From tattoos to branding and piercing, over the past few years different forms of body art have taken the world by storm. Body painting, however, seems to have taken the simple face painting to an entirely new level.
Held in Seeboden, Austria, the World Bodypainting Festival is one of the largest themed art festivals in the world. Participants decorate their bodies, from head to toe, with incredible painted designs for the world to see.
Participants in the World Bodypainting Festival
The World Bodypainting Festival is about more than a competition alone. It’s about giving artists from this unique genre a place to come together and share their love for the art. Traditionally open to artists throughout Europe, recent years have seen more entrants from the USA, Asia, and South America as well.
The artistic quality of the bodypainting work has increased over the years as well. Whereas there used to be clear distinctions between the photographs with high versus low points, there are now more and more images earning high point values, making it even more difficult for the judges to find winners. Dozens of new artists from around the world are winning bodypainting awards each year, including those from Brazil, Spain, Poland, the USA, and Italy.
World Bodypainting Festival Workshops
The festival isn’t just about viewing photographs, either. Visitors to the festival have the opportunity to take a number of workshops during the main days. Interested parties learned all about facepainting, make-up and color theory, bodypainting, and airbrushing.
Sponsors and teachers from around the world make these incredible classes possible each year. Few people realize the incredible impact that bodypainting has on the world. In the movie “300″ for example, body painting was used to create a number of effects that would not have been possible with cinematography alone.
Bodypainting Categories and Awards
The World Bodypainting Awards are given annually to competitors in a number of different categories. This year the themes were “Science World of Wonders” and “Asia: Empires growing, empires going.” Over 22,000 visitors had the opportunity to watch the incredible skill of the world’s most talented bodypainting artists. The models deserve a healthy dose of credit as well. They dedicate hours of time to preparing their bodies for paint, patiently standing while being decorated, and then posing for competition photographs.
There are 3 main categories within which competitors vie for awards. The World Awards include classic facepainting, bodypainting fluoro, special effects bodypainting, airbrush bodypainting, and Pinsel/Schwamm bodypainting. The Special Awards category includes Special Effects Make up for the head and face, while the Semi Professional category includes awards for both brush/sponge bodypainting and Airbrush bodypainting.
The World Bodypainting International Photo Competition
Entrants don’t necessarily have to show up in person to show off their skills. Each year the World Bodypainting Festival receives hundreds of entries in the International Photo Competition. Five judges from Slovenia and Austria spend days reviewing the three photograph images and three digital images submitted by each entrant. Photos are given points ranging from 3-10 and the photographs with the highest points are named winners!
Visiting the Festival Grounds
Visitors from all over the world are welcome to the grounds during the World Bodypainting Festival. You don’t have to participate in a class or in a competition in order to browse the halls, watch the artists in progress, or explore the exhibit hall. You’ll also find tons of live music, Festival TV, concerts, parties, and even fireworks throughout the week of the festival.
Vendors in the exhibit hall will have a number of booths for you to explore as well. Learn about the art of bodypainting or purchase some of the incredible paints and supplies you’ve seen used throughout the competition. We guarantee there’s something for everyone in the exhibit hall.
Believe it or not, some artists arrive at the festival without a model, so festival organizers are always looking for volunteers. The sooner you know you are available to act as a model the better. Simply contact the event coordinators and let them know you’re free so that they can pair you up with an artist should your services be needed. What a fun an unique way of participating!
The 2009 World Bodypainting Festival will be held from July 13th through July 19th in Seeboden and will feature a number of original and new features. Amongst them include:
- Five world championship categories,
- A night contest to judge special UV effects,
- Over 20 different workshop classes,
- Audience contests,
- And dozens of spectacular side events.
Artists from around the world appreciate the talent and skill it takes to work with such a unique medium – the human body. Make sure you stop by the World Bodypainting Festival if you’re in Austria next July. It’ll be an experience you never forget!
Image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
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