This year one of the former winners of the Competition, who is now a professional working artist, Juan José Serrano, winner of the Second Prize in 2010, was invited to write the introduction to the catalogue.  In his article he analyses the historical importance of  drawing, mentioning how, from the beginning of time, the language of art was used by man to express himself and how now the art of drawing evolved to enable the creation of complex and complete works of art. He ended his article by calling on young artists to master the technique as it is the genesis of all visual arts.

This year 106 artists submitted entries to the competition.  Once again, artists from several regions of Bolivia took part.  It is very pleasing that the competition is now a national annual event and that some of the artists that have participated in the past are achieving success exhibiting their work in Bolivia and abroad.

Juan José Serrano has just had an exhibition in France. He has created a blog which can be enjoyed by   visiting  http://juanjosesc.blogspot.com

The competition took place in April at Galería Alternativa, one of the most prestigious art galleries in La Paz.  The exhibition of drawings by the winners and selected artists ran from the 9th to the 21st May and was in the programme of the Long Night of Museums.

The jury was composed by the distinguished Bolivian artists, Fabricio Lara, Guiomar Mesa, Alejandro Salazar, Patricia Mariaca and the Spanish art historian, Margarita Vila. After careful consideration and debate, they selected 55 works for the exhibition; of these 28 were chosen for reproduction in the catalogue.