International High School Arts Festival Competition 2021 Information Pack Background:

The International High School Arts Festival in Japan is an event for secondary school aged pupils between 15-18 years of age, to show the world their artistic talent. The Festival is sponsored by the International Foundation for Arts and Culture (IFAC). Mr Haruhisa Handa is chairman of IFAC and a sponsor of . In each participating country an art competition is held, to establish a national representative. The representative wins an all-expenses paid trip to Japan with a guardian to see his or her artwork displayed in the National Art Centre, Tokyo, one of Tokyo's most highly regarded exhibition sites. Three runners-up will have their work exhibited alongside the winner's and receive an art kit. remains the sole representative from the UK. We are, therefore, in the privileged position of being able to select the national representative from within our Group each year. We were invited to submit art from around the schools for the first time in 2008, and over the years we have had winners from Lambeth Academy, High School, AKS, , Kettering Buccleuch Academy, and .

Guidelines for submission of work:

• Art works should be drawings or paintings (e.g. oil, acrylic, watercolour), 2D mixed media, or calligraphy; • No photographs or sculptures are permitted; • There is no theme for the work • Artwork must only be created by one individual, collaborations are not permitted. • Students must be aged between 15 and 18 years old on April 1st 2021, and still pupils at the entering school • Please consider that these pieces will have to be transported to Japan – very fragile pieces cannot be accepted; • Size of artworks: a maximum of 100 cm x 100 cm including any frame; • Only one submission is allowed per student. • You may not submit coursework pieces which will be used in current exam portfolios How to Enter:

Submit entries on the Hub by filling out the form and uploading a high resolution photo. All artworks must be submitted before Tuesday 16th February at 9am

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Judging:

Judging will take place in four stages. 1. All submissions will be photographed and posted onto dedicated Facebook and Instagram pages. Staff, students and members of the general public will be able to 'Like' their favourite submissions. This will count for 25% of the final score given to each piece. 2. United Learning Executive Team and Art teachers across the group will have their own vote. This will count for 25% of the final score. 3. A panel of independent artists will be invited to an online judging and discussion of the artwork, providing feedback and comments. The artist will also rank their top 10 pieces according to their artistic merit. This will make up the final 50% of the final score. The winner and the three runners-up will be decided from this process. The results will be announced on Wednesday 3rd March.

Schedule:

Tuesday 16th February Deadline for entries

Tuesday 16th February – 3rd March Voting

Wednesday 3rd March The winning artist and three runners-up announced via email and social media. Artworks posted to Japan

3rd March – 18th March Winners' travel arrangements made

W/c 2nd August The winner and their guardian will travel to Japan

Wednesday 4th August Awards Ceremony in Tokyo

The winner’s prize: terms and conditions

The winning student (the pupil with the highest cumulative score) will be invited to travel to Tokyo with a guardian to take part in the Festival and attend the Awards Ceremony at the National Art Centre, Tokyo. There will be an opportunity to meet with other young artists and arts professionals from Japan and all over the world. IFAC prize details:

• Return economy ticket to Japan for the winning student;

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• Return economy ticket to Japan for the accompanying guardian (the guardian should be the same sex as the student); • Cost and booking of accommodation (one twin room, meals included) for the student and guardian while in Japan (maximum length of provided accommodation in Japan is 3 nights / 4 days) • An English-Japanese interpreter for the student and guardian for the duration of their stay in Japan • A one-day guided tour of Tokyo for the students and their guardians (all guardians are required to attend); • Transportation from Narita or Haneda International Airport upon arrival and departure

Please note that there is a very tight turnaround from announcing the winner to arranging visas. Therefore, please ensure that any participating student, and their relevant guardian, has a legal passport valid for travel in August. Providing these details are a condition of being announced as winner of the competition. Please also ensure that students are legally entitled to travel to Japan.

Essential Information:

We will require the following entry information to be provided via the online form, accompanied by a high- resolution photograph of each artwork. We will confirm receipt of the form, and eligibility of pupils. You may submit this information until Wednesday 3rd March. Entries received after this date will not be eligible. Information you will need to complete:

• Name (of artist); • Gender; • Age and date of birth; • School; • Title of artwork; • Size of artwork (including frame if applicable); • Medium used; • Brief explanation of work (between 100 and 300 words); • A high resolution photograph of artwork; • Return address for artworks; • Please confirm the student has a valid passport, and is able to travel to Japan between Saturday 1st and Sunday 9th August 2020 (the trip will span four days within this period); • Please confirm the guardian has a valid passport and is able to travel to Japan between Saturday 1st and Sunday 9th August 2020 (the trip will span four days within this period).

N.B. Originals of the winning artworks will need to be posted to Japan directly from your school (claiming costs back from the centre), details on how to do this will be given once the winners have been announced.

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