The Hand of the Desert

The Hand of the Desert is an impressive 11-meter-high sculpture located in the heart of the Atacama Desert, 75 kilometers south of Antofagasta, Chile. Created by artist Mario Irarrázabal in 1992, it represents a hand rising from the sand as a symbol of human fragility, loneliness, and injustice. Surrounded by the vast arid landscape of the world’s driest desert, it has become a cultural and tourist icon, as well as one of the most photographed landmarks in northern Chile.