Viborg UNESCO Creative City - Media Arts. Your creative visual partner

#DrawWithDenmark – Green Together 2023

Do you want to be part of a global green drawing campaign 2023?

With DrawWithDenmark, Viborg UNESCO Creative City has for the last two years invited children and young people from all over the world to draw and partake in a global drawing campaign on Covid and trust respectively.

In the same period, Viborg Municipality has run the campaign and festival “Green Together - Partnerships for a sustainable future.” Here we focus on green transition and sustainability and inspire each other on how to be greener and more sustainable in everyday life.

In this year's global drawing campaign, Viborg links the two initiatives together, so that all of Denmark and the rest of the world are invited to join the drawing campaign 2023 #DrawWithDenmark – Green Together 2023 under Viborg UNESCO Creative City.

The drawing campaign 2023 is launched on 15 April and runs until 1 August 2023. The creative theme this year is Green Together.

The Viborg UNESCO Creative City campaign partners are: Viborg Municipality, The Animation Workshop, Viborg Culture School, Visual HF (education) and Creative Viborg.

Activities

The campaign invites children and young people around the world to create drawings that tap into the global green agenda from a hopeful perspective and based on 20 drawing challenges (see below). The challenges will continuously be presented on Viborg UNESCO Creative City’s social media at the start of the campaign.

The culmination of the campaign will coincide with Viborg Animation Festival at the end of September, where Viborg UNESCO Creative City will exhibit many of the drawings received through media arts means (animations, projections, etc.). Likewise, some of Viborg’s international UNESCO partners around the world are already thinking about local events in relation to the campaign including exhibitions.

How to take part and send pictures of your drawings?

You can partake by creating a drawing, collage, painting, animation (e.g. GIF) analogically or digitally. Drawing techniques and tools are of your choice.

You can upload a photo of your drawing or alike (jpeg. files are preferred). If, contrary to expectations, you encounter problems when uploading, please send the drawings to: 5hh@viborg.dk

By uploading your drawing, you are now part of the drawing campaign, and your contribution is ready to travel out into the world. You can follow it on Viborg UNESCO Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and through #DrawWithDenmark.

The 20 Drawing Challenges:

You can participate in this year’s #DrawWithDenmark – Green Together, by choosing one or more of the following twenty drawing challenges:

Draw..... ✏🎨🖌

how your city or town can be part of nature
how you are nature's friend
how you can help the balance of nature
your take on green technology
‘Station Hope’ - where are we going in the future?
humans and nature together
your personal climate dilemma
a fantasy character/superhero who helps the earth
the soul of nature
the animals' climate demonstration
nature always wins
a budding green hope
how you take care of nature
the birds’ future
what you can do to make nature more wild
a world where the animals decide
the house of the future
a sustainable everyday life
a wish from Mother Earth. What is you wish for earth?
GreenTogether - how do we together carry forward the green hope?

All the challenges will be presented at the beginning of the campaign on our social media with an inspirational drawing made by children and youth in Creative Viborg.

Preparation

Personally, or if you are a school class or another group taking part, you can talk about sustainability, climate and green transition, involve global perspectives, and make mind maps, etc. In general, feel free to let your creative spirit travel freely in our campaign.

There can also be preparatory fieldwork: Where can you see that we are taking care of the planet? What and where can we do something? Where do we have green habits? Etc.

Didactive perspectives

The campaign should be considered as an open space for green creativity. However, if you are a teacher or similar, you could take the following into consideration: Using the campaign as a creative education course where sustainability, climate and green transition are examined, it is our hope that the students learn to express themself visually and reflectively about the given task.

Viborg, drawing and some background

Drawing is fundamental to humans regardless of origin. The earliest traces of our species are drawings in caves, and we all draw before we speak.

In Viborg, we have a special and long-standing stronghold within drawing, animation, children's culture and creativity. We understand and recognize the value of children, young people and adults’ drawing - whether you draw for yourself, another person or professionally.

Unfortunately, most Danish children and many children around the world stop drawing around the age of ten.

This is a problem because we lose a creative force. In Viborg UNESCO Creative City, we would like to help change this with our annual drawing campaign for children and young people in Denmark and worldwide.

The ambition of the drawing campaign is to strengthen the understanding of the value and significance of drawing and creativity for children and young people's development. We sincerely wish to help children and young people maintain faith in their drawing abilities and create drawing friendships both in their own country and across the world through our international UNESCO network.

Viborg's trust in the power of drawing and the idea of an annual national and international drawing campaign received a significant local, national and international boost with our DrawWithDenmark Campaign in 2021. In connection with a major Danish charity event in 2021 and together with Viborg and Denmark, thousands of children and young people in 33 countries around the world drew HOPE for and with children and young people under the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign has subsequently won international campaign and communication awards in the US and Europe and selected drawings have been exhibited at the National Gallery in Copenhagen and at biennales and other creative visual events in many countries around the world.

In 2022, Viborg UNESCO Creative City did the #DrawWithDenmark – TRUST campaign which attracted drawings from more than ten countries around the world, that were showcased at more exhibitions in Viborg and around the world as well as on social media.

Finally, Viborg has a strong local creative and drawing network that dates back more than 30 years. The foundation for this network is the Animation Workshop, one of the world’s best animation schools with an excellent drawing academy, the creative hub linked to the school, Viborg Culture School, Viborg Municipality’s Children’s Policy and focus on culture and creativity and last - but not least - our status as a UNESCO Creative City.

Watch a film about Draw with Denmark - Green together

Examples of drawings - DrawWithDenmark 2022: TRUST

During 2020, we in Viborg UNESCO Creative City discussed, how can Viborg actively demonstrate what it means to be a UNESCO Creative City knowing that just a few months prior, we had earned this esteemed designation? Also knowing that our designation was a result of three decades of continuously establishing itself as an internationally recognized creative hub, specifically within animation and other visual communication.

