International sculptors get creative with 'aurora', 'shaman' designs at China ice festival

Record ID: 1895434

  • Title: International sculptors get creative with 'aurora', 'shaman' designs at China ice festival
  • Date: 7th January 2025
  • Summary: HARBIN, HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA (JANUARY 4, 2025) (REUTERS) ICE SCULPTURE AT 36TH HARBIN INTERNATIONAL ICE SCULPTURE COMPETITION ICE SCULPTURE ON DISPLAY VARIOUS OF SHI LEI, REPRESENTING CHINESE TEAM AT COMPETITION, WORKING ON ICE SCULPTURE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 40-YEAR-OLD ICE SCULPTOR FROM SUZHOU CITY, JIANGSU PROVINCE, SHI LEI, SAYING: "We first participated in (the competition) in 2006. Over the past decade or so, we’ve attended most of the years whenever we had the time to do so. Coming here is always a great experience because we treat it as a holiday, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas with artists from around the world." SHI LEI CARVING ICE SHI LEI TALKING TO FELLOW TEAM MEMBER (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 40-YEAR-OLD ICE SCULPTOR FROM SUZHOU CITY, JIANGSU PROVINCE, SHI LEI, SAYING: "Ice sculpting is a seasonal art because it cannot be preserved (throughout the year). This fleeting and momentary beauty (of ice sculpting in this weather) often feels even more captivating. Moreover, northern cities have their own unique culture, as ice and snow sculptures are something you may not encounter elsewhere once you leave this region." ICE SCULPTURE COMPETITION IN PROGRESS NIKOLAI PETROV FROM YAKUTSK, RUSSIA, CARVING ICE ELEMENTS PETROV SCRAPING ICE ELEMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) 55-YEAR-OLD ICE SCULPTOR FROM YAKUTSK, RUSSIA, NIKOLAI PETROV, SAYING: “(We believe in) in shamanism, tengrism (faith), so that's why we are building a shaman (practitioner) who communicates with the cosmos. And the drum (used in Shamanism) is like the sun. The drum is the sun (in fact). And when the shaman (practitioner) comes out, it shows its totems and communicates with the cosmos.” PETROV CARVING ICE ELEMENT VARIOUS OF PETROV SAW-CUTTING ICE STRUCTURE VARIOUS OF ICE SCULPTOR FROM SOUTH KOREAN TEAM, CARVING OUT ICE SHAPE INCOMPLETE ICE SCULPTURES ON DISPLAY WITH SCULPTORS WORKING ON THEM HARBIN, HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA (JANUARY 6, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANT SCULPTOR WORKING AT 27TH HARBIN INTERNATIONAL SNOW SCULPTURE COMPETITION DUMMY DRAWING FOR SCULPTING ON SNOW STRUCTURE BERTIN PAULINE FROM FRANCE, CARVING PART OF LARGER-THAN-LIFE SNOW STRUCTURE BERTIN AND TEAM WORKING ON CARVING OUT DESIGN (SOUNDBITE) (French) 29-YEAR-OLD ICE SCULPTOR FROM FRANCE, BERTIN PAULINE, SAYING: “The sculpture (Aurora Borealis) is a representation of a planetary view that will be located at the top and at the bottom (of the sculpture), where we will also sculpt a moon (element) Then, we will create movements to represent the northern lights (an aurora that occurs in earth’s northern hemisphere) which can be observed at the North Pole.” MINIATURE ‘ENVOLVENTES’ MODEL DESIGN IN PROTECTIVE CASING FOR ECUADORIAN TEAM / TEAM MEMBER WORKING ON DESIGN VARIOUS OF ECUADORIAN TEAM MEMBER DIGGING OUT SNOW FROM SNOW STRUCTURE MINIATURE ‘ENVOLVENTES’ MODEL DESIGN IN PROTECTIVE CASING (SOUNDBITE) (English) 26-YEAR-OLD ICE SCULPTOR FROM ECUADOR, CARLOS SEBASTIAN ESTRELLA RIVAS, SAYING: “This ice sculpture’s name in Spanish is ‘envolventes’. This concept is thinking about nature when the ‘semilla’, the seeds were born. And this (sculpture) is thinking about nature and the born (birth).” CARLOS LOOKING UP SCULPTURE STRUCTURE AND TALKING TO TEAM MEMBER CARLOS AND TEAM MEMBER ON LADDER WORKING ON SCULPTURE (SOUNDBITE) (English) 26-YEAR-OLD ICE SCULPTOR FROM ECUADOR, CARLOS SEBASTIAN ESTRELLA RIVAS, SAYING: “First, is the people (in Harbin). The people are so happy, and then the food is delicious. The most important thing is making sculptures with my family in Harbin. The most popular (ice) festival around the world.” CARLOS AND ECUADORIAN TEAM SNOW STRUCTURE BEING CARVED INTO MODEL DESIGN SNOW FALLING ON GROUND FROM CARVING VARIOUS OF ROUGH CARVING OF FACES ON SNOW SCULPTURE
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2025 08:06
  • Keywords: CHINA HARBIN CITY HARBIN ICE AND SNOW FESTIVAL HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE ICE AND SNOW INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS
  • Location: HARBIN, HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA
  • City: HARBIN, HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA001129507012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ice and snow sculptors from around the world chipped away at their creations in one of China’s coldest cities to compete in the annual international ice and sculpting competitions, bringing spectacular design concepts including an aurora that occurs in earth’s northern hemisphere known as the Northern Lights.
    The contests took place in Harbin, in China's Heilongjiang province, known for its ice festival which draws thousands of visitors annually. Winter temperatures in Harbin can dip to as low as -35 degrees Celsius (-31 degrees Fahrenheit).
    Participating in the ice sculpting contest that began on Thursday (January 2) and takes place over a two-day period, Nikolai Petrov, who hails from Yakutsk city in Russia, said his design is a “shaman” practitioner, inspired by his “shamanism, tengrism” faith.
    “The drum is the sun (in fact). And when the shaman (practitioner) comes out, it shows its totems and communicates with the cosmos,” he said.
    French sculptor, Bertin Pauline, participating in the snow sculpting competition that began on Monday (January 6), said her team's design was inspired by the ‘Aurora Borealis’ phenomenon.
    Carlos Sebastian Estrella Rivas, from Ecuador, said the snow sculpting race over the next three days is an opportunity to work with his family building the “nature”-inspired “Envolventes” model on a larger-than-life snow structure.
    Ten countries comprising of 20 or more so teams are taking part in the snow spectacle.
    The competitions are part of the annual Ice and Snow Festival, themed "Shared Dreams of Ice and Snow, United Hearts in Asia," incorporates elements from the 9th Asian Winter Games, which will be held in Harbin from February 7 to February 14.
    (Production: Josh D. Arslan; Xiaoyu Yin)
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