With the support of the European Union, the EU PRO development programme has launched its art competition for high school students from 99 cities and municipalities[1] on the theme “Solidarity Unites Us” in order to encourage the youth to better understand the world around them in the year of the coronavirus pandemic.
This topic should in particular motivate young people to recognise the importance of solidarity and to present in the artworks what the pandemic has shown us - that we are all equal when facing the challenges that may be easier overcome by joint engagement of the whole society. Through artistic expression, the pupils should depict how the world and their immediate environment has changed during the pandemic, and underline the examples of solidarity and support that the pandemic has fostered, while presenting the people who are the most affected by the new circumstances in their communities.
Through this competition, which is traditionally organised for the fourteenth time, the European Union, in addition to motivating young people to be active and think about important social topics, encourages their creativity and rewards talented students and schools that are especially engaged in creative work with young people.
The novelty, this year's competition introduces, is that pupils as well as the general public will be able to vote online through the EU PRO programme official website and thus select their 12 favorites from the narrow competition of 20 works that will be previously selected by an internal jury. Online voting will be open after the competition closes and will last for five days. The voice of the audience will participate as the fifth member of the jury, after which the jury members will make a selection of the 12 best artworks that will be published on the pages of the EU PRO calendar for 2021, while the authors will be awarded laptops and tablets and mobile phones.
As it was the practice during the previous years, the Programme also invites schools to organise their internal contests where they will select art works for participation in the competition, and the school which invests most efforts in the organisation will be awarded a laptop and a projector.
The Competition is open until 15 November 2020, while the award ceremony and the promotion of the Calendar will be held in December in line with the epidemiological situation.
The detailed information about the Art Competition is available at the following link of the EU PRO website: 2021 Calendar Competition Propositions.
[1] Aleksandrovac, Aleksinac, Aranđelovac, Arilje, Babušnica, Bajina Bašta, Batočina, Bela Palanka, Blace, Bogatić, Bojnik, Boljevac, Bor, Bosilegrad, Brus, Bujanovac, Crna Trava, Čačak, Čajetina, Ćićevac, Ćuprija, Despotovac, Dimitrovgrad, Doljevac, Gadžin Han, Golubac, Gornji Milanovac, Ivanjica, Jagodina, Kladovo, Knić, Knjaževac, Koceljeva, Kosjerić, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Krupanj, Kruševac, Kučevo, Kuršumlija, Lajkovac, Lapovo, Lebane, Leskovac, Loznica, Lučani, Ljig, Ljubovija, Majdanpek, Mali Zvornik, Malo Crniće, Medveđa, Merošina, Mionica, Negotin, Niš, Nova Varoš, Novi Pazar, Osečina, Paraćin, Petrovac na Mlavi, Pirot, Požarevac, Požega, Preševo, Priboj, Prijepolje, Prokuplje, Rača, Raška, Ražanj, Rekovac, Sjenica, Smederevo, Smederevska Palanka, Sokobanja, Surdulica, Svilajnac, Svrljig, Šabac, Topola, Trgovište, Trstenik, Tutin, Ub, Užice, Valjevo, Varvarin, Velika Plana, Veliko Gradište, Vladimirci, Vladičin Han, Vlasotince, Vranje, Vrnjačka Banja, Zaječar, Žabari, Žagubica, Žitorađa.