Literature and Painting Competitions for Olive and Oil

The evaluation of the projects and the prize award are in progress

   The evaluation of the Olive and the Oil Literature and Painting competitions, announced by the Association of Cretan Olive Municipalities (greek name: SEDIK) in collaboration with other local organizations is in progress. Thus taking advantage of free time from the new conditions imposed by the pandemic of Covid19.

The main objectives of these competitions are:

 - A creative entertainment of the public, during the long hours of their stay at home and the prevention of the unpleasant psychological consequences of continuous social isolation.

ü  - The creation of awareness, of young and older people, on the value of the olive tree and oil olive in Greece and especially in Crete, from antiquity and up to the present.

   The impact of the competition, on the public, was important as the cultural, environmental, social and economic importance of olive cultivation, that includes the nutritional and health value of olive oil, are elements that are inextricably linked to social, religious, cultural, economic sectors and the diet of the Greek and Cretan people.

   Relevant references are made in literature in the elegant verses of Homer (Odyssey verse 190-201), where Odysseus, in order to convince Penelope for his identity, describes how he made his marital bed with the trunk of an olive tree.

Additionally, the poems of the great contemporary Greek poets such as Andreas Kalvos, Costas Palamas, Ioannis Polemis, Giannis Ritsos, are also known for their references to the olive tree; including the works of Kazantzakis,the songs of Mountakis and in the poems of Kostis Frangoulis.

The frescoes of Knossos (1600 BC) are also known for the wall-paintings "Dance in the sacred grove" and "Attacking bull and olive tree". Moreover, well known are the paintings of more recent painters, such as Theophilos and contemporary ones such as Sophia Vlachou and so forth.

The overall number of participants was 182, among them were adults, teenagers and children, the majority of whom were from Crete. However, there were also some participants from other cities in Greece.

The submitted works were 87 texts of literature and 95 paintings and were evaluated by a three-member committee of experts taking into account the age of participants and the category of the competition by competition. The names of the members of the jury in the competition, will be announced during the award ceremony.

     The evaluation was done by scoring four criteria for each project which were determined by the judges and the final score per project will be derived from the averages of the scores given by the three evaluators.

   The awards which will be awarded, will be determined by the Organizing Committee of each competition, and they will grade the average of the evaluators' scores and determine the scoring level for each prize category. The prizes will be elegant plaques with GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE Minoan Olive and Praises on Papyrus type paper, the given prizes may be more than one or none.

   The winners of each category will be announced at the award ceremony, which will take place live, the time, place of which will materialise when the pandemic will allow or else, it will take place virtually, via the internet.

     The distinguished winners will be offered souvenirs, such as books published by SEDIK about the Olive tree, packages of olive oil and/or other products made from olive oil.