By Olaleke ASHAFA
The Embassy of Spain in Nigeria has committed to the promotion of arts and culture in Nigeria through the engagement of young budding talents.
Juan Bover, the Cultural Attache of Spain in Abuja made this known on Tuesday at the 12th Edition of the Visual Arts Competition in Abuja.
The theme of the competition is `Spanish Festival and Traditional Celebrations’.
“Spanish embassy is fully committed to the promotion of arts and culture in Nigeria; it is from this perspective that this year we have launched the 12th edition of the Visual Arts Competition.
“The chosen topic is Spanish Festival and Traditional Celebrations with hints of Nigerian elements. Spain has a long tradition of festivities, it is a core part of our culture.
“Some of them are geographical, local or regional, while others are general or scattered in various places in Spain, and some are widely famous.
“Such as the `Bull Runs or the Tomatoes Fights’, some are UNESCO intangible Cultural Heritage, such as the human towers in Catalonia (Castells),’’ he said.
He added that Nigeria and Spain would collaborate in finding common grounds in the two countries’ diverse culture and tradition as a way of promoting relations.
According to him, the displayed art works at the occasion were a small selection out of more than 70 entries for the contest.
“In them you can have a clue of the variety of festive traditions that practically fill all our calendars. The variety in the formats is also outstanding.
“At the embassy we are very happy with this competition of the creativity and talent of young Nigerian artists who have the capacity to capture the essence of Spanish festivities and connect it with the Nigerian prospective,‘’ he said.
Kelechi Nwaneri, emerged winner with a piece called `The Festival’, and Sor Sen, the second runner up had a piece called `Power Play’ and the third position went to Odinakach Okorafor, with a piece called `Chirigotas de Cadiz’.
Also speaking at the event Eva Barta, the Cultural Adviser to the Embassy, said that the winner was chosen by a selected panel made up of Nigerian representatives of arts and the embassy.
She said that the winner was awarded with a trip to Madrid in February 2019 to visit ARCO, one of the major modern day art fairs in the world.
