Launched in 1998 by Huế University of Arts and currently organised every two years in conjunction with the Huế Festival, the International Sculpture Symposium is Việt Nam’s main international showcase for the art of contemporary sculpture. The Second Symposium of 2002 featured work by 34 sculptors from Japan, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Hungary, Egypt, Australia, the United States of America and Việt Nam. The Third Symposium of 2004, sponsored by the then Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, featured participation by 31 sculptors from the Netherlands, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, China, Canada, Iran and Việt Nam, working in stone, stainless steel, bronze, aluminium and cast iron. Some 500 stone blocks were ordered for the event and 42 two stone masons from Ninh Bình and Thanh Hóa Provinces, 20 welders from Huế and 30 students from the Huế University of Arts were invited to the Symposium to assist the artists. Work produced in previous Symposia is on display in Huế’s 3 February Park, on the south bank of the Perfume River. At the time of writing there are plans to create a new International Sculpture Park at the foot of Ngự Bình Mountain in the south of the city.