Winners of the Contest “A Contemporary of Brancusi: Constantin Antonovici”

România Internațional, 18.02.2016, 14:30

Dear friends, Radio Romania International invited you to participate, until January 15th 2016, mailing date, in a new prize-winning contest entitled “A Contemporary of Brancusi: Constantin Antonovici. The contest was devoted to the famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi and to one of his most outstanding disciples, Constantin Antonovici (1911-2002), who had a brilliant career in Europe and the US. Of all the artists who worked with Brancusi, Constantin Antonovici was the only one who had a letter of recommendation signed by the great sculptor.

Many of you participated in our contest and provided 210 correct and complete answers. Thank you for your interest and hope you will take part in RRIs future contests as well.

The Grand Prize consists in a 7-day trip, for two RRI listeners, between April 15th and 30th 2016, to Gorj County, the birthplace of Constantin Brancusi. As usual you will have to provide for your own transportation to and from Romania and to cover the cost of your visa for Romania, if necessary.

The contest was organized jointly with the “Constantin Brancusi Research, Documentation and Promotion Centre in Targu Jiu , with the support of several local partners: The Gorj County Council, the Targu Jiu Town Hall, The Gorj and Craiova branches of the Fine Artists Union, the Dolj County Council, the Craiova City Hall, the Gorj Centre for the Promotion of Traditional Culture, the “Marin Sorescu National Theatre in Craiova, the “Maria Tanase Folk Ensemble in Craiova and the Craiova Art Museum.

The correct answers to the contests questions were presented in RRIs shows and were also available on the stations website and on its Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn profiles.

The contest ended on January 15th, 2016, mailing date. But before we announce the winners, lets go over the questions and answers once again:

Question: Which is the central motif of Constantin Antonovicis work?

Answer: The owl.

Question: Of all the artists who worked with Brancusi, what makes Constantin Antonovici unique?

Answer: Constantin Antonovici was the only one who had a letter of recommendation signed by the great sculptor.

Question: For how long and where did sculptor Constantin Antonovici work his with maestro?

Answer : For 4 years, in Paris.

Question: What famous works by Brancusi can one find in the monumental ensemble “The Avenue of Heroes in Targu Jiu?

Answer : “The Avenue of Heroes ensemble in Targu Jiu is made up of 4 sculptures: the Table of Silence, the Chairs Alley, the Gate of the Kiss and the Endless Column. The Saint Apostles Peter and Paul Church is also part of the ensemble.

The winners are:

Fifteen honourable mentions went to: Hamzaoui Mahmoud Hamzaoui of Egypt, Rachid Dahmaniof of Algeria, Guo Yanxin and Zhou Fei, both from China, Valeri Luhovski of Belarus, who wrote to the Ukrainian Service, Klaus Karusseit of Sweden, who wrote to the German Service, Vladimir Stadik and Aleksandr Abramov, both from Russia, José Luis Corcuera and Miguel Ramón Bauset, both from Spain, Henk Poortvliet of the Netherlands, Michael Whing from the UK, John Rutlege from the USA, Abdulkarim Ahmed Ali of Lybia, who wrote to the English Service, and Anthony Teyssieux of France.

Ten third prizes went to: Salim Sabah Saray of Iraq, Jonathan of China, Olexandr Kozlenko of Ukraine, Werner Hoffmann from Germany, Nikolai Larin of Russia, Juan Franco Crespo of Spain, Nouari Naghmouchi of Algeria, who wrote to the English Service, Jonathan Murphy of Ireland, Bibi Z. Shah from Pakistan and Indias Deepita Chakrabarty, who also wrote to the English Service.

The winners of the eight second prizes are: Italys Stefano Citterio, Abdel-Kader Hasan of Egypt, Wu Xuan of China, Russias Aleksei Veselkov, Henrique José Dantas Felinto of Brazil, who wrote to the Spanish Service, Paul Jamet of France, Bezazel Ferhat from Algeria, who wrote to the English Service, and Binarani Mondal of India.

The fifteen first prizes will go to: Boudoukha Mohamed from Algeria, Shan Jinhai of China, Volodymyr Gudzenko of Russia, Friedrich Frede of Austria, Valeri Rubin of Canada,who wrote to the Russian Section, José Balbino Cruz Menjivar from Costa Rica, Amady Faye from Senegal, who wrote to the French Service, Mofizur Rahman of Bangladesh, Jayanta Chakrabarty, Mitul Kansal and Chaitali Sarkar, all three from India, Amir Jameel and Asghar Shah from Pakistan, Jaroslaw Jedrzejczak of Poland and Martin Rogan from the UK.

