On 19 January, the winners of the VI Open competition "Russian Cup on Snow and Ice Sculpture "Winter Vernissage" were awarded in Perm, Russia. This year`s theme of the event was "Japanese Motives", and teams from different Russian, Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean cities presented their unique vision of the land of the rising sun.

The participants had a difficult task: to turn the ideas and sketches into monumental sculptures in just five days. The working hours were strictly fixed, from 9:20 to 19:20, for participants to have equal chances to win. All in all, incredible art objects came to the world from the ordinary ice-blocks, each of which showed Japan from a new angle.

There are some pictures of how the icy fairy-tale was created:

Mastership and imagination of the participants boggle the mind. Here you may see sumo wrestlers, traditional Japanese theater, modern technologies, and grand dragons... And all this brilliance was made of ice!

Let us admire the work of the participants. You will see the picture of the winner at the end of the article :)

The third place was awarded to "Tokyo — Technologies and Traditions" by Andrew and Nicholas Kokorins (Ekaterinburg, Russia):

Second place was awarded to "Ice Theatre" by Ivan Zverev and Vadim Parkhomenko (Saint Petersburg, Russia):

A Special prize of the Head of the City of Perm was awarded to "Guardian" by Peter and Roman Petukhovs (Yakutsk, Russia):

The first place was awarded to "One Swing of the Sword" by Yuri and Vladimir Mistryukovs (Ryazan, Russia):

Russian Cup "Winter Vernissage" is held every two years. To witness the participants and winners skills shown in this competition, you should go to the Perm ice-town "Wind from the East".