Penza, 20 May 2015. PenzaNews. The official closing ceremony of the 8th international sculpture and painting symposium “Penza-2015” was held in the “Legend” park of the “Chistye Prudy” hotel complex of the Mokshan area in the Penza region on Tuesday, May 19.

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In his address to the audience, the Penza sculptor Yuri Tkachenko, coordinator of the event, thanked the artists and the sculptors with the successful work, and expressed his gratitude for participating.

The symposium was the smallest in terms of numbers, but “the warmest, the friendliest right from the first days,” he noted.

In his turn, Evgeny Shilov, head of the Department of Culture and Archive representing the governor Vasily Bochkarev, thanked the participants.

The more and more world-level cultural events are appearing in the Penza region every year, and the locals are always ready to see new famous masters coming, he said.

He mentioned the recently concluded Nikolsk symposium on glass and glass sculpture that brought together 20 artists from Russia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France and Luxembourg.

“The Penza region, rich with cultural traditions, has its own ideals to follow as well. If we are talking about a cultural brand, ours is Mikhail Lermontov. The whole Russia, the whole world knows him as a writer, a poet, who left his riches of poetry and prose. I can also tell you he was an artist who left behind him 13 works of art and over 450 paintings. He also was an aspiring sculptor who made a battle scene about Alexander the Great with red wax,” Evgeny Shilov said.

Every participant received a gift, a book “Tarkhany Lermontov State Museum-Reserve,” from the regional authorities.

The Mexican sculptor Carlos Monje addressed the officials with a speech of his own on behalf of the artists, expressing his gratitude to the organizers and the staff who helped during the event, and saying the dreams came true thanks to their joint efforts.

The 2015 symposium involved seven metal sculptors. Two of them worked with bronze, and Xiao Zhucheng from China made a wooden statue.

The gallery “Art-Penza” was expanded by works of 13 painters.

A widely known Japanese sculptor Satoru Takada and his assistant Hideo Shimamura continued to work on their special project “Rock Gadern” during the symposium.

The Belarussian sculptor Ales Faley and the art director of the sculpture park “Legend” Yuri Tkachenko began one more long-term joint project “The Source of Power.”

“There is a water well over 140 meters deep located at the far end of ‘Legend.’ It was drilled in the Soviet times to pump water for the adjacent kolkhoz fields, and for a long time the water gushed out of the well without any use. We need something to entice people into walking through the park. They get tired trying to understand the sculptures, and if they know there is a source of power, and if you touch them, your powers will surely return…” Yuri Tkachenko said.

The project will be made of metal and feature natural ornaments of birds, trees, insects, all surrounding a statue of a woman knight, he added.

In 2015, the sculptors and painters were joined by cinema-makers from China who will create a short film about the symposium.