англ №40

№40, July 2017
Battle of statues: a sand castle, a Sphinx and an opera
with tentacles made in Odesa
Odesa held a competition of sand sculptures.
According to the organizers, this competition was held in
Ukraine for the first time. Teams of sculptors presented five
large-scale sand statues, and dozens of people came to
see them.
Sand sculptures were created on the territory of
the coastal entertainment complex near the beach
«Dolphin», and the competition was organized by one of
Odesa construction companies. Participation was free of
charge. Several teams of amateur sculptors presented
their works.
«As far as I know, this is the first such competition in
Ukraine. No wonder that this tournament took place in our
southern city, because Odesa is a city on the sand by
the sea, and we hope that this festival of sand sculptures
will be held here annually, «the director of the organizing
company Dmytro Kovrov said noting that all the works
were unique, interesting and unusual.
Sand for the competition was brought specially
from a quarry. It took the participants six hours to create
statues with the help of spatulas and a painting knife. As
a result, the beach was adorned with a medieval castle,
a Sphinx, a fairy-tale bunny house, a fantastic variation of
the Sydney Opera House and the construction that unites
five Odesa monuments at the same time, for example, the
Vorontsovsky Lighthouse, the colonnade and the building
of the stock exchange on Dumska Square. By the way,
it was the last mentioned statue that was given the first
place.
The creator of the sculpture Anatolii Kyrienko
commented that he was a builder by education and had
been into creating sculptures for many years: since 2003
he had been making snow statues.
He told that all the ideas came to him during the work
and he never made sketches. «People see my sculpture
and learn about Odesa,» the author told us. «In fact, I
want to create concrete sculptures along the Health
Route.» Anatolii believes that such statues should serve
as benches, but look like a Sphinx or, for example, a cat
bench in the Mykolaiv Zoo.
The team of a citizen of Odesa Iryna Zahaichuk
also received an award for creating an exact copy of
a medieval castle. This sculpture was distinguished by
special precision and clear, even lines.
«We are very lucky to live in this city, because we
have sea and sand,»the participant praises her small
homeland. «In our free time, I organize my friends and
colleagues, and we go to the seashore and make sand
statues. For some people it’s a hobby, for others it is a form
of relaxation. Here during the competition, the shape of
the sand helped us see how the castle would look like
when it is finished.»
«Sehodnia» noticed that even after the results of the
contest were announced, the team continued to improve
the details of their medieval palace. «We are used to
providing straight lines and precise contours to our
sculptures so that the shape looks completely finished,»
explains the team and adds: they used 1.5 tons of sand to
make the statue.
However, curious children, apparently, most liked
the sculpture made by freshmen students of the Odesa
Pedagogical University. «At first we wanted to recreate
the Transfiguration Cathedral, but in the course of work
everything changed, and we made a copy of the Sydney
Opera House,» a student Mykola Zhukovskyi said.
The statue looks like this: large tentacles of some sea
creature are trying to reach the building of the Opera
House, which crowns the top of the sculpture. As the
students explained, during their work they had used not
only professional tools, but also improvised materials,
for example, they had made the windows with a small
seashell.
Every participant received awards and gifts.
Sculptors were awarded with statuettes, cash prizes, and
memorable t-shirts dedicated to the event.
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