The IACAPAP Art Heals the Soul Drawing Contest
By: Jane Chang, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division, China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan
2020 has been so far a year of unrest. Therefore, the newly-formed IACAPAP Communications Committee (ICC), headed by Dr. Hesham Hamoda, brainstormed to come up with an activity that not only provides children from around the world with an opportunity to participate, but can also provide comfort at the same time. The mission of the ICC is to help increase the visibility of IACAPAP, so that the general public including children will be able to get to know and interact with IACAPAP. Thus, the team came up with “The IACAPAP Art Heals the Soul Drawing Contest”. The IACAPAP Art Heals the Soul Drawing Contest welcome colored drawing submissions based on any of the 4 themes: 1) Life Under COVID-19, 2) What I want to be when I grow up, 3) My family/friends, and 4) Mental health. The drawings were divided by age groups: 1) age <6 years-old, 2) age 6-12 years-old, 3) age 13-17 years-old, and 4)>= 18 years-old. The contest was launched from September 15th to October 31st of 2020 and participants were asked to submit their colored drawings. These drawings were then posted on the IACAPAP Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/IACAPAP) from November 5th to the 15th of 2020 for everyone to see and ‘like’. The drawings with the most likes will be the winners of each age category, and will have the chance to be featured on the covers of future IACAPAP Bulletins including the current one. All participants were encouraged to invite their family and friends to like their drawings. The aim was not only to share their beautiful drawings but also allow more people to get to know IACAPAP and it’s work.
A total of 24 entries from 7 countries were received including Brazil, India, Indonesia, North Macedonia, Philippines, Poland and Taiwan. Most of the entries were for the 6-12 years-old category, followed by the < 6 years-old category, then by the 13-17 years-old category and then by the >= 18 years-old category. Moreover, most of the entries were submitted under the Life under Covid-19 theme. The drawings posted on the IACAPAP Facebook page were well-received and received many positive comments and likes, some drawings even went viral!
The winner of the < 6 years-old category is Vibhav from India with the drawing titled “I wish to have a friend like Willy!”. The winner of the 6-12 years-old category is Jessica from Taiwan with the drawing titled “What I want to be when I grow up”. The winner of the 13-17 years-old category was Sofija from North Macedonia with the drawing titled “Life under Covid-19”. The winner of the >=18 years-old category is Marina from Brazil with the drawing titled “Trying not to go crazy”. Moreover, thanks to the support of the 2020 IACAPAP Virtual Congress Secretariat, all 24 drawings of the Contest were featured during Congress held from December 2nd to the 4th of 2020!
The IACAPAP Art Heals the Soul Drawing Contest not only colored the lives of many of us, it also allowed IACAPAP to be seen by more people around the world. During the period of the contest, The IACAPAP Facebook page welcomed many new members (bringing it to a total of 8000+ members) and the page had a 40-fold increase in viewing. If you haven’t checked out the drawings, please do go check it out on the IACAPAP page and like your favorite drawings, I assure you that the 24 colored drawings will definitely brighten up your day!
The IACAPAP communications committee. From left to right: Hesham Hamoda, Jane Chang and Ujjwal Ramtekar during a conference call.
The IACAPAP Art Heals the Soul Drawing Contest held on FB from the 15th of September to the 31st of October, 2020.
