Winter sculpting events, print version


Winter sculpting events Winter is full of experiences. In countries where the winter is shorter than it is here in Finland, people have known how to enjoy the season for decades. Winter events have been as common and popular as summer carnivals. In recent years, Finland has finally come around and witnessed an unprecedented interest in the use of snow and ice in art, decoration, building and winter games. Snow art is playing with light and shadow. The pure white material is at its best in clear shapes. Shadows color sculptures and bring out shapes in relief. Snow art is also playing with proportions. The cheap and easily shaped material can be readily fashioned into large entities which surprise the viewer by making little things big. Of course, skill and insight are required, as is the ability to combine things in a new way and to realize the special properties of the new material. Finns have had to go out and get the inspiration for snow sculpting from elsewhere – Japan, China, Canada and even Central Europe. The history of the winter carnival in Quebec in Canada goes back over 100 years. On the island of Hokkaido in Japan, the local people also consciously decided a long time ago to interrupt the harsh winter and enjoy the wealth of snow on their island. The 2003 Sapporo Snow Festival is the 54th to be organized. And every year, in January and February, throughout the island there are snow and ice festivals, each more fascinating than the last, and each with its own special character. The Sapporo Snow Festival is still the world's largest winter event. Over two million people come to it annually to admire the unbelievable creations, and thousands contribute to this winter fantasy by creating their own sculptures. Yet the festival is not mere fantasy. It is a rich cultural event. Over the years, the residents of Sapporo have seen the facades of nearly all the famous buildings in the world recreated in snow and ice right in the center of their city. The buildings also serve as the backdrop for different artistic and public events. Children's events are an essential part of the Sapporo festival, as they are in many other comparable winter events. One of the focal events in the Sapporo Snow Festival is the snow sculpting contest. Over thirty similar snow or ice sculpting contests or symposia are organized annually around the world either as events in their own right or as part of a winter festival. Each event is organized in keeping with its own design. What they have in common is the publicity of the event, extensive cultural links, an international focus and a close relation between the sculptors and the public while the sculptures or other structures are being created. The development and coordination of these events is the responsibility of the cooperative organization founded in 1986 in Quebec City, the Association Internationale de Sculpture sur Neige et Glace , which for a long time has been managed from Finland. International snow and ice sculpture competitions are popular public events and, as process-oriented activities, examples of art education at its best. They provide millions of people with the opportunity to learn about the different schools within the field of sculpture and to experience culture differences. Sculpting might embody a playfulness but sculptors are professional artists and, despite their transitory nature, the competitions and works are just as important to them as more permanent art. In fact, the world already has professionals in winter art. Snow and ice events are good examples of winter innovations. The field has made progress and the prospects are limitless. In Finland, snow and ice art are still searching for their proper form. The international winter art that began in Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi in the 1980s was ahead of its time. Now that we have got going again, the field is developing rapidly. We can see a perhaps typical Finnish enthusiasm bordering on madness, and an extreme desire to come up with something new and to develop technology to make the work easier. Finland cannot match Sapporo, Harbin and other megaevents in number of visitors and financing but our own design can be found by, for example, stressing art more than festive commotion. This has in fact already happened. Juhani Lillberg
© University of Lapland and Kemi-Tornio Polytechnic, Culture Unit

Winter sculpting events

Winter is full of experiences. In countries where the winter is shorter than it is here in Finland, people have known how to enjoy the season for decades. Winter events have been as common and popular as summer carnivals. In recent years, Finland has finally come around and witnessed an unprecedented interest in the use of snow and ice in art, decoration, building and winter games.

Snow art is playing with light and shadow. The pure white material is at its best in clear shapes. Shadows color sculptures and bring out shapes in relief. Snow art is also playing with proportions. The cheap and easily shaped material can be readily fashioned into large entities which surprise the viewer by making little things big. Of course, skill and insight are required, as is the ability to combine things in a new way and to realize the special properties of the new material.

Finns have had to go out and get the inspiration for snow sculpting from elsewhere – Japan, China, Canada and even Central Europe. The history of the winter carnival in Quebec in Canada goes back over 100 years. On the island of Hokkaido in Japan, the local people also consciously decided a long time ago to interrupt the harsh winter and enjoy the wealth of snow on their island. The 2003 Sapporo Snow Festival is the 54th to be organized. And every year, in January and February, throughout the island there are snow and ice festivals, each more fascinating than the last, and each with its own special character.

The Sapporo Snow Festival is still the world's largest winter event. Over two million people come to it annually to admire the unbelievable creations, and thousands contribute to this winter fantasy by creating their own sculptures. Yet the festival is not mere fantasy. It is a rich cultural event. Over the years, the residents of Sapporo have seen the facades of nearly all the famous buildings in the world recreated in snow and ice right in the center of their city. The buildings also serve as the backdrop for different artistic and public events. Children's events are an essential part of the Sapporo festival, as they are in many other comparable winter events.

One of the focal events in the Sapporo Snow Festival is the snow sculpting contest. Over thirty similar snow or ice sculpting contests or symposia are organized annually around the world either as events in their own right or as part of a winter festival. Each event is organized in keeping with its own design. What they have in common is the publicity of the event, extensive cultural links, an international focus and a close relation between the sculptors and the public while the sculptures or other structures are being created. The development and coordination of these events is the responsibility of the cooperative organization founded in 1986 in Quebec City, the Association Internationale de Sculpture sur Neige et Glace , which for a long time has been managed from Finland.

International snow and ice sculpture competitions are popular public events and, as process-oriented activities, examples of art education at its best. They provide millions of people with the opportunity to learn about the different schools within the field of sculpture and to experience culture differences. Sculpting might embody a playfulness but sculptors are professional artists and, despite their transitory nature, the competitions and works are just as important to them as more permanent art. In fact, the world already has professionals in winter art.

Snow and ice events are good examples of winter innovations. The field has made progress and the prospects are limitless. In Finland, snow and ice art are still searching for their proper form. The international winter art that began in Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi in the 1980s was ahead of its time. Now that we have got going again, the field is developing rapidly. We can see a perhaps typical Finnish enthusiasm bordering on madness, and an extreme desire to come up with something new and to develop technology to make the work easier. Finland cannot match Sapporo, Harbin and other megaevents in number of visitors and financing but our own design can be found by, for example, stressing art more than festive commotion. This has in fact already happened.