Twenty-six young people have participated in an election-themed painting contest “VotArt Junior” 2023, organized by the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CCET), in partnership with UNDP Moldova. The competition was funded through the project “Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections”, funded by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the British Embassy in Chișinău through the Good Governance Fund. 

The participants, aged between 14 and 19, created works of art on the theme “Elections in my locality”. Five of them have received awards.

The competition took place between 1- 8 October 2023, during which the young artists painted local elections on their canvases. 

“We were extremely happy to see such a beautiful involvement of young people in the ‘VotArt Junior’ painting contest. On the first day of the competition, I explained to the participants what elections are and how they can get involved in community activities. We appreciated that they took our guidance into account. We know that it is not easy to paint on a subject related to the electoral field, but the young girls and boys showed off their artistry and came up with some extraordinary works,” says Dr. Doina Bordeianu, director of CCET.

“I have seen inspired and very professionally executed works for their age. I was honoured to judge meaningful paintings, even metaphorical, and very well-done from the technical point of view,” says Luminița Ermurachi, member of the Fine Artist’s Union of Moldova and member of the VotArt Junior 2023 jury board.

The first prize was awarded to Alexandru Dîrțu from the village of Hîrbovăț, Anenii Noi district, the second to Victoria Matveiciuc from the town of Dondușeni, and the third to Bianca Blanuța from Chișinău. Special mentions were awarded to Vladimir Glavan from Chișinău and to Alexandra Bîcu from the town of Dondușeni.

“I was very anxious, but I took my preparations seriously, I wanted to win this competition. In the process, I came up with several ideas on what to paint, but I consulted with my mother, with my colleagues, and came to the conclusion to draw a flying carpet in the form of a ballot and people of different age groups, illustrating that the vote of each of us matters,” said Alexandru Dîrțu, winner of the first prize.

The winners received gift certificates for gadgets and books. Their work will be exhibited at the National Art Museum of Moldova for ten days. CCET organized a similar competition in 2022.

In 2019, the UNDP project “Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections” supported the Central Electoral Commission in conducting a creative workshop on the subject of elections. The winning posters were distributed as part of the civic education campaign for the October 2019 elections.