Comics are the most complex art, and that is why it is extremely important that the Hercegno Comic Festival, through workshops for children, nurtures the creativity and imagination of elementary and high school students, opening the door to a fantastic world for them, and it is especially satisfying when talent and the best works are recognized and rewarded.
She drew the best drawing among elementary school students Bojana Ćurić, a sixth-grade student at the "Dašo Pavičić" Elementary School, and was inspired by others who draw well.
"That's how I found inspiration. I have always loved to draw and it makes me happy and gives beauty to life. My parents told me I was very good at this, but I wasn't sure until now. Now I believe. I like to draw plants, animals, and most of all people. They are the most interesting to me. I am very glad that I got the chance to participate in the Festival, and especially that I received the award. I am grateful to the One company for the tablet, which will mean a lot to me", said the modest and talented Bojana.
High school student Ana Radonić, who drew the winning work, wished for a symbolic prize, and was delighted when she received a tablet from the One company.
"I am overjoyed, pleasantly surprised. This boosted my confidence a lot. I will continue to develop my gift and talent for drawing. I will get better at this, I hope that I will do this in my life. I've been interested in comics since I was little. Even then I tried to draw, but it was frivolous. I believe that now I know how to draw and I can do whatever I want", Ana is proud.
One of the founders of the Hercegnov Comic Festival, Nebojša Mandić, said that the overriding idea of the Festival is to introduce the youngest audience to real art, and it is easy to attract a child through a comic that has an artistic narrative.
"This year there is extremely high interest, especially for the workshops we did with the One company. There were about 60 elementary and high school students. We awarded one prize for primary school and one for secondary school. It was difficult to choose, but we found very good works. I am overjoyed both as an organizer of the Festival and as someone who loves art and is involved in it," Mandic said.
A top pedagogue, as he explained, senses a child's talent and it is up to him to guide him, to educate him, so that, perhaps, he could make a living from art.
"This year we have perfect works. Two high school students made a real comic. We have a whole board of comics that are awesome. The team from One recognized this and awarded the prizes", emphasized Mandić.
Communications Manager at One Montenegro, Tina Raičević, she said that to her great satisfaction, this company has been supporting the Hercegno Strip Festival for the second year, which has become the most popular destination for comic fans in Southeastern Europe.
"This Festival gathers established names, but in addition, which is extremely important to us, it also fosters an educational part that is equally important. Essentially, it nurtures creativity and imagination in children and young people, opening the door to a fantastic world. During the workshops that were organized this year for primary and secondary school students, they showed what they know and how much they can do, and the One company is of course here to reward the best", said Raičević.
It was difficult to choose among the great works, which testifies to the fact that children are very interested in this form of expression. This is precisely why the founders of the Festival believe that modern professors should be guided by the fact that comics should be on the bench, not under the bench.
"Comics are the most complex art. The strongest satire ever written by Alan Ford is a comic book. It can be applied at any moment, in any country, at any time. It is drawn in such a way that everyone can understand it and when they think about it, they can see how deep it is. That's exactly why comics should be on the bench, so that children can be guided to think properly, so that they know that narrative can be written, artistic, musical. We will try to introduce it as an optional subject in schools," said Nebojša Mandić.
Workshop leader for children, illustrator and caricaturist, Srđan Stamenković from Serbia, was pleasantly surprised that many children were interested in attending the workshop for several days.
"I am very satisfied with the way the children showed themselves and produced great works in a short period of time. This raises optimism that next time we will be organized for the long haul, because the children can produce even better and more productive work. My goal was to awaken the children's imagination so that they can create on their own. They created aliens, which further stimulates the imagination that they can create phenomenal things", said Stamenković.
He believes that comics are one of the most important forms of expression of creativity and art, because there is dramatic movement, text drawing, many other arts.
"It is interesting for us adults and children alike. How many of us learned to read by reading comics. Many other arts are represented in comics, and that is why it is considered one of the most important and strongest media. Today comics are valued much more than before, but they should be valued even more. I think we are moving towards that. Even though there is still an opinion in both Serbia and Montenegro that as soon as you engage in comics or read comics, you either remain a child or you are not serious. And actually it's not like that. In order for someone to really deal with comics, he needs to be very serious, talented and dedicate his life to it," explained Stamenković.
