An ice monolith stands on the beach of Grado, among the Christmas fir trees that grow on the seashore. We are not on the set of “2001: A Space Odyssey”, but in the location of the Winter Season al Bar Numero Uno on GIT beach. Near the first block the excavator unloads a second one, adding the weight of both to reach i three quintals. To sculpt them against the sun and the wind to create an angel and a castle are Francesca and Walterpassionate about “ephemeral art” for over thirty years: «Traveling around the world – admits Francesca di Sandy Tales – we create sculptures in sand, snow or ice». Stories that tell of animals, traveling sailors or enchanted castles, but also hugs and the Nativity: words of sand and symmetries of crystals destined to melt in the sun, not before having dispensed joy and smiles. «The Winter Season – underlines the GIT president Roberto Marin – is in its second edition. Last year they gave us crazy and visionary people; instead, it was a great success that we wanted to replicate. The greatest satisfaction is that almost all the beaches in Italy have caught our ideaas it is a great vehicle for promoting the area, but above all an offer of the winter sea as a winning and interesting solution.” «It all began – Francesca recalls – to let children play on the beach. People stopped to admire, from there we thought of participating in the first Italian sand sculpture championship and we won.”
If the sand is worked in the summer, the material to occupy the winters could only be the white snow: «We started with the entire Alpine area – he specifies – from San Candido to San Vigilio di Marebbe, immediately winning prizes». After San Martino and Cortina d’Ampezzo it was the turn of Perm, in Russia, up to the East and overseas: «We also went to Moscow – he adds – and several times in Northern China in Harbin. And then in Canada in Parksville, in Colorado in Breckenridgejust about everywhere.” A world tour that took the couple from the United States to Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, India and Africa, where a sand Ferrari was built on a beach in Madagascar. On the occasion of 25th May meeting – for which the arrival of over 30 thousand firefighters from all over the world is expected – the couple will create a large-scale work, anticipated by the sand statue placed at the main entrance of the Git: «A few months ago we were contacted by Grado for a sort of trailer to dedicate to the global gathering of firefighters – he explains – but we will make another larger one closer to the event». Chainsaw, cutters and gouges in hand, an angel and a castle slowly take shape from the ice to enchant adults and children. «We also have tools taken from China – he specifies – where there is even a university chair of Sculpture and Ice. It’s an event that delivers a monstrous spin-offwhich attracts millions of visitors from all over the world.”
In the late morning Walter begins to cut small pieces from the first block: «They are the materials, which govern us – Francesca remarks – and fall apart in the sun. Hopefully we can finish it before it melts.” «We started to let the children play with the sand – Walter intervenes – and by chance we ended up in Cervia in an international event, winning the Italian championship. Then the president of the ice sculptors – a Finn – proposed us snow and ice sculptures and we started to travel the world, until Covid stopped us. The greatest emotion is leave a surprise for the children – he acknowledges – as well as to the adults. It’s an activity that has gotten out of hand, which from play has become art, and I would even say a profession.” A unique experience which led them to work with eleven blocks in China: «They had to help us with the forklift – he recalls – because we couldn’t do it. We worked in our windbreakers, while the two young Mongolians next to us were in short sleeves and were pulling up the block as if it were a ball.” It was precisely in Harbin, a city of eleven million inhabitants, that in 2017 they were awarded the Jury prize as the first Italians: «This year too they invited us – he continues – but we were supposed to stay for about twenty days, and we gave up». Artistic creations that generate an important turnover, still undervalued in our country: «In Italy little is done – he considers – even if with the beaches we have we could organize one a week.
The potential is very high because people come to see the works: then, between a beer, an ice cream or a coffee, the localities obtain a good economic return. In Vancouver there was a queue lasting a kilometre.” «Even in Taipei or Breckenridge – notes Francesca – above Denver». Down there, in the High Peaks of Colorado area at over 3,000 meters above sea level, we work at a rapid pace with oxygen in the refreshment room. Fort Myers was also recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Milton: «This year there was a traffic jam like from here to Monfalcone – he says – and the funny thing is that there you pay a ticket for the week to observe while you work. Following the awards ceremony, everything is thrown down and the next day there is nothing left: people love to see it done». Covered by the sheet before being worked, the monoliths finally took shape after three or four hours of excavation: «The ice taken out of the cold room he had to temper himself – he reiterates – otherwise it would have been too fragile. On the other hand, leaving it in the sun causes fractures, which is why we used the umbrella. In major international competitions, in which we also created the three-metre high Tower of Pisa, when the temperature rises above five degrees they close the park.
These are activities that must be enjoyed in the moment, you have to be there, seize the moment. It’s a bit like enjoying a concert compared to a CD. In Europe the value of the work of art is linked to its commercial value, while such a creation must be enjoyed, and no one can buy it or take it home. It is a priceless emotion, experienced above all in the Far East, which in the United States becomes a sort of sporting competition: who shovels the most, who goes the highest with the castle. The activity reflects a bit the culture of the place where you find yourself. We hope to bring out a smile to everyone who sees it – he concludes – and to excite”. While the little ones flock to have a piece of ice, the angel proudly shines in the sun next to the manor, to which Walter digs an entrance again. Similar to glass the castle stands out on the sand against the gold of the sea, perhaps tomorrow it will be just a shapeless block. But as in every fairy tale with a happy ending, children and families will carry with them the memory of an enchanted winter afternoon. (Photo, Rossana D’Ambrosio)
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