The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in close coordination with its affiliated National Olympic Committees (NOC) members, including the Maltese Olympic Committee, has launched its fourth edition of the IOC Sport and Art Contest which had been incepted in year 2000.
This event is held every four years and is part of the celebrations for the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London in 2012.
Addressing a news conference, MOC president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco said the scope of the contest is to provide the opportunity to foster an active synergy between the world of art and sport and more importantly to enhance the true spirit of Olympism in conformity with the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter.
The competition will take place in two phases as follows:
A national phase which should be completed by the end of February 2012 and
An international phase which will take place from March to June 2012.
The Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) , in close collaboration with the Ministry for Education, will be directly responsible for the national phase while the IOC, through its International Cooperation and Development Department, in coordination with the Olympic Museum of Lausanne, will organise thei phase including an exhibition of the Winning Works during the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London.
The competition is open with no age limit and will include two categories of art:
Sculptures
Graphic Works (paintings, drawings, engravings etc.) There are no restrictions on the choice of Technique.
The MOC president said that with this in view, the Maltese Olympic Committee approached the Ministry of Education to encourage the art schools, trained artists or young promising talents and indeed other cultural organisations to secure strong and effective participation.
The theme of the contest is ‘Sport and the Olympic Values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect’.
The Maltese Olympic Committee will select one sculpture and one graphic work for entry into the International phase.
Following Friday’s launch of the competition, the participants will be given up till the end of December 2011 to submit their entries.
By the first week of January 2012 a panel of experts will judge the entries and by the second week of January the results will be published.
In the third week of January with the full coordination of the Ministry of Education, an exhibition will be held in Gozo and the same exhibition will be presented in Malta in the first week of February.
During the second week of February the selected art works will be sent to the International Olympic Committee to participate in the international competition.
The IOC Department of International Cooperation and Development and the Olympic Museum, Lausanne, will eventually handle the logistics of the international phase and the organisation of an exhibition of the top eight works from each category.
The selection by the Jury will take place prior to June 2012.
The IOC will award the winners in each of the two categories of works of art as follows.
$30,000 and a diploma for the first prize
$20,000 and a diploma for the second prize
$10,000 and a diploma for the third prize
Five further diplomas will also be awarded to the runners up.
The Maltese Olympic Committee thanked the Ministry of Education for their continued effective support.