Post date: Aug 26, 2012 7:22:56 PM
People were taking big puzzle pieces and putting them right in the middle of the square, generating a huge replica of famous German painter Albrecht Durer's Self Portrait, in an event organised by local authorities together with Goethe German Cultural Centre.
The puzzle opened the Year of Germany 2012/2013 in Novosibirsk, bringing the most famous painter from the German city of Nuremberg into the heart of Siberia.
Residents of the Russian city of Novosibirsk gather a giant puzzle, which organisers claim to be the biggest in the country, representing the Self Portrait of German painter Albrecht Durer.
NOVOSIBIRSK, RUSSIA (AUGUST 26, 2012) (REUTERS) - A giant mosaic puzzle has covered an area of 300 square meters outside the State Academic Ballet and Opera Theatre in Novosibirsk, Russia, on Sunday (August 26), which the organisers said was the biggest puzzle in Russia.
The huge puzzle representing world's famous piece of art consisted of 1023 pieces, each of a size of 70x70 centimetres and weighting about 800 grams.
"We've conceived this idea a long time ago with our colleagues in Moscow. This event was initiated by the city of Nuremberg where Albrecht Durer comes from. They created this idea and offered it to us as a part of the Year of Germany in Russia. We were pleased to organise this puzzle gathering in our city. We enjoyed the idea of citizens and guest of the city putting this big icon of art together," the head of Goethe Institute in Novosibirsk Julia Hanske said.
More than 200 Novosibirsk citizens and guests participated in the Durer Self Portrait gathering.
It took them three hours of hard but fun work to complete the puzzle, despite the rain and cold weather.
"The picture is very big, and there were lots of people wishing to participate, forming large queues to get their puzzle piece. Although, in general, the event is very well organised, people were putting pieces down one by one forming the rows. The only biggest obstacles were probably rain and a relatively cold weather" an event participant Alesya Zadvornova said.
In 2011 the city of Nuremberg successfully organised similar events in China, Poland, Italy, and Nuremberg itself.
The first puzzle in Russia was assembled on the Red Square in Moscow in June and in Yekaterinburg in mid-August.
The puzzle will continue to travel further across the country to celebrate the Year of Germany in Russia as a part of the whole set of events designed to strengthen Russian-German relations.