Art of Serbia’s Children Reaches the World with UNICEF

By Jelena Jovanovic

Belgrade, Dec.5th, 2009 (Serbia Today) - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for Serbia, with the support of Instituto Cervantes in Belgrade, organized the exhibition `Greeting Cards Full of Life`. The exhibition, which runs from December 3rd to December 6th, displays that the artwork and literary work submitted by students from Serbian primary schools. It is all part of the competitition to make the best New Year's greeting cards. The competition topics were ’My UNICEF Greeting card` and `My New Year’s wish’.
Some of the best works that can be seen in the Cervantes gallery belong to Lazar Kostic, a seventh grade student from Milutovac, Jelena Taskovic, a sixth grade pupil from Belgrade, and Djordje Krunic, a seventh grade pupil from Lucani.
Children awarded for the best literary work were; Jovana Zivkovic from Negotin, Sandra Petrovic from Belgrade and Bogdan Dzekic from Uzice. Their ideas for UNICEF greeting cards will become part of the big family of greeting cards in the blue boxes that can be bought at the end of every year in countires around the world. The winning students also receive gifts from the companies which supported the campaign.
President of the jury judging the students work was Zefirino Grassi, Chief Editor of Belgrade magazine `Politikin Zabavnik`, a magazine for those with a ’young spirit’. It readers include people from every age. Members of the jury were illustrator Dobrosav Bob Zivkovic, photographer Nebojsa Babic, graphic designer Konstantin Petrovic, writers Jasminka Petrovic and Ljubivoje Rsumovic and columnist Nadezda Milenkovic. Representatives of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia and UNICEF also participated in the jury.
The UNICEF exhibition at Cervantes Gallery marks the 60th anniversary of the UNICEF greeting card campaign. With funds raised from the sale of over 60 years, UNICEF has provided aid,medical and educational services and other assistance to children from all over the globe.
UNICEF greeting cards have become a symbol of hope for a better and happier future for all children. During the last 6 decades, UNICEF greeting cards were made by anonymous artists and authors, as well as famous ones. UNICEF’s first greeting card was a painting by seven-year-old Jitka Samkova, whose village in Czechoslovakia received UNICEF emergency assistance in the form of food and medicine in 1947. She created greeting cards to thank UNICEF and that is where the whole story began.
Many accomplished artists were invited to create artwork specifically for reproduction by UNICEF as greeting cards. Raoul Dufy’s watercolor painting of the United Nations building in New York City was the first, followed by the works of Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali. Some celebrities have also created greeting cards and contributed to the UNICEF mission, such as Julio Iglesias, Audrey Hepburn, Paloma Picasso, Lucciano Pavaroti, and Paul McCartney.