In general, we decided to demonstrate who we are – through the way we communicate.” In other words: “Don’t tell it — show it.” As such, it’s clear that Viborg should communicate itself as a Creative City through visual communication.

This among others led to Viborg in January launching a campaign entitled “Draw Hope”, which encouraged children to make drawings that give hope to children all over the world who have suffered because of COVID-19. Partners behind was the UNESCO Secretariat, Drawing Academy (TAW), Viborg Gymnasium (Visual Dep.) & Viborg’s Culture School.

Initially, the campaign was simply going to be part of Denmark’s Appeal – an annual and national charity event, whose 2021 edition Viborg would host on February 6.

But in mid-January, we sensed that the campaign might have international potential. As such, we approached the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, and they respond positively – leading to UNESCO encouraging all its 246 Creative Cities to partake in the campaign.

On January 21st, the campaign was launched. Internationally, it became known as #DrawWithDenmark – actively embracing that people outside of Denmark associate our country with great storytelling.

Each day, a new drawing challenge was presented on social media. Themes include the following:

Draw a superhero battling the Coronavirus
Draw a cool piece of armor that can stop COVID-19
Draw a gift you would like to present to another child etc.

Within days, drawings started to arrive from all over the world, including Wuhan in China, Morocco, Columbia, Portugal, Bulgaria, Dubai and York.

The growing success of the campaign, attracted coverage in multiple national media outlets, including the most significant evening news show, TV Avisen.

The campaign was extended twice from its original 12-day duration to a month and a half, culminating on March 11th – the anniversary of Denmark’s nationwide COVID lockdown. By then, more than 3,100 drawings have been submitted from 33 different countries worldwide

Following this an ambitious idea was born: Why not have the National Gallery in Copenhagen do an exhibit with the drawings? So on March 26th more than 400 of the drawings are projected onto the side of the National Gallery building in Copenhagen.

After this, international interest exploded:

Cities in China, Italy and the UK have all expressed an interest in exhibiting the drawings
UNESCO wishes to do so for the General Assembly in Paris in November
The Danish Ministry of Foreign affairs encouraged all Danish embassies around the world to share stories about the campaign
In April, both BBC radio and BBC television did stories on the campaign
An educational book about the drawings is considered
…and more exciting offers are arriving each week

More than a million people have heard about the campaign via social media accounts connected to Viborg and its partners or through external social media posts and press coverage in the 33 countries. In August 2021 it was announced that the campaign was awarded with a record number of the international Stevie Awards.

To conclude, Viborg managed to do what we set out to do: Demonstrate to the world what it means to be a UNESCO Creative City – which is using creativity to generate positive change in a way that makes the world come together.

Short film about #DrawWithDenmark

The idea and creation of hopeful drawings

About Viborg UNESCO Creative City - Media Arts

Below you can get more information about Viborg UNESCO Creative City. We welcome you to an an an amazing world of animation, drawing, gaming, VR, film and phote and not least children and youth culture and creativity.

During the last thirty years a national hub of animation, gaming, XR, new media and innovative children and youth culture has evolved in Viborg through continous partnerships between education, businesses and public authorities. One of the world's best animation schools, The Animation Workshop is a central element in this development.

In 2019, it led to Viborg being designated as one of only 22 UNESCO Creative Cities in the field of Media Arts worldwide: https://mediaartscities.com/

... Thus, connecting to Viborg you will also link up to the leading media arts cities in the world.

The visual, creative Viborg is characterized by a constant flow of knowledge, education, talent and productions, often with a high level of global involvement. This too, makes Viborg a perfect place to establish a studio or a company, that works within entertainment, digital marketing or functional animation, XR and gaming.

The Animation Workshop/VIA University College (TAW)

The Animation Workshop/VIA University College (TAW) is a very central part in our Creative City. It enjoys a strong and wide reputation due to the top educations we provide for the international film industry, yet it is much more than a school. TAW is a part of VIA University College’s School of Business, Technology and Creative Industries and has expertise in the areas of education, culture, communication and business development. To this effect, TAW benefits from a strong international network of artists, professionals, companies, funding institutions and partner schools.

Arsenalet

Arsenalet is Viborg’s creative cluster of businesses working with animation, games and new media. Arsenalet is situated in Viborg right next to The Animation Workshop and home to more than 40 companies, start-ups and freelancers.

VAF

Viborg Animation Festival (VAF) is Denmark’s largest animation festival. For a whole week in September, you can enjoy a carefully curated programme in the cinema for free, visit art exhibitions incorporating animation and VR in art pieces and installations, and attend conferences about learning, health and communication where animation, gaming and new technology play a key role.

Media College Denmark

Media College Denmark, was the first education in Viborg in the visual field when it opened in 1987. It teaches commercial photographers, image editors, professionals in film and TV production, and web masters. With 300 students, this is the biggest school of its kind in the Nordic countries.

Innovative children and youth culture

An innovative children and youth culture is a Viborg stronghold, too. ‘Kulturprinsen’ is an experimental development center for culture for children and youth and works from local to international level to ensure the rights of all children to experience art and culture in their everyday life. At Viborg Culture School, children, youth and adults are taught visual arts & design, music, game design & animation, performing arts and writing.

Learning and education

Within formal education, the municipal Cultural Learning Center offers quality and interdisciplinary collaborations to children and young people, practice-related learning and cultural experiences in close cooperation with local businesses and institutions. VAF elements like ANIMOK and Game Expo invite school children into the world of animation. Animated Learning Lab promotes and facilitates the use of animation and film literacy as a didactic tool in all school subjects.

We look forward to welcome you into Viborg's fascinating world of visual creativity.