Croatia has an estimated diaspora of 3 million worldwide, with well over a million in North America alone. Various communities are keeping the cultural links with the homeland very much alive, such as the Croatian School of Boston, which launched a North America-wide competition for children of the diaspora on February 22, 2016.
The press release in full:
With the aim of bringing together and connecting children of Croatian descent from the United States of America and Canada, we invite all interested children to enter our first Children’s Art and Literary Contest.
With the theme
“My Family on Two Continents”
Organized By the Boston Croatian Community
The contest is open to children of Croatian descent from 3-18 years of age, who reside in the United States of America and Canada, in the following categories:
Writing Piece (in the Croatian language or dialect)
– prose: 3 age groups: 7-10 years, 11-14 years, 15-18 years;
– poetry: 3 age groups: 7-10 years, 11-14 years, 15-18 years;
Art Work – 4 age groups: 3-6 years, 7-10 years, 11-14 years, 15-18 years;
Comic Strip (in the Croatian language or dialect) – 2 age groups: 11-14 years, 15-18
years;
Photography – 2 age groups: 11-14 years, 15-18 years;
Audio/Video Clip (in the Croatian language or dialect) – 2 age groups: 11-14 years,
15-18 years;
The theme of this year’s contest will center around the ties between the immediate family in the country of residence (USA and Canada) and the extended family in Croatia.
Possible topics may include visits to relatives, family stories and anecdotes, heirlooms, or any other positive influence or experience the children associate with the connection between the family on the North American continent and the family in Croatia.
Entries should be submitted to [email protected], and must be accompanied by the child’s full name, age and address. Writing pieces will be accepted in pdf or word document format, or can be included in the email body. Art work should be sent in jpg format. Art and photo work must be accompanied by a title and a brief description of the subject. Due to the file size, we cannot accept audio and video files as an attachment; please send us a link to your clip on one of the standard video-sharing websites, such as YouTube.
By entering the contest you guarantee that the work you entered is original and not a copy of an existing work done by others. Croatian School of Boston and New England Friends of Croatia reserve the right to publish submitted work on its website or in potential publications, with a credit to the author.
The first prize in each category and age group will win a Croatia-related prize. All participants will receive a certificate of participation.
The contest is open from February 15 to April 17, 2016. Winners in each category will be determined by a panel of judges consisting of members of the Croatian community in Boston, and art and literary experts from Croatia. The judges’ decisions are final. The winners will be announced on May 15, 2016 (International Day of Families) on the websites of Croatian School of Boston and New England Friends of Croatia. A confirmation will be also sent to the winners to the email from which the entry was submitted. The awards and certificates will be sent by post.
Prizes:
3-6 years – Dječje pjesme i brojalice, 6 picture books – 1 prize
7-10 years – Bakine priče, (Ružno pače, Snježna kraljica, Tratinčica), CD – 3 prizes
11-14 years – Šegrt Hlapić, featured movie, DVD – 6 prizes
15-18 years – Hrvatske narodne bajke, book – 6 prizes
We look forward to receiving your entries!
The Boston Croatian Community
