Painting Competition Opens up Opportunities Again for Young Painters

The Maľba (Painting) competition has made the talents of the new generations of professional painters visible and supported them for 17 years

The VÚB Foundation, which has been the organiser of the competition since the beginning, is announcing its next year. Young artists who dedicate themselves to the visual arts medium can register their current works until 15 June 2022. The expert jury will select 20 finalists and then decide on three winners, who will receive financial support totalling EUR 20,000 for their further work. The names of the awarded authors will be known at the end of October, and art lovers will be able to see all the finalists' works traditionally in the Nedbalka Gallery.

Slovak artists will once again be given the opportunity to attract the attention of the artistic community, win the recognition of renowned international experts and have the opportunity to grow in their profession. The already 17th year of the Maľba competition – the VÚB Foundation Award for Paintings by Young Artists – is aimed not only at helping the authors themselves, but also at bringing the contemporary artworks of the young generation closer to the general public in the long term.

Since its inception, during a period of nearly two decades the competition has awarded as many as 41 male and female painters and distributed financial support totalling EUR 320,000. Last year's best painter was Rita Koszorús, who won a well-deserved victory after being placed among the twenty finalists during the past three years of the competition.

Active painters under the age of 35 can take part in the Maľba competition. They can register using an online form at https://malbaroka.sk/prihlasenie/, which also specifies all the parameters of the submitted works. The registration deadline is 15 June 2022.

Every year, an international jury composed of leading European visual artists, theorists, curators, gallerists, and teachers is the guarantor of an impartial and professional evaluation of the submitted works. The jury will judge the artworks in two rounds. During the summer it will select 20 finalists from the registered artists, and at the end of October it will decide on the three winners based on the physical judgement of the delivered works. They will receive prize money of EUR 3,500, 6,500 and 10,000. The culmination of the competition will again be an exhibition of 20 finalists' works in the Nedbalka Gallery in Bratislava, which will be open to the public by the VÚB Foundation free of charge.

More information on the Maľba competition can be found here.