Photos: Holding still at Bucharest’s festival of living statues

The cities of Europe have a long history of public art and statues form part of the daily scenery. But for residents and passers-by through Bucharest this past week, a stroll through the city’s old quarters, parks and iconic buildings may have involved double takes and perhaps even a startled shriek or two. The Romanian capital was playing host to the Living Statues International Festival with participants from eight countries embodying 64 characters and all of them stuck to their positions. That is, until a good scare walked by.

Updated on: Jun 05, 2018 9:45 AM IST

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An artist of Ukraine's Artel Myth performs her Concordia character during the Living Statues International Festival, in Bucharest, Romania. Wait, did that statue really move? It may well have been the question on everybody’s mind while taking a walk in Bucharest all through the past week. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)

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Ukranian artists apply make-up before heading out to perform in the Living Statues International Festival. Artists from eight countries embodied 64 statues in the old quarter of the Romanian capital, in popular parks and in the garden of the spectacular Filipescu-Cesianu residence, built in 1892 in the Belle Epoque period. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)

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Tania Met, of Spain's Gardener's Theatre takes her place as the Rosita character during the festival. Actors of the Romanian Masca Theatre, the festival’s organizer, brought to life Parisian street vendors from the 17th and 18th centuries in performances seen by an estimated 30,000 people. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)

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A woman looks at an artist of Romania's Masca Theatre waiting to perform. Bucharest is one of several Eastern European cities known as the “Paris of the East” because of its French-inspired architecture and gardens. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)

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The characters’ vividly coloured outfits, some inspired by the famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi’s iconic Endless Column seen here portrayed by Romania's Masca Theatre, were the main attraction. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)

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Valentin Mihalache performs his Christophe Contugi character. The living statues from Britain, Germany, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Ukraine engaged in sudden moments of interaction with the public, often startling the spectators. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)

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Members of Ukraine’s Artel Myth theatre perform “A day in the life of Ukrainians”. While the high-pitched screaming involved in some performances scared a few, others enjoyed the interaction and even offered to share their ice cream with the actors. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)

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Andrei Costin of Romania's Masca Theatre performs his Rat Poison Vendor character. At the largest European festival of its kind, holding really, really still was everybody’s endgame. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)

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Artists of Artel Myth theatre backdrop religious paintings while prepping for the festival. “We hope to enhance the Romanian public’s abilities to truly understand and appreciate this art form, regarded in the past as a mere occupation associated with amateurs or even begging,” Masca Theatre director Mihai Malaimare told The Associated Press. (Vadim Ghirda / AP)