Showing posts with label BACI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BACI. Show all posts

Friday, December 20, 2019

BACI, Balloon Arts Convention Italy brings its Magic to Milan!

Qualatex® sponsored event BACI - Balloon Arts Convention Italy is back! We in the balloon community are all very excited and looking forward to 20-24 March, 2020 in Milan, Italy! 

For those of you who may have heard about BACI, but are not sure what it's all about, I thought that I would share a little of this events magic with you.

Though it's held in Italy, BACI is actually an International ballooning event, with many delegates attending from around the world! This event features classes  taught in both Italian and English.








BACI is probably most famous for its exceptional large sculpture competition in which many of the teams are led by world-renowned industry instructors! The first 13 teams have been announced; however, there are still a few spots available! If this is something you are interested in doing, don't delay registering, as I am sure that the remaining spots will be snapped up very quickly.








With the theme of Fashion & Design, teams are allotted 21 hours total split over two days, to complete their masterpieces.
Team Captains:
CHRIS ADAMO, Australia
ALBERTO NAVA, Italy
ALBERTO FALCONE, Spain
ALESSANDRO PATANè, Italy
SARA ZAMPINI, Italy
YANA SAVITSKAIA, Ukraine
OLGA BARANOVA, Russia
GILLES RINCKEL, France
CARLO VAVENOTTI, Italy
CHIARA FERRARA, Italy
FLORENCE BURET, France
SERGIO VALENTE, Italy 
FRANK JESCHKE, Germany


If you are not quite ready to build your first large sculpture, but would still like the opportunity to work and learn from one of these incredible captains, either contact them directly, or indicate your interest when you register as a delegate for this event. Each team is limited to a maximum of 10 people (including the captain) and places are allocated on a first come first serve basis.


Vadim Shushkanov working on his design in the Balloon Figure competition.

Here are some other excellent competition opportunities that you can register for:



I have added a link to each of these categories so that you can check out the rules and other important information.

Based on personal experience, I always recommend having a go at the competitions at an event especially when you have the opportunity! Competitions provide a new learning curve, and will bring a whole new excitement to the event! Even if you don't win, you will learn a great deal from the experience. My own teaching career was kicked off when I began to actively enter competitions!I


To see past competition entries from this event click HERE, or check out the short video below from BACI 2013! 




BACI's education program offers an exciting and comprehensive choice of classes, appealing to both twisters and decorators. These classes will be taught by some of the industry's best instructors, including Chris Adamo, CBA, from Balloons Online, Sydney, Australia, in his BACI debut and a rare teaching trip to Europe. 








And of course, there will be a welcome reception and a magical Gala Party and Awards Ceremony too! 


It was a fabulous Alice in Wonderland theme at the BACI 2017

Can you take your CBA exam at BACI? Of course and what a great place to take it! The CBA exam will be held on Sunday 22nd March at the NHOW hotel, from 8:30am- 12:30pm! If this is something that you would like to do, please contact Carol Dack at Pioneer Europe, who can give you full details: carold@qualatex.com. All those who pass will receive their certificates at the Gala Party and Awards Ceremony.




How much does it cost?

The event price is €395 + vat 22% (€481.90) if you register by 31 December 2019.
From 1 January 2020 the price is €445 + vat 22% (€542.90)

To confirm your registration,  a full payment is necessary. Accepted payment methods are credit/debit card, PayPal or bank transfer. 

Special promotion: If there is more than one delegate per company, a special price of €350 + vat 22% (€427) will be offered.

The cost includes the class registrations & materials, two lunches, the opening ceremony cocktail, and the themed Gala night dinner.

What are the competitions costs?
Big sculpture €13 (vat included) per person (€10.66 + vat 22%)
Column €13 (vat included) per person (€10.66 + vat 22%)
Centrepiece €13 (vat included) per person (€10.66 + vat 22%)
Delivery bouquet €13 (vat included) per person (€10.66 + vat 22%)

Balloon figure €13 (vat included) per person (€10.66 + vat 22%)

If you would like any further information regarding this event, please check out the FAQ's or visit the website www.bacitaly.com or contact berenice@balloonexpress.it

BACI is a platform intended for those with a passion for balloon art, and for sharing and exchanging energy with balloon artists from around the world. It is an unforgettable experience that will be an excellent resource in improving your style, techniques, and increase your sales! We hope to see you there! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler









Monday, April 29, 2013

BACI 2013 - 'Stars'

BACI 2013 was all about 'Stars', everything from celestial, whimsical, astrological, marine life or the famous, STARS could be depicted in any and many ways! 

