Biennale Arte is one of the highlight events on the international arts calendar. Biennale Arte 2022 will be held in Venice, Italy, from 23 April to 27 November. South Africa will be among approximately 80 countries participating, with each country hosting a national pavilion to showcase the cream of their artists.

The South African pavilion is running a nationwide competition called mzansiart@Venice for young artists, as part of our activities around Biennale Arte 2022. The goal of the competition is to involve our young artists in the global excitement and artistic inspiration of Biennale Arte, to give a creative voice to our young people, to stimulate interest in the arts, and to promote the arts as a viable career choice for sustainable job creation.

Each Biennale Arte features an event theme. This year’s theme is ‘The Milk of Dreams’, which highlights the richness of creative expression that is unlocked when the artist steps into the world of fantasy and imagination. We invite young artists to craft their own artwork that illustrates their fantasy or imaginary world, and to submit their entry to the competition. Any learner who is enrolled at a school in South Africa can enter the competition.

There are exciting prizes on offer to winning entrants. The first prize winner will receive R5,000 cash, with R3,000 for second place and R2,000 for third place. In addition, the prizes include donations of art supplies to the prizewinner’s school. On top of that, winning artworks may be displayed at the South African exhibition stand during Biennale Arte 2022. The competition closes on 30 June. So don’t delay, let your imagination run free and your artwork could be shown to the world in Venice!

To read the full competition brief and rules, and to download the entry form, please visit our young artists competition webpage at:
www.artsa-venicebiennale.org/young-artists

Don’t miss this great opportunity, and good luck!