For the last art competition, we gave our participants 3 prompts for submission.
develop a character from your native culture or culture of your own design
design an outfit with inspiration taken from culture or art movements
any prompts of your own design
Unexpectedly, we received a lot of creative responses from our participants! The competition has gained attraction both inside and outside the school community, as not all students who submitted their art attended our school.
First Prize / Bomi Park (Y7)
Despite being the youngest of all participants, Bomi won the first prize thanks to her creative approach to creating the costume. Vietnamese cultural flora and fauna such as the lotus, dragon, and turtle are well-represented in her work
Here is Bomi's interpretation of her own work!
The things I included in my artwork are some Adinkra symbols. Symbols like the ‘bi nka bi’ one represents peace. The Korean flag symbolizes peace, love, happiness, and the black lines in the corners represents the different virtues and elements. I also added doves, because they symbolizelove, freedom and peace.
The ao dai has a lotus design on it since the Vietnamese national flower is the lotus. Also the non la since it is a part of Vietnamese culture. I also drew the dragon , Phoenix , turtle and the unicorn. They are the 4 holy animals and they each mean something.
Second Prize / Mary Bindzus (Y12)
Being of Danish origin, Mary took a fresh approach from Scadinavian culture, especially Norse mythology. Her digital art depicted the all father, wise king of Gods - Odin.
I picked a rather earthy palette to show what the Vikings had to wear, what kind of colors that were commonly available to them. I also used a rather dark palette to try to replicate the intimidating yet power aura of Odin (with him being a war god, ruler and all).
According to many, this one should have won the first prize for being the most aesthetically pleasing, however, after many discussions, the team decided to prioritize the creativity over aesthetics since the prompt is to develop and design, rather than replicating pre-existing characters without adding additional accessories and developing a backstory.
Third Prize / Tran Vu (Y9)
Tran Vu showed a keen interest in Vietnamese and Chinese cultural costumes, especially choosing spring time as the prime time to further accentuate the beauty and harmony between people and nature. See what she's got to say about her work!
My artwork is a young girl posing for a photo at the spring festival. The artwork scenery was inspired by the park near by my house. I’d like to believe she’s at the spring festival or something similar. The girl’s culture is a combination of Chinese and Vietnamese. The dress beneath is a Vietnamese Ao Dai and the white coat is a Chinese Hanfu Ru. Her lips are painted like a Chinese woman’s. The tree beside her are yellow apricot, usually seen during Tet. There are 3 pots of them in the painting but two are covered and can only be seen if you looked closely. I was inspired to choose Chinese and Vietnamese because I thought that the Ao Dai and the Hanfu would look beautiful together. Originally, the Ao Dai would have been white but since the Hanfu Ru was white as well, I had to change it up. In the picture, the time was during sunset and that would be the reason of the orange in the sky.
Another reason why we appreciate Tran's art was her ability to combine costumes of two cultures together, especially the controversial ones. Vietnamese Ao Dai and the Chinese Cheongsam are often topics of debate when someone misidentify them, however, by showing the Ao Dai and Han Fu side by side, Tran brought forth the mentality and message that Culture Club watned to spread: culture costumes and customs are to be understood, respected and shared beyond borders of their origin countries.
Honorable mention / Rio Okamoto (y9)
Being a proud Japanese by descent, Rio's work took strong influence from Japan's UNESCO's recognized sites of World Heritage like the Himeji Castle. She also included symbols such as the Fuji Mountain and cherry blossoms - the country's national flower! We also saw Japanese architecture and an iconic symbol being the Torii (red gate) usually seen together with Shinto shrines.
The Final Message
Regardless of the prize, we would love to congratulate all of our participants for getting involved and trying their best! Between failing and doing in nothing, the latter is the most dangerous of all. Never be afraid of trying!
Therefore, if you happen to see them anytime in the future, please let them know that they have done their best.
The End of Culture Club 2022
This post also marks the end of Culture Club 2022. We want to send the warmest thank you to all the students and faculty that have kept our spirits alive as well as sending us support during tough times! We wouldn't have done it all without you.
Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.
Wait. Is this it? No! Do you want to be a part of Culture Club 2023? Contact Boi Sang NGO (261011815) or Minh Triet VO (260011474) ASAP.
Thank you for reading!
Comments