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Vision of the child art project fosters, quips young Nigerian artists

By Enifome Ukodie
26 February 2017   |   5:54 am
The 2017 edition of the yearly Vision of the Child (VoTC) art project was launched on Tuesday last week at Diamond Bank head office, Lekki, Lagos. This year’s project is specially designed to celebrate the 50th birthday.....

Head, Consumer Banking, Aisha Ahmed (left); Head, Retail Banking, Robert Giles; Head, Business Development, Diamond Bank, Chizoma Okoli; CEO, Nike Art Gallery and jury member, Mrs. Nike Okundaye; VoTC tutor and judge, Mr Segun Almaroof and Project Director, Foluke Micheal, Vision of the Child art project

The 2017 edition of the yearly Vision of the Child (VoTC) art project was launched on Tuesday last week at Diamond Bank head office, Lekki, Lagos. This year’s project is specially designed to celebrate the 50th birthday anniversary of Lagos State. It would showcase the rich, intellectual resourcefulness of children and youths.

According to the Project Director of VoTC Foluke Michael, “The maiden edition, which was inaugurated in 2012, laid the groundwork for subsequent editions, each of which addressed cogent themes that touched on the socio-political and cultural realities of the country.” Adding, she said the Governor of Lagos, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, formally flagged Lagos@50 anniversary celebration on May 27, 2016 during the gala award night of the 2016 edition of the VoTC.

The 2016 edition, she said, had as theme ‘Sisi-Eko@50: Ageing Gracefully or Na So-So Pancake?’ And it produced fifty student finalists, who had emerged from over 250 contestants (from over 50 participating schools) in both Literary and Painting competitions.

In continuing the event, three outstanding winners from the previous year – Rebecca Sylvester, Victory Asaka, and Gift Aneke – were given the opportunity to read out their literary works (poems) to the audience, after which the floor was open to comments and observations from parents and teachers of the participants.

On her part, notable female artist, jury member and CEO of the Nike Arts Gallery, Mrs. Nike Okundaye, spoke encouragingly to both past and present contestants to keep up the good works, stating, “Arts is part of life and life itself is art; continue and do not stop.”

Also present was the Head, Business Development, Diamond Bank, Chizoma Okoli, who said the Vision of the Child art project seeks to promote the intelligence of children, “and it really brings out their artistic tendencies. We are happy to be part of this, as it also aligns with our corporate strategy of going beyond banking, and actually impacting lives of individuals.”

Also, Project Director, Michael, told to the audience plans for this year’s edition of VoTC, which she said would be different from the previous years. She said, past VoTC winners (2012-2016) would be required to search through Lagos State for any feature that best illustrates the festival motto ‘Enhance the Heritage; Advance the Future.’ Choices of subject that could be chosen from and but not limited to are: architectural (building or landscaping), street décor, transportation, motor park, leisure park, public or private institutions, public facilities, etc. The contestants are encouraged to be innovative and highly practical with their projects.

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