Jayanta Chakrabarty of India, a listener to RRIs English Service and one of the 1st prize winners of this contest has written: “Romania happens to be one of the few countries in Europe where there is an abundance of creative minds. It is a unique country that has given birth to literary giants, great musicians and outstanding artists. So I was not surprised when RRI’s latest contest featured the world-renowned sculptor Constantin Brancusi and his most devoted and favoured disciple, Constantin Antonovici. The excitement and the beautiful experience to delve into the works of these outstanding Romanian souls prompted me to participate in the competition. I have been a listener to RRIs broadcasts since the early 1970s when it was popularly known as Radio Bucharest. In fact, I have grown alongside RRI from childhood to adulthood. I am grateful to RRI for helping me improve my English. (…) At the start of the 2016 I have high hopes that RRI will continue to update us on the various facets of Romanian life and its vibrant culture.

Mitul Kansal of India, another listener to the RRI English, and equally a first prize winner has motivated his decision to take part in the contest by saying: “I am a great lover of the modern art created by Constantin Antonovici, who moved to the US in 1953. He possessed an artistic lucidity that allowed him to stylise and simplify in order to find essential forms, just as Brancusi did. (…) Antonovici exhibited in France, Italy, Romania and the US and many private collectors acquired his works. So the reason why am I participating in this contest is very simple: I am a regular listener to RRI and I am very much interested in Romanias culture, history, art, customs, traditions and way of life. I fully believe that RRI is bringing Romania closer to us through its programs, website and various contests.

A faithful listener to RRIs English broadcast, Martin Rogan from the UK, has written: “I often take part in RRIs contests because I always learn something new by doing so, and the possibility of winning a prize, big or small, is always an attraction. I must say, as a confirmed technophobe, that I only consult websites when there is absolutely no alternative, so I would be lying if I were to say that I followed RRIs online content, or anyone elses for that matter. Much prefer the immediacy of short wave broadcasts especially when the content is interesting and reception is good. With RRI, both of these things apply and my interest in Romania is of long standing anyway. People often study French, Spanish or Italian in this country but fewer study Portuguese and ignorance of the Romanian language in the UK is truly shocking. RRI is a major means of addressing this problem and I hope it continues to do so for many years to come.

Ten special prizes went to the following listeners: Ben Chohra Ali of Algeria, Lin Shan of China, Ihor Karivets of Ukraine, Ralf Urbanczyk of Germany, Vasili Guliaev of Russia, Enric Ballester Burcet of Spain, Gilles Gautier of France, Mohammad Shamim of India, Ashik Eqbal Tokon of Bangladesh and Hans Verner Lollike of Denmark.

Another faithful listener to RRIs English programmes, Hans Verner Lollike of Denmark has written: “Until mid 1970s Romania was just a spot on the Map of Europe and some extraordinary athletes competing in the Olympic Games. Later, as a board member of the Danish National Youth Council, I got the chance to participate in the NGO- parallel conference to UN Population Conference in Bucharest. I have a whole collection of memories of that time. (…) Thanks to a friend of mine, Radio Romania International, I was introduced to one of the most outstanding sculptors of modern time, Constantin Brancusi. I have been looking for his works all over. Sadly, in Denmark he is not present enough! But 10 years ago, when I had a day on my own in New York, and the Guggenheim Museum was closed, I had luck at the Metropolitan to see two of his works, and a couple of years later, in Paris, I saw his workshop. What is it by Brancusi, always fascinates. (…) A visit to his sculptural ensemble in Targu Jiu would be a lifetime experience.

We thank all those who took part in the contest and motivated their participation. Its now time to announce the winners of a 7-day trip (a 6 night stay, full broad) to the Gorj County, between April 15th and 30th 2016.

The Grand Prize winners are: Khalil Abdel-Kader and Goumidi Mohamed, both from Algeria!

Congratulations to you all!!! All prizes and honourable mentions will be sent to you by post in the following months and you are kindly requested to confirm, by post, e-mail or fax, the receipt of the prize.

Thank you again for taking part in RRIs contest on Constantin Brancusi and his disciple, Constantin Antonovici!