By Jonathan Ugbal
Entries for both the Linda Ayade literary art competition and the Afi Ekong visual art competition have opened, a statement from the Cross River State Department of Creative and Knowledge Economy says.
The competitions are aimed at developing the creative industry in the state as well as promoting young talents read the statement signed by the Senior Special Advisor, Mr. Emmanuel Etim obtained by CrossRiverWatch on Tuesday in Calabar, the state capital.
The literary art competition is “a deliberate attempt to break the seeming centralization of Nigerian literature at Lagos. We believe this decentralization is essential to expanding the depth of the literature Nigeria produces and grow the understanding and appreciation of both poetry and prose by Cross Riverians and its residents,” read the statement.
It also added that the competition is in two categories; Poetry and Prose, which are subdivided into Junior and Open categories with the Junior reserved for those in Secondary School and below while the Open is for those with school certificate and above.
On the visual art competition, the statement said that the competition aims to “reveal and promote talented artists; amateur or professionals who are the best at what they do and can fly the Cross River State flag with their work. Its function is to discover artists either with raw talents or refined with no limits on age but resident in Cross River or resident anywhere in the world but from the state.”
Divided into painting and photography categories, the sub categories are same as in the literary art competition.
The entries will close on January 31, 2018 and will be done online on these two links:
https://lindaayadeliteraryartcompetition.com
https://afiekongvisualartcompetition.com
Both competitions are open to all residents in the state Cross Riverians resident in the state and elsewhere the statement added.
NB: The headline has been edited to remove the word “Open” which appeared twice.