Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts (KGLU), under the auspices of the Municipality of Slovenj Gradec, announced the 34th competition for original children’s artwork, literary works and photography for the 2025/2026 school year. The competition will culminate in an exhibition of selected children’s works at the Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts. The opening ceremony, including the awards presentation, will take place as part of the Peace Festival on Friday, 18 September, at 11 a.m. The exhibition will be on view until 11 October 2026. A catalogue will also be published to accompany the exhibition.

Primary school pupils were invited to use three themes as starting points for their creative work:

• Stories Written in the Meadows / in connection with the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists / “If I were a shepherd for a day …”
• Listen to the Seashell / marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of artist Bogdan Borčić / “Every seashell hides its own world …”
• We Stand for Peace / marking 60 years of peacebuilding efforts at KGLU / “When the world falls silent …”

As every year, at least one of the themes is dedicated to an International Year proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly. The first theme thus focuses on the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. The second theme marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of artist Bogdan Borčić and his great interest in the world of seashells, which he explored in the first half of the 1970s. The third theme commemorates 60 years of peacebuilding efforts at KGLU, which, since its establishment, has worked to promote respect, solidarity, human rights and responsibility towards the world in which we live.

The primary school pupils took on the role of shepherds, discovering life in the meadows and reflecting on how technology and human activity affect this ecosystem. They considered what lies beneath the surface of the sea and what this world might look like in a few years’ time. They also shared their thoughts on a world once again facing wars, conflicts and growing uncertainty, revealing their hopes and efforts for a better and more peaceful future.

Pupils could enter the visual arts, literary and photography sections of the competition. Once again, three juries had the challenging task of selecting the best submissions. From all the works received, they selected 532 original children’s works, which will be presented in the exhibition and catalogue. They also selected 5 winners in the literary category, 5 winners in photography, and 10 winners in the visual arts category.

The juries consisted of:

• Miša Javornik (librarian) and Primož Suhodolčan (children’s and young adult author) for the literary works category;
• Nina Popič (curator and educator), Kaja Jeseničnik (visual arts teacher) and Jerneja Smolnikar (academic painter) for the visual arts category; and
• photographers Tomo Jeseničnik and Maša Flogie for the photography category.

All three of this year’s themes provided a strong starting point for exploration and creative work in a variety of techniques. The pupils particularly excelled in collage, which this year emerged alongside printmaking as one of the prominent techniques. As the first two themes are closely connected with nature, they also became the central focus of the photography section of the competition. At this year’s exhibition, visitors can therefore expect numerous visual artworks and photographs depicting life in the meadows and beneath the sea, as well as moving reflections by primary school pupils on peace in the world. For the first time, visitors will also be able to read the pupils’ perspectives on all three of these issues, as all selected literary works have been compiled into a separate booklet that will be available at the exhibition.

— Kaja Jeseničnik, project manager