▲ Grand Award, “The Magnificence of Tima” by Cao Zhi from Huangcang High School in Longshan County, Hunan Province, China

The NEAR Secretariat announced the results of the Youth Art · Poster contest on Tuesday, December 15. The Secretariat has held this contest which is aimed at youth from five Northeast Asian countries annually since 2013. Despite Covid-19, as many as 323 artworks were submitted by 28 NEAR regional governments of five countries: China, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, and Russia. This was the largest number of submissions to date, and the participants demonstrated their excellent skills.

Five external judges were invited by the Secretariat to assess the submissions. As a result, the Grand Award went to “The Magnificence of Tima” by Cao Zhi from Huangcang High School in Longshan County, Hunan Province, China. In addition, a total of 146 submitters were named on the list of awardees: four Excellence Awards, 15 Encouragement Awards, and 126 Special Recognition Awards.

Going forward, the NEAR Secretariat plans to hold the exhibition of the prize-winning works in the neighboring cities of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, South Korea where the Secretariat is located. It aims to encourage young people from Northeast Asian countries to broaden their understanding of cultures and traditions of neighboring countries through the paintings.

In addition, the NEAR Secretariat will send each NEAR member special gifts for the awardees and certificates of participation for every participant.

▲ “Light of Cheonggyecheon” by Cho Hyung Joon from Global Vision Christian School in Chungcheongbuk-do Province, South Korea

▲ “Three Types of Men's Sports” by Ulziitsetseg Erdenebat from Khentii Province, Mongolia

▲“Sendai Tanabatamatsuri” by Ando Kaho from Akita Prefectural Odate Keio High School in Akita Prefecture, Japan

▲ “DATE” by Mironova Sofia from Khabarovsk Territory, Russia