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Video: Russians surprised the whole world by winning the ice sculpture competition in Harbin
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Frosty winter is a real expanse for sculptors who create from snow or ice. Well, where can the best masters of ice figures live? Of course, in Russia! This was once again confirmed by a team from the city of Blagoveshchensk, which won first place at the grandiose World of Snow and Ice Festival in Harbin. A group of masters led by Alexei Sidorov won the jury with the topical theme of football for the past year.
Triumph at the main event of the holiday
An unusual international festival in China has been held for more than a decade, and each time it is an unforgettable grand show. In the center of Harbin, on an area of more than 600 thousand square meters, the organizers of this unforgettable event are erecting hundreds of multi-meter ice buildings, and the result is a whole fabulous city. And in the evenings it is illuminated with multi-colored lights, which looks fantastic!
The festival attracts 10 million spectators annually, which is not surprising given its beauty and scale. The fabulous winter city hosts shows, dance performances, a competition for the best snow sculptures, ice figure fairs (this year - lanterns), and roller coasters.
But, perhaps, the most important event of the holiday, which lasts from the end of December to February, is the competition for the best ice composition, which has been held here for the eighth time in a row.
This year 16 teams from all over the world came to compete for the title of the best sculptors. Among them were even representatives of states that seemed far from the snow and ice theme - Italians, Spaniards and Egyptians.
Traditionally, the first and most ambitious nomination of the competition was a multi-block ice sculpture. The participants were given pre-prepared ice blocks and given everything for all three days.
The team from Priaumrya decided to bet on the topical topic of the past year - football. The composition made by our participants is a sports battle frozen in the ice and a ball flying into the goal. It seems that this exciting moment of the match was paused by some unknown spectator to enjoy it longer. The Russians called their composition "Football Forward".
The jury appreciated the originality of thought and skill of Russian sculptors. And recognized them as the best! As the winners of the competition, the Russians were awarded 15 thousand Chinese yuan (about 2, 2 thousand dollars), a diploma and medals.
The second place was taken by the team from Mongolia and the hosts of the festival - the guys from the Harbin Pedagogical University. The third place was shared by the Spaniards, the Chinese and another Russian team from Moscow.
Ice and Fire Tamer
The captain of the winning team is the "ice" sculptor from Blagoveshchensk Aleksey Sidorov, whose profession is not at all connected with art - he serves as a firefighter in the Emergencies Ministry.
However, Alexey, as it turned out, has not only courage, but also great artistic talent, and he works equally well with ice and snow. By the way, in addition to sculpting from "cold materials", he is also fond of woodcarving. In his youth, he even graduated from the graphic arts department of the pedagogical school, but nevertheless opted for the career of a firefighter-rescuer.
Sidorov is a multiple winner of various ice sculpture competitions. In the same Harbin, he already once won the highest award, and that time it was the figure of a speedway racer, depicted in an expressive, not entirely realistic manner. Then Alexei took part in the “Monoblock sculpture” nomination (a figure made from a single piece of ice) and received 9,000 yuan for the victory, which he shared with his partner Evgeny Savchenko.
As Alexei later recalled, initially he planned to participate only in the competition of sculptures made of snow and therefore did not even take an electric saw with him to Harbin - only a couple of simple tools. So basically they worked with their partner with their hands. However, the sculpture of the Russian team was still the best.
And now - again a triumph, only this time in a more complex and most ambitious nomination of the festival.
By the way, this year the highlight of the festival was the "visit" to the ice town of subantarctic penguins, which were specially brought here from the Chinese Oceanarium. The birds rode down the ice slides and at the same time felt quite comfortable, because they found themselves in a familiar environment. As the staff of the aquarium explained, these birds are very inventive and intelligent, which all visitors to the Harbin festival could not fail to notice.
Let us remind you that no less interesting works were presented in Harbin in the past. These 20 colorful sculptures created by craftsmen at the International Ice and Snow Festival, just great.
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