Sapore turned the wolf of happiness

Sustainable mechanism

“Are you not tired of attending the festival? Here as Easter or Christmas. You ate, you do, but you wait again next year, ”smiled Simonas Šidlauskas, Artūras Burneika and architect Tomas Petreikis, the wolves of the traditional Sapor Snow Sculpture Festival. The latter two to Japan had been going on for the fifth time. For Simon it was the second festival. In the country of the sun, he represented Lithuania with another composition of the team and earned silver.

“The Sapporo Festival is the tip of the iceberg. Invisible work has been going on from mid -summer. It is not the case that you go, the snow and you get the award or not, « the prehistory of the » Happiness is the Balance « of the work of the work returned the trio to the starting point when the idea was born in their heads. When deciding to create a sculpture that would lay a bridge between two countries, the artists chose hieroglyph.

Culmination: The sculpture created by Kaunas residents built a bridge between Lithuania and Japan. Photo by T. Petreikis Personal Archive

“We have friends in Japan. They offered us various hieroglyphs, explaining their meanings until we finally chose hieroglyph, symbolizing happiness, said Petreikis. – We combined the figurative sign of the script with a children's toy, and so the sculpture gained even more meaning – the wolf is like a metaphor for happiness. He balances all the time at balance. You look and consider: the toy will take and stop or will continue to balance your spin. ”

As long as the idea turned into a body, it took more than one attempt, but the confrontation of opinions was avoided. All three developers acted as one mechanism. When one detail was stalled, it was compensated by the remaining two.

“We are a triple CPU's computer core. One might get lost in the maze, but when there are three, everything is different. One stops, the others come, and the wolf revolves again, ”said Petreikis.

The Sapporian Festival is the tip of the iceberg. Invisible work has been going on from mid -summer. There is no way you go, have a snow and get an award or not.

Sun killer

The trio purchased tickets to Japan almost in the last days. In contrast to visitors who live throughout the week at the festival rhythm. These days, Sapor is a dry hotel, and it is difficult to call a taxi as well. It is estimated that the festival, which has been held since the 1950s, has been visited by about $ 2 million annually. people. Therefore, it was very important for Lithuanians to introduce them to Lithuania and encourage them to come to Kaunas. By the way, many heard about him. He also knew that it was home to Jewish savior Chiune Sugihara.

The festival was attended by snow sculptors from the US, Singapore, South Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Indonesia, Hawai, Thailand and Lithuania. Each team received cubes of 3 m high and the same width, which they had to turn into artwork within four days.

Photo by Edgar Cickiewicz

“The main requirement? The organizers, according to A. Burneika, also restricted working hours to prevent the snow cube from growing, ”the organizers said. Each team was given four days, or more precisely 48 hours. According to the original plan, the sculptors had to work from 9 a.m. to 9 pm, but all of them slowed down the weather.

“In December, January, there was a zeppelin sky in Lithuania. And the Sapore was greeted by the sun. We laughed at the unpleasant sunny days here, ”the beams that had a joy, A. Burneika's story, turned into snowfalls.

For three consecutive days, the air temperature was warmed to +6 ° C, and from the hot sun sculpture flowed with water streams.

Fascinated the audience

When the evening cooled, the sculptors accelerated. The most intense was the evening of the last day.

“We started counting minutes, seconds and hundreds of hours, not hours, seconds. There was no time to worry. We just plowed. Some elements had to be completed, others had to be restored with the sun, ”Sidlauskas recalled as he approached the finish and the organizers' suggestion, which the team decided to ignore. After evaluating the weather conditions and some of the sculptures that Kaunas residents supported small snow supports during the process, the judges allowed them to leave them. Sculptors from Kaunas were not tempted by such a relief.

Challenge: The artists covered the sculpture as the sun was shining, and at dusk, they were getting into work. Photo by T. Petreikis Personal Archive

“We came to create a masterpiece. Art is magic! No dentures could remain, ”Petreikis said.

The risk was successful: the sculpture image opened after the snow supports were removed. The sign that the guests of the festival watched without much emotion as if they spoke. As a fateful moment of surprise, the artists realized that they had managed to build a bridge between Lithuania and the country of flowing sun.

“When we were pulling everything, the Japanese began to shout with amazement. Smiles came into their faces, ”Petreikis realized that they managed to do what seemed hard to be possible at that moment. Snow sculpture « Happiness is a balance » is one of the technically one of the more complex works, with geometric shapes, sharp edges and other elements that have been transformed into the body not only magic but also craftsmanship.

Bronze like gold

Over the years, Kaunas residents have created several snow stories and have won several awards. 2006 In Sapor they received bronze, 2009. Lithuanians took second place at the same festival. 2010 In Colorado, the artists dressed in gold in the Brekenridge Snow Festival. They also climbed the highest podium in Sapor in 2011. In 2012, stayed third. In 2015, Kaunas residents won gold again. Last year, the sculptors earned two ratings in Brekenridge. The Lithuanians received a bronze and an artist award, awarded by fellow sculptors competing in the championship. The ship, who lost its snow clouds last February, won fifth place for developers.

Mission: Snow sculptors have no doubt that after hearing stories about Kaunas, many Japanese will be tempted to visit the city. Photo by T. Petreikis Personal Archive

“There were all kinds of episodes in our career. It seems to be out of fame, you realize that the sea is up to the knees. Whatever your finger you move, you will hit because you know the recipe. No devil! It was the dark Middle Ages, it was difficult to see why you notice, but you go through the potholed road, try, do and sails again, the medals glowing – T. Petreikis was glad that this year they had a bronze, which was gold for them. – Bearing in mind the cultural aesthetic difference, the third place is the same as the first place. By the way, at the end of the festival, Algirdas Kudzys, the first Lithuanian Ambiguous and Authorized Ambassador to Japan, was in Sapor and said that most people were standing at our sculpture. We think if there were an audience award, we would have won it. ”

Does this mean that the snow sculptors next year will travel to the hearts of the people of the country of the rising sun again? The trio looked around and laughed, « Asking early, but we will probably say yes to summer.