 I would like to thank The Darkroom photography school and Balloon Express, Italy for the use of the sculpture pictures! To see more great pictures visit the Darkroom photography website...    www.thedarkroom.it



The Darkroom photographers
Francesco Mauro
Annalisa Cavallari
Alessia Fabbri
Giulia Zanelli
Ilaria Vangi
Jessica Cannizzaro
Sara Piazinni
Silvia Collino
Silva Rocchi
Valentina Borgioli

The event started last Thursday - April 18th, when the sculpture teams had the opportunity to start building the structure or frames... but no balloons can be inflated!



Framing byTeam Alberto Falcone!
Framing by Team svetlana lugovaya
With the frames well on the way to being completed the first day of the sculpture build started in earnest. Each team could have up to 10 members and had 2 days from 8am-8pm (24 hours in total) to complete their sculptures.

And the winners are...

Monday, April 30, 2012

BACI - Balloon Arts Convention Italy - The Sculpture Competitions


This year BACI took centre stage at the 76th edition of 'Art', the International Arts & Crafts Exhibition at the Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy.
BACI


The theme for BACI 2012 was ARTS & CRAFTS throughout history (in Italy “Arti & Mestieri”)…from the Big Bang to Bunga Bungafrom the gladiator to the aviator, Christopher Columbus to Barak Obama, from Leonardo da Vinci to Albert Einstein, from poets to astronautsBuffalo Bill to Bill Gates, from rain dancersto lap dancers!


The large sculpture competitions are an integral part of BACI, where there are two catagories:

Championship Master for those people who have won an Italian or Internationally recognized competitions, and the BACI Championships, which is open to anyone who wants to create a large sculpture at BACI and does not fall into the Championship Master category.
(to view the complete rules follow this link: The Rules)

This is quite an unusual competition, as it is a requirement that  BACI instructors compete and create their very own large sculpture... and if you know anything about me, you will know that large sculptures are not my speciality and if I am really honest, I find them very daunting!

Why? I suppose the shear scale, the mechanics and structure, timings... give me a centrepiece any day!!

I have spent the past year or so trying to overcome my 'fear' of creating large sculptures, I attended Luc Bertrand's Sculpture Course which I found extremely helpful and sought advise and help from some of the best sculpture artists in our industry. Rodney Fisher gave me some really great help regarding frame building and working with Fiona & Rodney Fisher on their amazing Titanic sculpture really gave me the confidence to tackle my own large sculpture!

I started my preparation many months ago, when I was informed that the sculpture theme was 'Arts & Crafts'. I knew instantly that I wanted to build a 'Tiffany' style lamp and that the lamp really would fit well within the theme "Arts & Crafts".
The Tiffany Lamp that I used for my sculptures inspiration.


It would allow me to work with the Qualatex Starpoint and Taper balloons which I really wanted to do (for the colours, textures and of course the shapes, which for me look like the cut glass used within a Tiffany lamp).



I spent many many hours designing and preparing. I practised many of the techniques that I wanted to use, like heat sealing foil balloons to create new 'custom' shapes rather than leaving new techniques to chance during the 24 hour build time and potentially running into problems!

I experimented with colour and created some really great and intense colours using the double stuffing method, Pearl Sapphire Blue inside Sapphire Blue, for a truly intense shiny Sapphire Blue, Chocolate Brown inside Gold for the metal work, Onyx Black inside Sapphire Blue, all worked really well when used with the shiny texture of a Microfoil balloon!

The Competition



The competitions officially started on Thursday 19th at 2pm, when teams had 6 hours to  check their product and build frames and structures... but no balloons could be inflated until 8am the next day, not all the competitors used framework in their sculptures... so a few found other things to 'amuse' themselves during this time!



Robbie Furman's Thursday afternoon 'creation'.


I have made a short video that really shows all the stages of the sculpture building from start to completion, it's amazing to see how each of the sculptures evolved...  I hope you enjoy it!





I can honestly say that I really 'enjoyed' building my sculpture. I worked with a truly great team, who embraced every task they were given, including double stuffing many many 100's  of 5" balloons and the continuous layering of 'Balloon Shine' they had to apply - a tip that Fiona Fisher shared with me when we were working on the Titanic to ensure that the balloons remained really shiny and to protect them to!  I would also like to give a huge personal thank you to Peter Berggreen from Denmark, who not only volunteered to help me build my sculpture a number of months ago, but also spent many weeks learning how to 'Tak' weave to create the column for the lamp... and he did an amazing job and to Linda Ceccon  from Sweden who worked as part of my team last year and came back for a second year to help me!

Peter Berggreen
Peter at work!


