Corporate responsibility

10.9.2020 10:16

Winners of an international fine arts competition selected from among hundreds of thousands of drawings – three Finnish finalists achieved excellent placements

Once again, Finland proved highly successful in the world’s largest fine arts competition. Alexander Jyränen from Askainen and Wilma Myllykoski from Jyväskylä were selected as the winners from among 700,000 artists. They both won first prize in their categories. Saaga Päkkilä from Oulu took second place in her category. - The winners were announced on Wednesday evening at a virtual gala broadcast from Berlin in celebration of 50 years of the competition.

The winners of national competitions participate in the international finals. The competition is organised in collaboration between cooperative banks from Italy (South Tyrol), Austria, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Finland and Switzerland.

The competition in Finland was held for the 44th time, and approximately 12,000 children and adolescents took part, despite the challenges brought on by the coronavirus. The competition was jointly organised by OP Financial Group’s cooperative banks, art teachers and schools.

This year, the main theme of the art competition was “Happiness is... drawing, painting, photography, winning”. 

The Finnish entries were very successful in the international finals. Alexander Jyränen won his category (6–8-year-olds) with his work, “Sateenkaarikoira” (“The Rainbow Dog”). Saaga Päkkilä placed second in her category (9–10-year-olds) with her work, “Onnea on koira lumessa” (“Happiness is a Dog in the Snow”). The 11–14-year-old category was won by Wilma Myllykoski with her work, “Onnea on puhdas luonto ja 4 vuodenaikaa” (“Happiness is Clean Nature and Four Seasons”). The 15–20-year-old category was won by Claudia W. from Austria.

The Jugend Creativ competition is the world’s largest art competition for young people and a long-term investment by cooperative banks in promoting creativity among children and adolescents. So far, more than 90 million children and adolescents have taken part in the international competition.

The idea for an international competition to encourage creativity among children and adolescents was proposed in 1968, the year that marked 150 years since the birth of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen. Two years later, the competition was held for the first time under the name, “Jugend Creativ”. Over the last 50 years, the competition has become integral to the activities of schools and the participating cooperative banks – activities that already span several generations. Every year, approximately 15,000 children and adolescents from Finland take part in the visual arts competition.

The finals of the international fine arts competition will be held in Italy next year.