SUNDRE - Grateful just for the opportunity to sculpt alongside top talent from around the world at an event in China, a Bergen artist who never expected to win said being awarded a gold medal for excellence in sculpture was the icing on the cake.
“It was an absolute, total surprise to us,” Morton Burke, who is known to the community for the collection of stone sculptures on his property near Bergen, said during a phone interview after getting home.
“We were just happy to complete the sculpture, something that people would enjoy,” said Burke. In a post shared on social media, he said the team had after three and a half days completed the work with barely 45 minutes to spare.
“With the calibre of the skills of the competition that was there, we didn’t expect at all to receive anything beyond the honour of participating,” he told the Round Up, adding the other sculptures he saw were, “Just incredible — there aren’t words for it.”
Burke was part of the Atti2ude Club’s team, which was comprised of Beata Rostas, from Hungary; Gerard Motondi, from Kenya; as well as his sister Brontie Burke, from Canada. Together, they sculpted a buffalo out of a large block of hardened snow at the 36th Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.
“It’s kind of the pinnacle of ice and snow sculpture competitions to go there,” said Burke.
“It’s the biggest ice and snow festival in the world.”
The team arrived the night before the four-day competition earlier in January, and departed the day after they finished, although they would have liked to explore a little more.
“It’s just mind blowing,” he said.
“They build a city out of ice. They had snow sculptures that were as big as our high school.”
Last year, he said some 18 million visitors came to Harbin, a city with a population of more than five million, to soak up the sights at the festival, which lasts for more than a month.
There are numerous categories, and he said their round of competition included 29 teams of four artists for a total of 116 participants. Artists who want to attend must prepare a proposal and apply, a process he largely took the lead on by rallying the team, who he considers good friends.
“I know they’re very competent sculptors,” he added.
Not only did they receive accolades for their work, but they were also extended an invitation to return to China to create another sculpture during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
“That was a big surprise.”
Although he was well acquainted with his teammates, Burke said they had not previously worked together as a team.
“I was pretty sure that we’d do all right as far as completing our sculpture and making something the public would enjoy. That was our main objective. But we didn’t really think about winning a prize,” he said.
Some of the competitors had years of experience working together, and really knew what they were doing, he said.
“So that was a good result for our first time out.”
Looking ahead, he said the team hopes to be able to accept the invitation to return in a couple of years.
“The rest of the team is pretty excited about that,” he said, adding they’ll have to hone their skills some more in advance.
There was also a category for ice sculptures, which he described as typically being more decoratively detailed and intricate since the material has better integrity and is easier to etch out than snow. But sculpting is all about form, and fine details are not necessarily always the focus, he said.
“Our piece got an award for our design,” he said.
“It was bold and strong.”
Drawing much inspiration from acclaimed Canadian sculptor and painter Joe Fafard, who was in part well known for his depictions of cows, Burke said he’s established his own reputation as being known for buffalo.
“The buffalo is a pleasing form. People seem to enjoy it — it’s a crowd pleaser,” he said, adding the team was on board with the idea from the start.
“I chose the buffalo as a symbol of strength.”
Titled The Power of Nature, he said the sculpture had a corresponding statement: “The Earth is facing challenges that threaten its beauty and creatures. The power of nature could come together from all four directions to protect and defend it.”
In a post shared online, Burke expressed gratitude and said he is humbled to be a member of the Atti2ude Club for more than 20 years.
“The level of the artists in this club from more than 30 countries is astounding, and then there is one hillbilly from Bergen that just hangs in there hoping to achieve a bit of their awesomeness some day,” he said.
Burke also hopes the experience, which went viral on local social media, has helped support a cause that is near and dear to his heart, which is to promote arts and culture.
“In my travels in different countries, I’ve realized that art provides a significant benefit to social and economic development,” he said.
“We don’t have an understanding of that locally.”
That’s not a criticism, he clarified, adding that Alberta is barely 150 years old.
“We’ve been busy building bridges and roads.”
Recalling a sculpture he created in Korea, he said, “They have a 5,000-year written history. They’ve had a long time to develop public art and grow appreciation for it.”
In Alberta, that’s still a relatively new aspect to the public consciousness, and Burke hopes to build more awareness about the importance art plays in society.
In the meantime, he was preparing to return to work in the oilpatch for the rest of the winter, but plans to get back to practising sculpting in March.
