Shine Tak Foundation honors global heritage, youth art at HKPM

The Shine Tak Foundation held the award ceremony for its inaugural “National Treasures Global Vision” Drawing Competition and Cultural Exchange Program on Monday at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, drawing government representatives and winners from 13 countries to the city for a five-day program.

The competition encouraged students to interpret their national animal treasures through art, attracting over 10,000 entries across 13 countries.

Representatives from over 25 nations attended. Officiating guests included Permanent Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Patrick Li Pak-chuen, Spokesperson and Director-General of the Media and Public Relations Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Commissioner’s Office Huang Jingrui, and ambassadors and diplomatic delegations from seven nations: Georgia, Guyana, Colombia, Senegal, Angola, Ghana, and Zambia.

Shine Tak Foundation chairman Lam Kwok-hing said the foundation has spent 12 years nurturing youth with character, capability, and vision.  “Art knows no borders, and friendship knows no distance,” Lam said.

Lam noted that the team helped an Iranian winner verify her safety and secure a flight to Hong Kong after losing contact, and assisted a Colombian winner with an alternative flight via Europe after a US transit visa issue. Patrick Li said that the wide diplomatic support demonstrated the event’s global influence.

Shine Tak Foundation vice-chairman Lewis Chan added that winning works will be made into digital art and animations for online exhibitions.

The venue displayed 80 winning artworks, featuring animals like China’s giant panda, Indonesia’s Komodo dragon, and Guyana’s jaguar, which will later be exhibited at Hong Kong International Airport’s Terminal 2.

Mahshid Ghasemi, 16, who won the Iranian Youth Gold Award with a painting featuring the mythical bird Simurgh and the Persian leopard, hoped people would find common ground through art. Edwin Santiago Sierra Guerrero, 15, won Colombia’s Youth Gold Award with his depiction of the Andean condor. Twelve-year-old Hong Kong student Wong Pak-kiu won China’s Children’s Bronze Award with a panda-themed artwork promoting peace.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