By Vestnik Kavkaza
In early September in the Moscow House of Nationalities the results of the sixth international festival of children’s paintings “Nart Treasure” were summed up. The project was initiated by the House of Nationalities in 2008. During this time more than 10 thousand children from various countries of the world have been inspired by the deeds of Caucasus warriors – the Narts. This year children painted heroes in the North Caucasus, Turkey, Italy, Jordan and the Arab Emirates. Participants and winners of the contest came to the solemn ceremony together with their teachers. Representatives of Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Stavropol Territory and Abkhazia congratulated the young painters. The jury of the contests didn’t hide the fact that they had faced a difficult task.
Alexander Grekov, an Honored Artist of Russia, told Vestnik Kavkaza: “I have many times participated in various festivals as a member of juries. And I always try to assess paintings with big love and care, I try not to offend any one of these young talented masters. We like the verity of the festival, its bright and goal-oriented character. It is connected with people’s friendship in Russia and the unity of all nationalities who live in our great homeland. I treat every meeting with children’s creativity as a festival. It is always a revelation.”
Works by the best painters will be entered into a unique book of the epos; centuries-long history meets childhood on its pages. According to the initiators, soon books in Turkish and Arabic will be published. Members of the jury think such projects are very important. Zurabek Bgazhnokov, a People’s Artist of the KBR, the chairman of the jury, told Vestnik Kavkaza: “Epos is a treasury of world culture. Due to the contest, children learn about the existence of eposes, first of all. Secondly, they transform verbal messages into visual art. I think this is a miracle. The House of Nationalities gathered children from regions, the Caucasus, and today we have such a festival for them. They will remember the miracle for life. We have a proverb: “You reap what you sow”. If we raise a generation that gets used to seeing beauty and creativity, we will have a wonderful future.”
