Outings and excursions · Antofagasta
The Hand of the Desert: a giant sculpture in the middle of Atacama
Photos: Rodrigo Maluenda Romero / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Eleven metres of concrete rise from the sand beside Route 5, south of Antofagasta. By the same artist as La Mano in Punta del Este.
In the middle of the Atacama Desert, beside Route 5 (the northern Pan-American Highway), a giant hand rises from the sand. It is the Hand of the Desert, by Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal, who also made La Mano in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
The work
It was unveiled on 28 March 1992. About 11 metres tall and made of reinforced concrete, it stands some 1,100 metres above sea level, at kilometre 1,300 of the highway, about 76 km south of Antofagasta. Its outsized scale against the vast desert speaks of human fragility.
How to see it
It is a classic stop for travellers on the Pan-American. At sunrise, sunset and at night, under Atacama's starry sky, the sculpture is especially photogenic.
Tips
- There are no services on site: bring water and sunscreen.
- If you go at night, dress warmly: desert temperatures drop sharply.
