Pécs-Osijek joint Advent Children's Drawing Competition

Supporting Authority:
European Union
European Education and Culture Executive Agency
CERV-2023-CITIZENS-TOWN-TT
Town Twinning

The Zsolnay Heritage Management Nonprofit Ltd. and the city of Pécs organized its first light festival in 2016, which was the only event of its kind in the country. The Zsolnay Light Festival is accompanied by the distinguished attention of the audience and it has now become the largest festival in the South Trans-danubia region. The project team has been the same since the beginning and in recent years has launched many new initiatives that go beyond the summer festival. Among them, the most spectacular and successful is the Advent Building Painting Competition for Children.

Counter to the Light Festival, this event does not invite famous visual artists to demonstrate art works, but rather appeals to children and invites them to create. We make the preparation for Advent truly memorable by inviting the children to create light paintings on one of the iconic buildings of Pécs, the Mosque, which is located on the city's main square and was built during the Turkish occupation in the 16th century, in such a way that they decorate the template of a simple pattern depicting the facade of the building.The chosen building in Croatia was the Church of Saint Michael in the fortress of Osijek, built in the 18th century.

The aim of our present project was to involve Osijek in this heartwarming event in 2024 and strengthen the cooperation between the two cities having a 51-years history as twin cities.

Our goal was to bring the citizens of these two cities closer to each other through a shared experience where the focus is on awakening the creativity of the little ones and the loving experience of Advent. We also wanted to share the good practices of the concerned event.

The special feature of the project did not require language skills and it was accessible and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of age.

The events provided a great opportunity to connect the citizens of two cities.

It was a great opportunity for cultural professionals of two cities to get to know each other, to exchange experiences of event communication or tourism, as well as in regional issues, which are the same due to the multicultural nature of both cities.

The implementation of the project means long-term cooperation covering a new area, and friendships and long-lasting relationships can develop between the children participating in the project, which will definitely lead to the development of an equal, friendly, national society carrying European values.

Raising children in a multicultural environment contributes a lot to the development of a high level of tolerance, which prevents the development of conflicts based on ethnic and gender discrimination.

The yearly regular implementation of the project can serve as an example for other European countries to follow.

The implementation found its way and will develop into the future, it is created to expand the cooperation, since by involving children, it targets an age that will later become its driving force. This is also why we consider it important to include them in the project, as this allows the children to experience equality in connection with the program, regardless of gender, social status or nationality.

The partners network share the need to stimulate the active participation of citizens at local and European level, with a special focus on children, youth and gender equality. Political participation data give a perspective of a widening gap between the formal and informal ways of participation and novel patterns of engagement. These two opposite trends are illustrated further by the paradox that, while public areas for youth involvement appear to be more numerous than ever before, few would claim that these opportunities have amplified the participation of young people.

Preparation of the event:

To be able to realize the events and implement the project a regular meetings and discussions were organized for Project Partners and for the involved cultural professionals from Pécs and Osijek. This included day by day communications by phone and e-mails, as well as online and in person meetings.

One of the main elements of the organizing process was the preparation of the drawing competition for children, and the preparation of the technical requirements of the projection.

In Pécs, as in the previous years, the children's drawing competition was announced at the end of October and closed in November. After digitizing the submitted children's works, the drawings were divided by the following age groups:

I. preschoolers (4-6 years old)

II. age group: 6 - 10-year-old lower primary school students (grades 1-4)

III. age group: 10 -14-year-old upper primary school students (grades 5-8)

This year, a record number, 2862 drawings were received for the contest in Pécs.

The projection mapping began on the first Advent weekend in November and lasted until the last weekend of Advent. The drawings were projected onto the facade of the 16th-century mosque in the main square of Pécs. The final event of the competition was the announcement of the results on December 21st, when the best works judged by the professional jury, as well as the drawings selected by the public vote, were projected. On this occasion a delegation of 114 people traveled from Osijek to Pécs to be part of the final event, so the citizens of Pécs and Osijek were together part of the joint experience in city of Pécs.

Following the example of the event in Pécs, the children's drawing competition was announced for the first time this year in the city of Osijek. Till the deadline of the announced drawing competition for Croatian children 406 drawings were submitted. The children's works were projected on the facade of the St. Michael's Church in the castle of Osijek during the Advent time. At the same time as in Pécs, on December 21st, the results were announced and the winning drawings were shown. The delegation of 115 citizens travelled from Pécs to Osijek to be part of the final event in Osijek.

Unfortunately, a vis major affected the award ceremony and projection in Osijek on December 21st. On December 20th an attack occurred at a school in Zagreb, ended by the death of one child and more serious injured which led to a National Day of Mourning in Croatia. Concerts and entertainment events were cancelled, and the atmosphere in Osijek was tinged with mourning. Despite what happened a day earlier the projection took place but not as cheerfully as it was planned.

The aim of our project was to reflect on the creation and art of children and young citizens to promote togetherness, involving and raising awareness among young people to become custodians and ambassadors of partnership, EU values and joint history.

The project bridges different expertise into a collaborative approach, to promote historical and cultural cooperation. The aim of the project is to participate and using of non-formal learning, engaging and collaborative processes at transnational and local level, to co-create and test a mechanism to raise awareness on historical events and sites, as well as to create new forms of art that will teach children and youth about participation, democracy, civil life and joint values.

Beside we were able to promote the Advent markets and special Christmas events between the citizens of Pécs and Osijek.

Event in Pécs

Event is Osijek

Our Associated Partner: