An indoors ice fest is taking place for a first time ever in Bulgaria and also in the Balkans. The Danube town of Ruse hosts for a third year in a row its Ruse Ice Fest which will continue till 15 February 2017. Sculptors from 8 countries created ice figures on the topic given: Ice Tale with motifs from the Frozen Kingdom. More than 130 ice blocks with an overall weight of 20 tons were sculptured in an ice throne, a DNA chain, an Icy Fire, Whirl etc.

Curators of the festival Ruslan Korovkov and Irina Taflevskaya sculptured an ice bar as well for the good mood of the participants, and for their drinks. The festive awarding ceremony was on the eve of December 21. Head of the Culture and Education Dept. with the municipality Irina Petrova gives us more details on what is special about this year’s edition of Ruse Ice Fest:

‘We built up a special premise exclusively for this and all the next festivals, in order to preserve the ice figures for a longer time. It spreads over 144 m2 and has a cooling generator for the purpose of maintaining an average temperature of minus 8 – 10 degrees Celsius. We gained this experience through the previous editions, as last year the figures remained for a couple of days only and the Christmas guests of our town missed the chance to enjoy this short-term art’.

Internationally recognized artists from France, Belgium, Ireland, Holland, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria and winners of global sculptural symposia showed their view and set their imagination free.

‘The interesting thing about such a contest with alternative materials is that we give the topic, but it invites artists to show any side of their talent – they have no restrictions or a frame to fit in. Thus the excessive focusing on the very subject of the contest is avoided. That is how we hold the 2016 Ruse Ice Fest’.

The selection of artwork ranged from a floating human body in ice to a fairytale ice castle. For instance, Nile McGee from Holland, inspired by his three kids, created a DNA chain with hands reaching out of each of its elements. Which sculptures won awards this year?

‘Natalie Chistyakova from France received the top award for her Whirl work. Ruse-born Daniel Kanchev was ranked second for Elza – Ice Queen. The interesting thing about Daniel was that this was his initial ice work ever. Fergus Mulvanni from Ireland remained third with his Light Works icy carving where light and lightness are focused in the flight of icy feathers’.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev