Mask of President Putin sold for $4,000

At the Fuji Japanese restaurant, in Moscow, a charity auction of origami has taken place.Representatives of show business, fashion industry, and political figures gathered to participate in the auction. The means earned from selling origami are to support people who suffered from the flood in the Krasnodar Region. Origami is the art of creating 3-D pictures our of paper. This traditional Japanese art has recently become very popular in Moscow.

A fine flower composition was sold for $300. An original dinosaur was a bit more expensive: $500. While the most popular thing was a paper mask of President Vladimir Putin.

Two participants of the auction wanted to feel like being Putin by trying on the mask: businessman and politician Konstantin Borovoi and famous modeller Anatoly Klimin.

Thanks to Oleg Nazarov, who conducted the auction, the price of the mask grew from $1,000 to nearly three times as much. Anatoly Klimin wanted to win very much, so he offered $4,000. Borovoi had to refuse from further haggling. However, the happy owner of the mask never dared trying it on.

Larisa Suetenko PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/07/22/44512.html