On 29 October the British Council held an award ceremony for winners of the Artwork Competition with the goal of promoting the development of visual arts in Kazakhstan among young artists and the strengthening of cultural relations between Kazakhstan and the UK.

The winner of the competition was Elena Pozdnyakova, fourth-year student, with the artwork “Wings of Future – Kazakhstan-Great Britain”. The next six best artworks were by artists: Samal Usentayeva, Ilya Tenyakov, Shirin Kurmanbekova, Akbota Kozhakhmetova, Almas Mustafayev and Madina Bektayeva.

The winner of the competition received a cash prize of 1,000 USD, and the creators of the next six best artworks were presented with professional art material sets by Winsor and Newton, the world’s leading producer of artist materials. All selected artworks will be exhibited in the British Council, Almaty, office and printed as a set of cards.

"The British Council is very keen to stimulate and encourage young artistic talent in Kazakhstan. There are very few opportunities for students of arts and freelance artists, at the start of their professional careers, to promote themselves locally or internationally,” said Maya Zedelashvili, Project Manager. “British Council's arts projects focus on creating opportunities for individuals who lack free outlets for their talent and aspirations."

Within the framework of the competition, students from Arts departments of Colleges and Universities, as well as young independent artists submitted 54 artworks on the theme of “Kazakh-British cultural relations”. Eleven artworks were shortlisted for the final round of the competition, and at this stage, the professional jury selected the winner and the six next best works. The reproduction of the winning picture and the six best works, printed on gift sets of cards, will be seen in many countries.

Judging panel was made up of artists Georgiy Makarov, Elena Grigoryan, Aleksandr Lvovich, Akhat Akhmet, the Director of the Management Office of Arts Exhibitions Assel Umirshina, the UK Ambassador to Kazakhstan, David Moran, and the British Council Director, Lena Milosevic.

While selecting the winner the selection committee used the following four assessment criteria:

- originality of concept and interpretation of the theme of the competition

- modernity (of style/execution)

- level of technical skill and overall design (e.g. composition, depth, colour, medium)

The British Council is planning to make this an annual competition to support artists at the beginning of their careers.