Guess the City: Sculptures (8 Photos)
By Vidar
Eight sculptures, eight cities
Giant hands, a tree-holding troll and a building with a zipper: can you put these artworks on the map? Pick one of four cities for each photo to reveal its location, artist and story. Your score appears after all eight. Some photos show temporary or former installations.
These giant hands rise from a canal. Which city is this?
Show answer
Venice, Italy 🇮🇹
Lorenzo Quinn installed Support beside Ca’ Sagredo on the Grand Canal in 2017, during the Venice Biennale. The hands were modeled on a child’s hands, a detail the artist explains in his biography.
This tree-holding troll lives beside the Mississippi in Iowa. Which city?
Show answer
Clinton, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸
Helmut stands near the Sawmill Museum in Clinton, as Eastern Iowa Community Colleges documents. He is one of three troll brothers made in 2026 from local reclaimed wood, with help from community volunteers; Thomas Dambo’s project page connects their story to the town’s lumber history.
Which Italian city saw this façade unzip?
Show answer
Milan, Italy 🇮🇹
Alex Chinneck built this temporary installation at Opificio 31 for Milan Design Week in 2019. More zips opened the walls and floor inside, as the official event listing describes.
These hooded figures were photographed in the gardens of an English bishop’s palace. Which city?
Show answer
Wells, Somerset, England 🇬🇧
This is Philip Jackson’s Cloister Conspiracy in the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace in Wells. A photograph dated August 2006 documents the work there as part of his Sacred and Profane exhibition.
This figure stands above the Missouri River in South Dakota. Which city is nearby?
Show answer
Near Chamberlain, South Dakota, USA 🇺🇸
Dale Lamphere’s Dignity of Earth and Sky is a 50-foot stainless-steel sculpture honoring the Native Nations of the Great Plains. Its star quilt contains 128 diamonds, and the work was dedicated in September 2016, according to Lamphere Studio.
Rice straw became a giant walrus at a festival in which Japanese city?
Show answer
Niigata, Japan 🇯🇵
The walrus appeared at the Wara Art Festival in Uwasekigata Park. Niigata City’s festival archive records a collaboration between Musashino Art University students and local residents, turning rice straw into large sculptures.
Which Nordic capital once had this gorilla made from used car tires?
Show answer
Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮
Villu Jaanisoo made Everything Is Possible for the Viikki campus of the University of Helsinki, fixing pieces of used tires over a steel frame. The sculpture was destroyed by arson in early 2018, the university reported.
Which Baltic port has this lantern-carrying visitor?
Show answer
Klaipėda, Lithuania 🇱🇹
Svajūnas Jurkus and Sergėjus Plotnikovas made the Black Ghost beside the waterfront bridge near Klaipėda Castle. It recalls a local legend in which a ghost warned a guard in 1595 that grain and timber would run short, as the regional library’s heritage guide explains.
Artwork: Svajūnas Jurkus and Sergėjus Plotnikovas · Photo: Yevgen Belich / Shutterstock
Your score
Copy your score above and share it. Which sculpture would you travel to see?
Discussion 42 comments
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I got 3/8. Chamberlain fooled me: I guessed Sioux Falls because it sounded more correct
I got 2/8. Clinton fooled me: I guessed Davenport because
I need to travel more
I got 2/8. Chamberlain fooled me: I guessed Pierre because it was the first city that had the same vibe as the sculpture
Great
I got 2/8. Milan fooled me: I guessed Rome because
Cool and awesome
Love it Statue
I got 3/8. Clinton fooled me: I guessed Burlington because well I got a bit confused choosing Clinton cz it’s also my ex’s name 😂
I got 7/8. Klaipėda fooled me: I guessed Tallinn because it’s the first city that came to mind immediately I saw the image
I got 2/8. Wells fooled me: I guessed Salisbury because the background looked similar, fun quiz tho
I got 2/8. Milan fooled me: I guessed Turin because
Guess what! I have never see or been to any of this places . Just using my IQ😩🥺.
My guess was right cause I watch Japan league football 🤣
Funny enough, I only got this one right cause I have heard of it
Beautiful beyond
I got 7/8. Clinton fooled me: I guessed Dubuque because
I got 1/8. Clinton fooled me: I guessed Davenport
I wasn’t too sure of any one of these cities; I’ve never traveled to either locations, neither have I ever read about these remote areas, or I’ve never heard about these sculptures; in order that I become familiar with their sculptures, architecture, or their infrastructure…
I wonder did they actually believe in ghost; for them to create a whole sculpture from a local legend…
It commemorates a local legend rather than claiming the ghost was literally real. Klaipėda’s heritage guide records the story of a castle guard being warned by a ghost in 1595.
This sculpture looks like a controversial piece; that would cause a conflict of interest; being located from this remote area of the world… 🌎
I imagined that the locals of this region; would have a hand in it’s collaboration effort; to turn rice straws into a large sculpture; the locals would know more about any given regional area; than a foreign visitor…
I’ve never traveled to these remote areas of the world; 🌎 so I’m not too keen about their sculptures, architecture, nor infrastructure…
This particular sculpture; gives insight, or a vivid image of the grim reaper; collecting souls, of unpaid dues…
I like It; it’s far from traditional. It looks like 3D dimensional art; the way the concrete folds over; like fabric; towards the big zipper. The artist thought outside the box…
I love the arts. I’m not too particular about each City, or each State’s sculpture, architecture, or infrastructure; providing that each State act totally independent of the next one; in the U.S.
I don’t think that my opinion would be friendly like for all viewers. I love the arts, but due to the deplorable state, and dire circumstances of the world; resources are not priority…
I got 7/8. Milan fooled me: I guessed Rome because i saw it there
I guessed throughout and got 6/8. Never visited any of these cities.
Everything fooled me.
Something unique wow
It’s a beautiful masterpiece
Wow it’s a beautiful piece it’s just wow
I got 5/8. Niigata fooled me: I guessed Toyama because I guessed randomly this time
I got 3/8, ugh LAME.
Niigata fooled me: I guessed Akita because it’s a Japanese dog breed. 🤷♀️
So sad the fire.
Lovely
Master peace
I got 4/8. Helsinki fooled me: I guessed Copenhagen because it just seemed more erevolant
I have seen her multiple times going to and from Sturgis S Dakota…I am from Wi. I walk around her every time! She’s just memorizing!
Recognizing a sculpture and knowing which city it’s in are two very different things 😂 The tree-holding troll is the one I’d most like to visit. Which one would you make a trip for?