The award ceremony for the 5th High School Design Competition, organized by Arkın University of Creative Arts and Design (ARUCAD), took place on Tuesday evening, December 17, at the ARUCAD Art Gallery. The event celebrated the winners of this year's competition, themed "The Story of a Line," with works displayed from 80 students participating from different countries.
The competition, aimed at revealing the creative perspectives of the younger generation and providing them with new artistic visions, saw participation from high school students from 10 different countries, including New Zealand, Iran, South Korea, China, Northern Cyprus, and Turkey. The jury, composed of ARUCAD Founder Erbil Arkın, Dean of the Faculty of Arts Prof. Dr. Nur Onat, Faculty of Arts faculty member Prof. Dr. Turan Aksoy, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Communication Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nuran Öze, Artist Batu Gündal, and Faculty of Design faculty member Asst. Prof. Dr. Ehsan Daneshyar, carefully evaluated the artworks created with various disciplines and techniques to determine the award winners.
The first place winner of the competition was RuYuan Wen from KILC College in Kazakhstan, followed by Yağmur Çağlar from Buca Işılay Saygın Fine Arts High School in Turkey in second place, and Semina Koçak from 20 Temmuz Fen High School in Northern Cyprus in third place. The Erbil Arkın Special Award was presented to Nil Yaşarcan from Esin Leman High School in Northern Cyprus, while the Social Media Award went to Ceren Arısoy from Ufuk Arslan Anatolian High School in Turkey.
The students who placed in the competition received full scholarships to ARUCAD, monetary prizes, and certificates of achievement, while the top three schools received contributions to meet the needs of their art departments. The ceremony was attended by students and their families, as well as ARUCAD faculty, students, and staff.
In his speech, ARUCAD Founder Erbil Arkın stated, “These competitions offer students a unique opportunity to showcase their creativity. It is a great honor for me to witness the creativity, which starts as a spark, transform into a flame over time. I am happy to share this pride with you once again.”
In the opening speech of the ceremony, ARUCAD Rector Prof. Dr. Asım Vehbi expressed his joy over receiving 80 applications from 10 different countries in the competition's 5th year. He noted, “We can see that the participation in the competition is increasing every year, and it is becoming more international. With the ARUCAD High School Design Competition, which we started in 2020 with the theme ‘Superheroes in Cyprus,’ we aim to encourage creativity and raise awareness of social issues. We also aim to support the development of artistic activities in schools by contributing to their art, music, or design departments. I would like to thank our jury members, all participants, and the team who prepared this wonderful event,” he said.
After the certificate presentation ceremony, the award night continued with a cocktail attended by talented young participants, their families, and the ARUCAD family.