By Heidi Trautmann ….
www.heiditrautmann.com ….
Young Artists Painting Competition 2018 in North Cyprus supported by the Education and Culture Ministry – Exhibition.
This year’s Youth Competition exhibition I could not attend because 
my great grandchildren refused to leave the pool, it was just too hot. Anyway, I went the next morning. I was very disappointed to see so very few entries this year and, unfortunately, it is becoming less and less by the year. See the two links for 2017 and 2015; in the past there were many more. What is the reason? Is it the fast living world? Is it the distraction through the unreal universe of internet and I-phones?
Young artists painting competition 2017 – click here
Young artists painting competition 2015 – click here
This year there were 14 young artists registering with altogether 49 works, of which 12 artists with 28 works were accepted for the exhibition at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Nicosia. The Jury members of this year’s competition were: Filiz Ankaç, Nilgün Güney and Şenol Özdevrim.
The winners this year are as follows :
Merit award:
Direnç Betmezoğlu Kemal Behcet Caymaz Tünay Özyay
born 1995 born 1989 born 1993
Honorable mention: Jury Award :
Buğra Göksu, born 1996 Ibrahim Ince, born 2000
The other artists accepted are: Hasan Kayiplar (2002), Ali Genç (1984), Celal Atikler (1994), Ilayda Kürde (2001), Ilayda Özbekoğlu (2001), Nurtane Karagil, Osman Onalt Alicik (2000)
Many of those young artists who have been in the last years’ final lists have in the meantime entered their professional life, have become teachers themselves or are following another creative road. Art education will be more important as time goes by, I am positive. Municipalities and private initiatives are entertaining alternative creative circles and schools, they have understood that it is important to develop the creativity of young children in order to be successful in school and later life. A person who has had intensive art education will be more observant than others.
So I do hope that the interest in this governmental painting competition will improve again and will next year show more entries.
