Porsche marks fifth year of commitment to youth education and making the dreams of Chinese students a reality“Dreams of colour, Dreams for the Future” — The Fifth Porsche “Empowering the Future” Art Contest draws to a perfect finish
Shanghai/Chongqing. On October 28th, the fifth Porsche “Empowering the Future” Art Contest Award Ceremony was held at the Art Gallery of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts (SAFI), also known as the Chongqing Museum of Contemporary Art. Aimed at supporting and promoting the development of China’s young art talents, the Contest serves to call attention to youth education in China’s rural areas. This year’s contest theme “Dreams of Colour, Dreams for the Future”, conveys children’s yearning for a brighter future, as well as their determination and passion in the pursuit of their dreams. Present at the awarding ceremony were Sheng Tantzscher, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Porsche China, Professor Luo Zhongli, Head of SFAI, Margaret O’Sullivan, Director of the Education Department of UNICEF China, and many figures who care for art.
The Porsche “Empowering the Future” Art Contest is held jointly by Porsche China and SFAI, with submissions accepted between June 1 and October 10. One of the core activities of the Porsche “Empowering the Future” Programme, the art contest provides an outstanding platform for young artists to enjoy greater visibility their works and go on to have them displayed internationally. Ten winners received cash prizes, and Porsche awarded the top three artists with a trip to Germany, where they will visit some of the country’s most renowned art institutions and the Porsche museum in Stuttgart.
“I'm very grateful to SFAI for their support in the Porsche ‘Empowering the Future’ Programme, and I’m deeply impressed by these talented young artists”, said Sheng Tantzscher, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Porsche China. “Porsche is unwavering in its commitment to nurturing young artists and to providing them with a way to broaden their horizons. We want to further raise public support for philanthropy in China, and especially for supporting children’s education in rural China. I'm very proud of the positive impact we have had in the area of art education. I am sure that in the near future many more students will take part in this activity and display their artistic talent.”
Entrants of this year’s SFAI Art Contest SFAI have shown enormous enthusiasm and created a wide variety of works reflecting their inspiration and creativity. Totalling 322, these works embody the extraordinary creativity of students in SFAI. Of all the works submitted, the first prize of 2014 went to Miss Zhang Jinya for her Chinese lacquer art titled “A Dream Mobilizes”. The artist uses unique texture and three dimensional curves in heavy colour, borrowed from Chinese culture, which speak the same dynamic language as Porsche in tonality and exquisitely illustrate the theme “Empowering the Future”.The sculpture titled “Childhood Fun” by Mr. Gao Manjun, and the painting titled “On The Road” by Mr. Huang Junwei, received second and third prizes. “Childhood Fun” focuses on the daily lives of children in rural areas, capturing their laughter and joy in sculpture format, thus giving wings to the innocence associated with boys and girls. While for the third prize winner, the painting “On The Road” incorporates an automotive innovation in its use of complex materials as a means of getting to Porsche’s core essence from a future designer’s perspective. Each piece echoed this year’s Porsche “Empowering the Future” Art Contest theme “Dreams of Colour, Dreams for the Future” in its own unique way, conveying passion for art and life and emphasizing the need to always persist in pursuing one’s dreams.
Entering the fifth year of Porsche and SFAI’s collaboration, Porsche “Empowering the future” is more than an art contest to students in SFAI. To that, Professor Luo Zhongli, Head of SFAI said, “I'm very honoured to be able to witness Porsche China and SFAI entering our fifth year of collaboration. Meanwhile, I would like to express my gratitude to Porsche China for constructing an international platform where our students can display their talent. During the past five years, I’ve witnessed how Porsche China has been creating enthusiasm among students and enabling their self-realization and progress. I am very delighted to see their growth.”
Really appreciate the substantial efforts and remarkable contribution that Porsche China has made to philanthropy in China. Currently, what they're doing has brought about a tremendous social response------youth education in rural areas has received attention from many groups among our society, enabling UNICEF to better organize and carry out our educational plans aimed at supporting children’s education in rural China, giving more children access to quality education.”
Together with the pieces on display at the art contest ceremony was a Porsche Cayenne which has been specially equipped to support the Mobile Educational Training and Resource Units Programme (METRU), and will assist UNICEF and local educational departments in bringing quality educational resources and training resources to schools in rural areas as fast as possible. As of September 2014, the METRU programme has benefited more than 101,000 students and provided training to no less than 8,000 teachers from 534 schools in Sichuan and Gansu, and successfully reached 13,500 students and 1,000 teachers across 55 county schools in Yunnan.
10/30/2014
