Celebration of the Chinese New Year

On 29 January 2025, the Confucius Institute at the University of Banja Luka organised the celebration of the Chinese New Year at the Student Cultural Centre of the University of Banja Luka with various performances and awarding of prizes to the winners of the "2025 Lunar Creative Youth: Design, Fashion, Photography" competition.

The aim of the competition, announced in December last year, was to engage young people aged 16 to 28 to show their artistic perception of Chinese culture through digital tools and creative techniques. In three categories - digital GIF stickers, creative photography, and virtual fashion - 58 young authors from Banja Luka participated with a total of 84 works.

In the digital GIF sticker category, Anđela Marić won the first prize, Anastasija Šarenac the second and Đorđe Blagojević the third prize. In the creative photography category, the best work was presented by Ivana Dragosavac, while Milica Vujasin and Draženko Savić took the second and third places. As for the category of virtual fashion, the first place was won by Emina Puškar, the second by Barbara Drinić, and the third by Esma Škulj.

The works, presented within the Chinese New Year celebration programme that was prepared in collaboration with the sinology students and the representatives of the Academy of Arts, were to contain motifs of Chinese culture, with a focus on the Year of the Green Wood Dragon. The best works were selected by a professional jury consisting of: Prof. Ljiljana Stević, PhD, Confucius Institute Home Director, Prof. Natalija Trivić, PhD, from the Academy of Arts at the University of Banja Luka, Prof. Jelena Grubor from the Academy of Arts at the University of Banja Luka, and fashion designer Duško Oraščanić from Banja Luka.

The Chinese New Year also known as Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in China that marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Today it is celebrated not only in China but also in many cities around the world in the form of traditional and modern cultural and artistic events. These celebrations allow other nations to feel the charm of Chinese tradition and culture.

The Year of the Green Wood Dragon will last from 29 January 2025 to 16 February 2026.