Balinese Artist Awards Snow Sculpture Competition in China

Author: Maria Bella
January 18, 2025

Seniman Pecatu Bali meraih penghargaan "Commemorative Prize" dalam ajang Harbin International Snow Sculpture Competition 2025. (dok: Instagram/@himpunansenimanpecatu_)

SEAToday.com, Jakarta - Balinese sculpture artists made an international achievement in a snow sculpture competition in China.

The group of artists who are members of the Pecatu Artists Association (HSP) and Bali Talent Artis (BTA) won the “Commemorative Prize” award at the Harbin International Snow Sculpture Competition 2025.

Harbin International Snow Sculpture Competition 2025 is a prestigious snow sculpture competition held in China on January 6-9, 2025.

In the competition, there were 26 other artist teams from various countries. This group of Balinese artists was led by I Nyoman Sungada.

The team consists of four artists, namely I Nyoman Sungada, I Wayan Mardina, Gede Agus Kurniawan, and I Ketut Suaryana.

Two of them are members of the Pecatu Artists Association (HSP) and the other two are members of Bali Talent Artis (BTA).

The snow sculpture they created is themed Tri Guna. This is a concept in Balinese Hinduism that describes the human nature of sattwam (kindness, wisdom), rajas (lust, ambitious), and tamas (lazy, passive).

Each character is also depicted in three different statues, for example the face of the Sattwam statue is made like a sincere, calm face.

Meanwhile, through a statement on their Instagram (@himpunansenimanpecatu_), it is known that most of their trip used personal funds.

This snow sculpture was made using snow blocks with a diameter of 3x3 and has a height of 4 meters. The sculpture was done for 3.5 days.

Another challenge they faced was that they had to struggle to complete this work while enduring the cold at -26 degrees Celsius.

On the other hand, the Pecatu Artists Association prepared for the competition for 2.5 months in Bali. The preparation included intensive training and fundraising to cover the cost of traveling to China.

Meanwhile, a total of 13 international snow sculpture competitions have been participated in by the Pecatu Artists Association consisting of 8 times in Harbin and 5 times in Japan.