SNOWMADE

Traveling to Lapland for a snow sculpture
English vesion by Barbara Bonfadini

Idea
Sondrio, end of November 2007, market, the day.
Table with two cups of tea and biscuits. Normal conversation.
Gianmario Bonfadini: "What would you say if we go together in Lapland to make a sculpture of Snow?"
Paola Arminio (short break reflective, eyes fixed rational): "Why not?"

Previous history
The planning for the participation in a competition of snow sculptures begins months before, usually the right stimulus arrives during the stifling summer, when you desire a fresh temperature and it seems that thinking of the snow can help to forget that uncomfortable sensation of wet clothes pasted to the body.
You have to understand the organizers’ requirements and proposals, any expenses and logistics.
Once decided where to go – throughout the world, the main events of this type are concentrated in the period of one month and a half and then the choice must necessarily fall on one of them or a maximum of two - You must present a project in accordance with the size of the block decided by the Organization.
After that a specialized jury deals with the choice of projects to reward with a call.
Birgitta Isaksson is the great head of snowfestival of Kiruna and directly deals with preliminary contacts with the teams and the necessary clarification. Thanks to Ryanair Stockholm flights this has virtually become a law-cost festival, given that from then on the organization shall cover at all costs of transport, accommodation and food until you are back in the Swedish capital, without spending even a crown.

Ikea
Many people have been wondering about it for a lot of years, and, even if it has nothing to do with the snow sculpture festival , perhaps someone will appreciate the clarification: the name IKEA has none of the many meanings that in many have given to it, it’ s simply the acronym of the founder’s initials, Ingvar Kamprad, and Elmtaryd’s and Agunnaryd’s, the farm and village where Kamprad grew up.

Meeting-point
Stockholm Central Station, January, 21st 2008, afternoon.
There’s no snow in Stockholm. The crowdy hall is the meeting-point of the 10 teams participating in the Kiruna Festival of snow sculptures in the Swedish Lapland. Agneta and Lena from koncentrat, the association that deals with organization, count the people. Departure for the Great North where we will also meet Victoria, the sister of Agneta. In a compartment there are: a girl from Russia, one from Czech Republic, two Italians and two Swedish. It is not a joke.

Border
Stockholm-Kiruna train, January, 23rd, day.
The day becomes shorter, the darkness hours increase and everything gets clearer and covered by a mantle of snow increasingly thick. Passage over the polar circle. Gaze turned to the outside to find who knows what. The circle? Arrival in little more than one hour.

Kiruna
Finally a lot of snow, it’s not so cold. On the way to take a look at the ready snow cubes. Dimensions: 3m×3m×3m, perfect! Excellent consistency. Here they are smart. 27 cubic meters of pressed snow waiting only for the Italian Team. In comparison with what is shown on the map, the town is located on land in descent and is in fact, but not for this reason, a town that will have to “move”. The iron mines are the main resource of the town, and also the reason why it grew. Some tunnels, processing slant in the ground, have caused some imbalances in the subsoil that could cause disruptions in the whole area, so a good part of the town will soon need to be moved, including the Town Hall, the Church and the fire brigade station.

Sami
Jukkasjärvi, January, 23rd dark afternoon, inside the Church.
For many, the church of Jukkasjärvi is the ice chapel just next to the Hotel, where hundreds of people each year celebrate a chilly marriage. But there’s another chapel, which is even more important, dating back to 1608. The woman who accompanies the group through the guided visit says she’s very tired for the long days without sun. In the short time available she manages to transmit to us the Sami people identity and pride, leaving glimpse little of the suffering of being forced within national borders. Pretending a lapse she makes a mistake while explaining about her nationality, then she corrects herself saying she’s Swedish and not Norwegian, but for her these are details... She shows with pride the organ of this small Church, a real jewel, which has a taste of true and old, like everything here.

