Press Releases
Visa Olympics of the Imagination announces Grand Prize winner
Winner and a parent will receive trip to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China as a guest of Visa InternationalTORINO, ITALY, 10 February, 2006
Visa International today announced that "The First to Finish" by 9 year-old Vladimir Oratovskiy from Ukraine was selected as the Grand Prize winner of the Visa Olympics of the Imagination (VOI) 13-nation youth art competition held for the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Vladimir and a guardian will attend the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China as guests of Visa.
The Visa Olympics of the Imagination (VOI) art contest challenged school children, ages 9-13, to use their imaginations to create a flag that represents the Olympic winter sport in which they would most like to compete. Judging was based on originality, imagination and artistic merit. The program ran from May 2005 through December 2005 in most countries.
Nearly a half a million children entered the contest from 13 countries around the world. The 22 finalists are attending the Games from Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Japan, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Vladimir's artwork was selected as the overall winner by Torino artist Professor Guido Curto. "While all of the artwork was very impressive, to me, this piece of artwork most accurately represented the true spirit of the Olympic Games and the theme of the contest," he noted. His selection was announced at the VOI Awards Ceremony held at Galleria Subalpina located in Piazza Castello in downtown Torino. The children's winning flags will be on display during the Olympic Winter Games at Galleria Subalpina located in Piazza Castello/Piazza Carlo Alberto in downtown Torino; the Visa Olympians Reunion Center at the Armida Rowing Club, located on the banks of the River Po in Valentino Park; the Des Alpes Hotel located in Rivoli and in other locations.
The medals were awarded to the children by Timo Lumme, Managing Director IOC Television & Marketing Services SA, and Hans van der Velde, President and CEO of Visa Europe. TOROC Deputy Director Evelina Christillin and Team Visa Olympian Deborah Compagnoni were also in attendance at the ceremony to recognize the winners.
In a tradition started at the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games, Athens Grand Prize Winner Lu Li Han from China created a piece of art that was presented to Wang Wei of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) to celebrate the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Prior to attending the 2008 Olympic Games, Vladimir will create a piece of artwork that will be presented to the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) in celebration of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
"The selection of the grand prizewinner was very challenging because all of the artwork is superb," said Tom Shepard, Visa International's executive vice president of Global Marketing Partnerships and Sponsorship. "The exhibit, containing the 22 flags, is extremely impressive and it reinforces our belief in the talent and awareness of today's children in not only the Olympic Movement, but the world they live in. Visa is proud to exhibit to Olympic visitors the talent of our winners."
TORINO ACTIVITIES
From 9-13 February, while at the Olympic Winter Games, in addition to the awards ceremony and the opening of the VOI art exhibit at Galleria Subalpina, the winners will attend three Olympic events - Women's Ice Hockey, Men's Half-pipe Snowboarding and Men's and Women's Short-track Speed Skating - and will participate in cultural tours and outdoor activities in and around Torino.
Photos of the winning artwork and periodic updates on Athens activities can be viewed by accessing the VOI Web site www.visa.com/visakids/. Artwork of past winners can also be viewed through the Web site.
THE JUDGE
Guido Curto is one of the most respected art experts in Italy. He lives and works in Torino. Since May 2005 he has been the Principal of the Torino Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti and Curator of the Pinacoteca dell'Accademia Albertina. He teaches History of Art at the Accademia and he is museum curator and curator of art exhibitions (together with Giorgio Verzotti he curated the anthology of the octogenarian seditious Turinese artist Carol Rama, fitted on in 2004 at the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, then at the MART Museum in Rovereto and in the end at the Baltic Museum - Newcastle - Great Britain). He is a militant art critic, is interested in young artists and writes for Torino daily La Stampa.
Over two hundred and five young artists from 38 countries have already attended Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games as guests of Visa over the past six Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway; Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Nagano, Japan, Sydney, Australia, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA and Athens, Greece.
VOI HISTORY
Originally, the Olympic Games were as much a matter of art as athleticism, with poets, musicians, painters and sculptors competing for medals alongside athletes. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, was keen to revive the link and in 1906 awarded gold, silver and bronze medals for five artistic competitions. Because of the two world wars, these contests were held only sporadically until 1949, when they were dropped altogether and replaced by Olympic cultural programs.
Visa began its Olympic Games sponsorship in 1986 and since then has sponsored five Olympic Games (Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens) and six Olympic Winter Games (Calgary, Albertville, Lillehammer, Nagano, Salt Lake City and Torino). In Torino, Visa continues its Olympic sponsorship role as a Worldwide Partner as the exclusive card and the official payment system for the TORINO 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. These Olympic Winter Games will be held from Friday, 10 February to Sunday, 26 February, 2006.
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Contact: Michael Sherman, Visa International, Tel: +39 334 117 2502 at sherman@visa.com or Mary Rudkin, The Rudkin Group, Tel: +39 334 117 2511 rudkinm@visa.com or Roz Barder, Visa Europe (London), Tel: +39 334 117 2503 at barderr@visa.com