The Teams

Alessandro Patene

"Leonart"

Alessandro Patane
Monica Pengo
Leonarda Rombi
Roberta Scionis
Alfio Sapia
Simona Carbone
Pasquale Cinotti
Jamaica Longo
Elenora Gori




Team Russia

" Buon Compleanno Balloon Express"

Dmitry Tishenko
Olga Kosova
Svetlana Kolyvantseva
Elena Monshnikova
Yuliya Andreyyeva
Vadim Shushkanov
Alexandr Solomatin
Olga Boranova
Olga Samoilova
Maxim Tsymbal

Enza Mondello

"MIIII..... Che Pasticcio!!"

Enza Mondello
Leo Mondello
Valter Saladino
Matilde Tortorici
Elisacetta Bennardo
Cristina Mura
Tiziana Arena
Lara Maratta
Antonino Saracino
Maria Vittorio



Manon at BACI

Barak O Barak

Manon Dudziac
Ester Cuono
Stefano Cammisa


Robbie Furman

"She has Sung"

Robbie Furman
Graziella Onano
Massimo Armando
Pasqualina Simonelli
Valeria Fraschini
Massimo Coello
Antonella Fanelli
Angela Casaccia

Sue Bowler & Team

"The Lamp - Inspired by Tiffany"

Sue Bowler
John Bowler
Anna Elisabetta Auletta
Iris Ball
Davide Mercurio
Andrea Papolino
Peter Berggreen
Milena Raino
Anna Paladini
Linda Ceccon


Fiona Fisher and Team



"Balloon Artist at Work"

Fiona Fisher
Rodney Fisher
Carmel Galea
Sharon Galea
Cristina Mura
Angelo De Francesco
Kerenina Lykins
Ben Lavis



Alberto and Team

" Anonimus"

Alberto Falcone
Simone Falcone
Luisa Verlezza
Roberto Cataldi
Lucia Frezzaroli
Tiziana Zanero
Loriana Liuzza
Fabio Valentini
Ludmila Mek'nik
Andre De Olivera


Alberto Nava and Team
Alberto Nava

"Anyone Can Cook!"

Alberto Nava
Milko Stefani
Teresa Antinoro
Mirko Laporta

Federico Onida


"IL Coraggio Del Toro"

Federico Onida
Carlo Vavenotti
Veronica Onida
Ester Onida
Massimo Castangia
Mauriizio Aru
Cristina Usai


"Grandma"

Keith Stirman
Tanya Joselowsky
Elisa Helman
Marina Ferranti
Svetlana Lugovaya



" The Temple"

Howard
Hui Chuan Huang
Kuan Chuana Chen
Hsiu Chung Chen
Ling Hua Hsiao
Keng Hung Lu
Chia Chang Chan
Yuan Chang Cheng
Shu Chuan Chen
Ya Ting Chang

Elisa D'Onorio


"Essere O Non Essere Superdany"

Elisa D'Onorio
Emanuelle Del Vescovo
Alessandra Romano
Nicola Catanzani
Sara Zampini
Anna Di Febo

Yi Wei Chen

"Wow"

Yi Wei Chen
Sheng Tang Lee
Kou Yi Lee
Chia Chiano Lee
Jiun Kang Shiu
Yueh Shuan Lee
Meichun Chan
Cheuk Lam Leung
Hsuan Chun Lin
Yu Li Sun


If you have never worked on a large sculpture, I strongly recommend that you do. It is a huge learning experience and a great way to meet new people, and you never know, one day you might be building your own large sculpture!

I would like to thank The Darkroom, for taking and sharing such great photographs www.thedarkroom.it and to Balloon Express for hosting another great BACI!

Thank you for reading this blog, I hope you enjoyed it!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

Monday, June 27, 2011

Balloon Events - are they worth the investment to your business?

I suppose I should start by defining what a balloon event is? For me an event is usually more than a one day training course, with several or a number of instructors offering a variety of different classes.

I attended my first event, at that time known as the Qualatex Symposium in Paris in 1996!
This was my first great 'balloon adventure' since I started my balloon business 5 years earlier. I had previously attended several 1 day courses in the UK, but I was always left feeling that I wanted to learn more!
On the 7th March 1996 my business partner Rosemary and I jumped into my little Mini car and drove all the way to Paris (France), full of excitement and anticipation of what the next 4 days would hold for us!
But we did not just go to attend the many different classes (45 in total to choose from) or to see the 12 amazing line-up of instructors, oh no, that would be too easy, we decided that if we were going to go all that way, we would enter all the competitions too! That included a large sculpture, buffet and centrepiece design... were we mad or what!

Images Balloon magazine