The annual London Ice Sculpting Festival has announced a move to Canary Wharf. The Festival, now in its second year, moves from the West End to Canada Square Park, next to the Ice Rink and new Park Pavilion in the famous shopping and business district.
Popular on LondonNet
Over two days, Canary Wharf becomes the focus of the UK’s unique ice sculpting competition, where five teams of acclaimed international sculptors work against the clock to carve 2x2m blocks of ice into works of art in front of the public. Entry is free.
9.00am – 8.00pm Friday 15 January
8.00am – 2.00pm Saturday 16 January
Their work will reflect Canary Wharf’s past and present roles as a commercial, trading and retail hub. The sculptures will draw on the challenges of commerce and convey a sense of adventure; ships overcoming obstacles on their journeys, enterprising people riding the waves and carving out a niche for themselves in a quest for fun and fortune.
The public can cheer on the UK team against their French, Dutch and Italian counterparts, as the sculptors handle powerful chainsaws, chipping tools and delicate chisels with immense skill. They can also test their own artistic ice sculpting skills at one of the free supervised Master Classes.
The winning entry is judged by Guy Portelli, Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (whose talents were keenly fought over on BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den last year); Sally Williams, Public Art Consultant at Canary Wharf Group; and Carol Cordrey from Art Alone.
The winner is declared at 3.00pm on Saturday, 16 January.
Carol Cordrey, Festival organiser from Artalone says, “London is famed for its art throughout the world but until I created the annual London Ice Sculpting Festival with ice experts, The Ice Box, the capital was not even on the map of ice sculpting competitions. In Canary Wharf, we have the perfect location for the public to see talented artists create contemporary sculpture before their eyes. This Festival has been a true labour of love for me and I have no doubt that the public is going to love it too”.
Lucie Moore, Arts and Events Manager from Canary Wharf Group plc said:
“This is a world class event and we’re pleased to bring it to Canary Wharf. It will add to the vibrancy of the area, which is already buzzing in the evenings and weekends over the winter thanks to five new restaurants, the Ice Rink, one of London’s largest undercover shopping areas and three hours of free week-end parking.”
