Searching for Utopia

Folon's monumental bronze sea turtle gazing out across the dunes

A four-metre-long bronze sea turtle, its head and shell glinting in the sun, with a small reclining figure riding it. The sculpture sits on a low rise in the dunes near the marina, looking north over the sea. It is one of those works that genuinely justifies the short detour: the scale, the polished metal, and the slightly absurd dignity of the rider make it strangely affecting.

Easy to combine with a walk along the marina or the beach. Free, always accessible.

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A story
The Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon designed the bronze in 2002 — a small human figure riding the back of a vast, hopeful sea turtle. After his death in 2005 the family donated it to Nieuwpoort, where it has become an unexpected landmark on the Belgian coast.

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