Child artists ready their paintbrushes for national competition
Durban - Children express themselves in creative ways that overcome barriers, and a nationwide competition hopes to encourage this.
The Santam’s Child Art project invites children across the nation to submit their artwork to show their talents.
Santam corporate social investment (CSI) manager Tersia Mdunge said art enhanced a child’s ability to interact with and interpret the world around them.
“It has the ability to cross cultural and linguistic barriers, and in South Africa it gives us the tools to be able to find and speak to each other,” she said.
This year’s theme is “What the world needs now” and entries can be submitted in any medium.
Established in 1963, the Child Art project is one of the country’s oldest CSI projects. It focuses on nurturing children’s love for the arts and allows them to express themselves in different ways like painting and drawing.
Eezet Fourie is an arts teacher and a former winner of this competition, having appeared on the 1991 cover. She said there would be more than 40 entrants from her art school, Eezet Fourie School, in Bloemfontein.
“The competition has been a blessing to my school. It motivates children to enter on a national level. To think outside the box. To believe in themselves, in dreams. There is a long list of how it has contributed to my school,” Fourie said.
She said pupils at her school had been involved in the competition since 2001 and last year’s cover came from her pupils, a first for the school. Her message to future entrants is that they must believe in themselves.
Over the years, the project has evolved into a multifaceted national project with initiatives such as informal art classes and Santam’s own annual art calendar.
The Child Art project is aimed at all children, and Santam says they go the extra mile to reach children in disadvantaged communities.
Schools are invited to submit entries for the project by June 30. Prizes include cash for winning schools, featuring in the 2024 child art calendar, and be part of the online exhibition reserved for selected pieces.
The Independent on Saturday