Being awake at night can mean many things. That you party. Or enjoying togetherness. That you have big worries that rob you of sleep. Or a job that requires special working hours. In this respect, there is no other way to put it: “awake at night” is a wonderful topic for a creative competition because it leaves so much room for manoeuvre. The six-person jury for the youth culture prize for the district of Ebersberg came up with this brilliant idea – after a long discussion. “I think in the end we all just wanted to go to bed,” says Philipp Spiegelsberger, Managing Director of the District Youth Council (KJR), and laughs. Waking up at night isn’t for everyone.
We were looking for a motto that should be catchy and very open. “We wanted something that wasn’t as charged as the topics of the past few years, we wanted to take some of the heaviness out of it,” explains Spiegelsberger. Most recently, the young creatives had shown themselves to be very politically committed with their works, with the focus primarily on ecological and social problems. However, the most recent four tenders had also promoted such things, saying: “Brave new world”, “Caution, fragile!”, “Who needs all this?” and “Space there?!”.
Not even Corona could harm the youth culture prize – here is a work by Selina Obendorfer from the past competition.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The Ebersberg Youth Culture Prize now has a long history, it was first advertised in the 1980s. While the competition initially took place at irregular intervals, it is now held every year. Not even the pandemic could harm him: Those responsible spared no effort and moved both the exhibition and the award ceremony to virtual space. And it was worth it: in 2021/22, 77 works on the topic “Platz da!?” submitted – previous record. The gallery tour is still on the Homepage of the KJR Ebersberg to see.
And now there is the 23rd edition – with “awake at night”. The topic fits perfectly with the times and the young generation, says Leonie Gilhuber, and she should know: The Moosacher is only 19 years old herself, she is currently doing a voluntary social year at the KJR and has taken over the project management of the youth culture prize. She sees two major strands reflected in its motto: “On the one hand, we are catching up on everything we missed at parties and the like because of Corona,” she says. On the other hand, one or the other young person must lie awake more often because climate change and war are perceived as existential threats.
Recently, the children and young people often addressed ecological problems, here for example Emilia Rölle with “Make way – here comes the human being”.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The Youth Culture Prize focuses on children and young people with their individual view of the world, current events, society and their problems. Anyone between the ages of seven and 21 from the Ebersberg district can take part, either alone, in a group or as a school class. Works of art of all kinds are welcome, from drawings or comics to sculptures or objects to videos, songs, texts or poems – everything is allowed! “Our participants can give free rein to their creativity when implementing the topic,” emphasizes KJR boss Spiegelsberger. Works can be submitted until Tuesday, January 17, at the KJR office, Bahnhofstraße 12 in Ebersberg.
In order to show the young artists appropriate appreciation, the prize money amounts to a total of 2500 euros. How exactly it will be distributed depends on the type and number of submissions, as the jury forms corresponding categories. The works will again be expertly appraised by Babsi Lux (Altes Kino), Konrad Peters (KJR Ebersberg), Luci Ott (Kunstverein), Max Bauer (noise maker), Peter Hinz-Rosin (photographer) and Sophia Stiftinger (KJR Ebersberg). The first round of the jury is “blind”, so to speak, so it takes place without any information about the creators of the works, in the second round the jurors are then informed of their respective ages.
Seems to have enjoyed their voluntary work: the jurors of the youth culture award 2021/22.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The exhibition belonging to the youth culture prize in the premises of the renowned Ebersberger Kunstverein also conveys appreciation: All submitted works will be on view for a weekend, from Friday, February 3rd to Sunday, February 5th, in the studio on the ramp above the monastery building yard . The award ceremony will also take place there (Sunday, 3 p.m.). “The audience can vote for their favourites, which is always very exciting,” says Spiegelsberger.
In general, people are very happy to be able to experience the youth culture prize again as a face-to-face event, says the KJR boss. “To experience all these emotions, this joy and excitement live is just wonderful!” And now, of course, one hopes that this time again many young artists will contribute interesting works of art. However, nobody should lie awake at night because of this challenge. As jury member Babsi Lux always says so beautifully? “Everyone who takes part deserves an award for that alone!”