Winners of the Aurora Creative Contest were named on May 1, 2017.
Arpi Ghazaryan, a 7-year-old student at the Henrik Igityan Yerevan National Art Center was awarded the first prize in the Aurora Creative Contest. Sofya Yakovleva, a 13-year-old student of Saratov Children’s Art Studio, Russia, took the second place in the Contest, while Anna Kostanyan, an 11-year-old student at Gasparyan Art Studio, came in third.
As per the professional jury’s decision, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative granted special awards to two participants – Jasmina Hovhannisyan (11 years old, Nerkin Getashen village, Armenia) and Rudolf Avanesyan (14 years old, Yerevan, Armenia).
The winners not only took home prizes, but also received an invitation to attend the 2017 Aurora Prize Ceremony to be held on May 28 in Yerevan, Armenia.
“The number of children participating in the Contest was quite impressive. The Contest gave them an opportunity to understand the value of their works. They learned they were doing something important and they were encouraged. Submitted artworks were evaluated based on their compliance to the theme of the Contest as well as the quality of the work itself. All works were excellent but we still had to choose the best ones. The children who took part in the Contest are all winners”, stated artist Tigran Matulyan, Aurora Creative Contest Jury Member.
The awarding ceremony of the winners of the Aurora Creative Contest took place in Yerevan Hovhannes Tumanyan Museum during the opening of the exhibition showcasing the best 63 works submitted for the Contest. The exhibition will be open through late May until the end of the Aurora Prize weekend.
Children aged from 7 to 14 took part in the Aurora Creative Contest announced in January 2017. More than thousand pieces of artwork were submitted to the Contest from Armenia, Artsakh, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Turkey, USA, Canada, Venezuela and France.
About the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
Founded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative seeks to empower modern-day saviors to offer life and hope to those in urgent need of basic humanitarian aid and thus continue the cycle of giving internationally. The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is Gratitude in Action. It is an eight-year commitment (2015 to 2023, in remembrance of the eight years of the Armenian Genocide 1915-1923) to support people and promote projects that tackle the needs of the most helpless and destitute, and do so at great risk. This is achieved through the Initiative’s various programs: The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, the Aurora Dialogues, the Aurora Humanitarian Index, the Gratitude Projects and the 100 LIVES Initiative. The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is the vision of philanthropists Vartan Gregorian, Noubar Afeyan and Ruben Vardanyan who have, already in the second year, been joined by several dozen new donors and partners. The Initiative welcomes all who embrace a commitment to our shared humanity.
The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is represented by three organizations – Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Foundation, Inc. (New York, USA), the 100 Lives Foundation (Geneva, Switzerland) and the IDeA Foundation (Yerevan, Armenia).
Further information is available at www.auroraprize.com
