INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sculpture artists gathered in Scotland on Sunday to compete for the weighty title of champion stone stacker, in a quirky
competition launched last year.More than 30 participants from America, Spain, Italy and from around Britain converged on Dunbar, near
Edinburgh, for only the second European Stone Stacking Championships.Competitors must create the most complex and gravity-defying artistic
sculptures from rocks and pebbles gathered on the town's Eye Cave Beach."(It's ) the most ancient art form that there is," James Craig
Page, the fledgling contest's founder, told AFP.Despite stone stacking's lofty history, he traces the modern-day challenge to the
2018 in Dunbar, Scotland (AFP)Stone stacking however has angered some conservationists who accuse enthusiasts of "rubbing out history" by
after organising a more local event -- the John Muir challenge -- in 2016, which was billed as the first stone stacking competition of its
Dunbar in 1838 and became known as "the father of national parks" for his pioneering conservation work, which helped preserve the Yosemite
Valley and Sequoia National Park in the United States."That was so successful that we went on to create the European championships and to
bring all these wonderful artists from around the world to Dunbar," Page added.However, Page insists the professional artists take care to
preserve the natural and historic environment."We make sure that we do look after nature, because that is where we work," he
(AFP)Pedro Duran, from Spain, was named European champion for the second year running for his stone archway, while James Brunt, 46, from the
English city Sheffield, won runner up for his intricate sculpture of a rollercoaster."I got into stone stacking when I saw somebody in the
started using different materials, leaves, sticks -- whatever nature throws at me I'll use to make artwork with.(Except for the headline,
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