Homepage » Archived editions » 38th edition » Ceremonial opening
The Ceremonial Opening
On Wednesday 26 May 2010 the Lidice Gallery of the Lidice Memorial had the ceremonial opening of the 38TH INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S EXHIBITION OF FINE ARTS 2010 in the presence of ambassadors and political and cultural figures of the Czech Republic.
The event saw the attendance of Senator Jiří Dienstbier, Deputy Minister of Culture of the CR JUDr František Mikeš, RNDr. Jiří Žalman and Mgr. Hana Prixová Dvorská of the Ministry of Culture of the CR, Alena Libřická and Jaroslava Babanová of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CR, JUDr. Miroslav Šimůnek and RNDr. Pavla Zieleniecová, CSc. of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the CR, RNDr. Ján Polák a Mgr. Zuzana Karásková of the Ministry of the Environment and Chairwoman of the Czech Commission for UNESCO Prof. RNDr. Helena Illnerová, DrSc. . From among the embassies of the participating countries, there were present the representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde Islands, Cuba, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Iran, Japan, Lithuania, Moldova, Mexico, the Philippines, Peru, Serbia, Turkey, the Ukraine and Venezuela.
An accompanying programme for children started as early as the morning. Though the weather was cold and it looked like raining all the time, little visitors did not allow the weather to spoil the festive day. They jumped, painted, assembled jigsaws and competed in games prepared by the Leisure-time Centre Labyrint in the garden of the Lidice Gallery. At 10 a.m. they gathered in a big tent to watch the performance Království (Kingdom) presented by the troupe Anička a letadýlko. Additionally, most of the children tried and enjoyed rides in horse-drawn carriages.
Although also a ‘wet alternative’ was prepared, the weather turned fair about 10 a.m. and the award ceremony could start in the garden of the Lidice Gallery at 11 a.m. Gustav Sedelmayer, a pupil of the primary school Lounských Prague 4, played an opening piece on the trumpet, Cantate Deo by G. F. Händel, accompanied on the piano by Alena Králová from the same school. Then girls from the dance department of the Primary Art school Buštěhrad came dancing on the lawn, performing to My Fair Lady.
Having welcomed the guests, Ivona Kasalická, curator of the exhibition, gave the opening speech of the 38th edition of the exhibition. She mentioned the record number of the entries received and the countries represented in the competition (21,132 entries from 61 countries) as well as the demanding work of the panel of judges. She also congratulated the children who were awarded the highest prize, the “Rose of Lidice” medal. Then director of the Lidice Memorial JUDr. Milouš Červencl briefly summed up the 38th ICEFA and gave the floor to Deputy Minister of Culture JUDr. František Mikeš who presented the main speech. Thereafter, General Manager of the Division of Law and Legislation of MEYS CR Miroslav Šimůnek and Chairwoman of the Czech Commission for UNESCO Helena Illnerová joined František Mikeš on the platform to award 47 laureates from Czech schools the “Rose of Lidice” medals and certificates as well as material prizes – arts books donated by Euromedia Group, the book “Jak se chodí do Lidic” by Přemysl Veverka, the cross-sectional catalogue ICEFA Lidice 1967-2009, T-shirts with the logo of ICEFA, colouring books and information materials of ME on biodiversity.
The first foreign laureate Nathan Son from the Japanese school in Prague received his prize from the director of the Japanese Cultural and Information Centre Kohei Tsukamoto. Another foreign winner was the 8-year-old Lithuanian girl Skaisté Tamošaityté from the Art School at Trakai in Lithuania, who received her medal from the Lithuanian ambassador to the Czech Republic, Aurimas Taurantas. The prize for paintings and drawings for the same school was presented to the teacher Renata Mečkovskiené.
The highest award of the competition is the Prize of the Panel of Judges. This year the panel unanimously agreed to award the prize to the Primary Art School Spišská Belá in Slovakia. This school presented surprisingly good works of art – paintings, drawings and particularly prints. Lidice saw 7 children and 3 teachers-artists from Spišská Belá coming to receive many awards. Consul of the Slovak embassy Jozefína Škorupová presented prizes to three children winning individual medals and four children winning a group medal for their collection. The crystal palette, a sponsor gift from Rückl, s.r.o., was handed over by the consul and the chairman of the panel of judges of the 38th ICEFA Lidice Josef Zedník to the teacher of that school Katarína Lábusová.
After the final piece performed by Gustav Sedelmayer, all guests were invited to view the exhibition installed on the second floor of the Lidice Gallery. Then the ceremonial cutting of the tape followed (JUDr. František Mikeš, Jiří Dientsbier, Doc. Helena Illnerová and director of the Lidice Memorial Milouš Červencl) and the crowd of visitors could view more than 1,400 pictures and 3D objects by children from all quarters of the world.
The opening ceremony was rounded off with a cold buffet in the garden of the Lidice Gallery and a concert of the group PERFECT from the Primary Art School Buštěhrad. Though the weather was cold, the winners and the visitors left contented an full of impressions. This year’s opening ceremony was a success.
Mgr. Ivona Kasalická, Head of the Lidice Gallery, curator of ICEFA Lidice
Invitation for the ceremonial opening
download »
[PDF, 105 kb]
Lidice Memorial
cordially invites you to the opening of
the 38th International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice 2010
Organised by under the auspices of:
- MINISTER OF CULTURE OF THE CR
- MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE CR
- MINISTER OF EDUCATION, YOUTH, AND SPORTS OF THE CR
- MINISTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE CR
- CZECH COMMISSION FOR UNESCO
The exhibition is held thanks to the support of:
- MINISTRY OF CULTURE OF THE CR
- MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE CR
- MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, YOUTH, AND SPORTS OF THE CR
- MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE CR
The ceremonial opening takes place at the Lidice Gallery at Lidice on Wednesday, 26 May, 2010 at 11 a.m.
Pupils of the Buštěhrad Primary Art School will appear at the opening.
Programme of the opening:
- 10:00 the theatrical performance “Kingdom” presented by the ensemble Anička a letadýlko from Brno
- 11:00 ceremonial prize awards
- 12:00 opening of the exhibition
- 12:30 festive banquet, concert of the group PERFECT from the Primary Art School at Buštěhrad
Entertaining plays and games for children will have been prepared by the Leisure-time Centre Labyrint Kladno from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.; there will be also an opportunity to ride in a horse-drawn carriage.
The exhibition will last till 31st October, 2010.