Ice Hotel
Jukkasjärvi is a village 15 km far from Kiruna. Very often it happens that every kilometer of this distance corresponds to a lower temperature degree thanks to the fact that Kiruna is in a protected zone which can’t be reached by the icy polar streams.
Far-sighted people had the brilliant and profitable idea to build an hotel by using exclusively ice and snow. The waters of the Torn river, flowing wildly through the uncontaminated nature of this area, produce during the cold season a big and limpid ice layer, which is used for the construction. The temperature inside the rooms – some of which are designed and decorated by artists from all around the world – can vary from -5 to -8°C even if outside it’s -30°C. The cost of accommodation varies from 300 euro for a normal room to 550 for the Art Suite! The girl who is guiding us throughout the tour has sometimes a sort of quiver in her breath; probably this happens because she passes the whole day here… But thinking about it well we realize that even other people here have that quiver. So we come to the conclusion that the reason may be the fact that this people live almost the whole year at low temperatures. Our theory miserably collapses when I listen to Barbro, who lives in the Southern Sweden. Actually it has to do with a guttural expression, a kind of pet word, a slang contraction of the word “yes”. And at this point everybody can’t help bursting out laughing at Italian innocence.

Sun
In such a strict and aggressive territory, where there’s no space and survival left for a large variety of animals and plants, a prominent place in popular imagination is reserved to natural elements. The Sami are the sun and wind’s people: according to a local legend sky and earth were born from Luonnotar, the air’s daughter, who joined up with a bird: the two elements were born from the laid eggs and the egg yolks gave birth to the sun and the stars. The sun, considered a female god, has always captured the attention of Sami for its perpetual changing of "aspect": according to their mythology in the morning the sun is embodied in a bear, at noon in a partridge, and in the evening in a reindeer.

Light, art and people
During the last two weeks of December in Kiruna the sun does not rise. The moon, the stars and the dawn were the only guides in the polar night for the Sami nomad people. In the cities the lights are turned on and every house has lamps in the windows multiple windscreens which are always directed to the outside, a clear sign of warmth to the welcomed traveler, almost an invitation to a regenerating stop.
Every lamp is different from the other, as to create decency, as if the care of the house, esthetics, causing a positive emotional effect, contributes to alleviate the long winters spent indoor. Also for this reason the concept of art here has a particular connotation, an event that everyone is able to experience, just as everyone has the right to live and breathe.
Art here is everywhere, in the streets, in public places, you breathe it in every corner and even more you can notice it in the participation of the people in every event.
The people then, that lovely people you can only find in the extreme Northern lands, serious, firm, friendly, respectful, grateful and sensitive.

Festival opening
Järnaväsparken, January, 23rd, evening, outside.
On the stage of the Järnaväsparken there is a band with a violinist that greets in Italian trusting in the fact that sooner or later you meet an Italian in every corner of world.
He didn’t know there’s also an Italian team participating and what’s more from Sondrio, the town of an old friend when he was a student. Even the "O sole mio" performance is not a tribute to the Italians present, but perhaps a reminder to the Sun God that in fact during the days after comes out twice after months of waiting.
Seen from behind he looks like a sort of Queen of snow, with a white coat and a crown. But when he turns towards the public he shows a smile coming out from a majestic beard... He performs the ribbon cutting. Many muffled applauses due to gloves.

Järnaväsparken
Park of the sculptures, January, 24th, outside.
Usually who arrives first can choose the best equipment. But not this time as there’s plenty of it and the material quality is excellent.
The temperature is close to -20° and also the wind is "appreciable", but there is much work and the day runs away quickly between some Italian people arrived there incidentally and several pictures requests.
Italians abroad are always appreciated, even if the views on “the beautiful country” people are not always positive. The flag placed on an electrical cable captures some tourists’ attention who then take a picture on its side; someone appreciated it so much that decided to take it home, night time.. The park slope is directed to north and from here you can see the Titanic, the hill where there are the mines; in the night they are illuminated by three files of lamps which make them look like a transatlantic.
On the horizon the mountains that separate us from Norway, Narvik, the Lofoten islands and the ocean.
Within the park there is a wood hut with a fireplace in the centre: the refuge of sculptors, provided of hot drinks. The making of the sculpture proceeds quickly, together with the process of smoking due to the fires scattered along the park. Amusing, funny, self-ironical

Coming back
Stockholm Skavsta Airport, January, 29th, evening.
Paola (addressing to Gianmario before taking a sedative to fight the fear of flying): You know what? Lapland was an excellent idea! Where do we go next year?

Paola Arminio and Gianmario Bonfadini

Issued on www.tellusfolio.it February, 8th 2008

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