Installation in the middle of the desert combines art and nature in a mandala made of sand pyramids | World

The Self Similar art installation, built on the island of Al Fahid in Abu Dhabi, offers a unique sensory experience to visitors.

Located at the point where the city meets the desert, on the edge of the Arabian Sea, it is made up of 448 pyramids and 19 sand hills which, seen from above, form a kind of mandala.

Its creator, the North American artist Jim Denevan, says that he sought to show in the work the connection between art and nature, since the winds constantly change the shapes of the sculptures.

At night, the one-square-kilometer installation hosts a light show, with more than a thousand solar-powered lamps. It is at the same time “a superb and delicate giant”, as its creator says.