beautiful Casino gardens, the Monte-Carlo International Sculpture Festival assembles monumental works by major international artists all centering around a central theme. This year’s theme will be Animal Parade (La Parade des Animaux). In 2000, the first edition, which enjoyed tremendous success, was devoted to contemporary American sculpture.

The 2002 edition will be held from June 26 - October 31 and will feature nineteen contemporary outdoor works all placed in and around the gardens of the legendary Monte-Carlo Casino. The Envoyé Spécial (a horse) by Gloria Friedmann will be exposed in the Atrium of the Casino. Young contemporary artists, such as Patrick Minran, who created an enormous glowing giraffe that will be placed in the garden’s central fountain, is joined by recognized masters such as Calder and Botero. The bull of the young Spaniard Mascaró answers the bull of Pompom and the rider by Marisol responds to the horse by Bourdelle. This parade thus joins together varied animals and styles, traditional Pompon with the colored animals of Niki de Saint-Phalle (Dragon), Red Grooms (Circus Elephant), Keith Haring (Dog), Pascal Bernier (Bandaged Elephant), while also including the imaginary animals of Magdalena Abkakanowicz (Mutant), Germaine Richier (Woman Grasshopper), Bruskin (Demon) and the frightening Four Craniums by Miquel Barceló.

The festival creates an artistic playground where the visitor finds abstract works, including Steven Gregory’s Fish on A Bicycle, Roseline Granet’s Circus Dog and the three piled up cows of John Kelly, the Australian artist recognized for his Cow Up A Tree that was part of the 1999 Paris Champs de la Sculpture. The Birdcage, created by Jean-Pierre Raynaud in 1996 at the request of the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, was specially adapted in order to be exposed outside in Monaco during this year’s festival. With this parade of animals, summer in Monaco opens with a fanfare.

For more information on the Principality of Monaco, call the Monaco Government Tourist Office at (800) 753-9696, email MGTO@Monaco1.org or visit www.monaco-tourism.com.