As part of its 100th year anniversary celebrations, Union Bank has announced the kick-off of the Union Bank Centenary Art Challenge, a competition designed to promote the work of professional and amateur Nigerian artists around the country. The competition is being coordinated in partnership with the Nigerian Guild of Artists and will run from June to September 2017.

The competition seeks to challenge artists to interpret the iconic Union Bank stallion which has been the mainstay of the bank’s identity over the past century. In 2015, Union Bank redesigned the stallion to reflect a more agile and energetic institution following its transformation.

Through this competition, Union Bank is offering artists the reign to interpret the stallion using all forms of art – sculpture, painting and mixed media art forms.

Entries will be accepted across the country in various regions and a distinguished panel will shortlist the final hundred works which will compete at the finale. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the finalists and the ultimate winners will receive N1 million naira in the professional category and N250,000 in the student category.

Speaking at the launch event at the MyDrim gallery in Lagos with invited guests which included renowned artists, patrons, and art critics, Chief Executive, Emeka Emuwa said:

“Union Bank has a storied history in Nigeria and our 100^th anniversary is a unique opportunity to tell our story to different audiences.  Artists are storytellers and this competition presents an opportunity to for this community to help us tell our story from the vantage of our iconic white stallion. We are excited to celebrate the many stories that will come across through the works that will be entered in the competition.”

Also at the event, Head of Corporate Affairs & Corporate Communication, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem said of Union Bank: “talent development is one of our social responsibility focus areas and this competition is another initiative for Union Bank to impact in this area. We strongly believe that through the arts we can spur creativity and innovation in young people.”

See photos from the event here:

Union Bank is marking its centenary anniversary under three broad themes – Celebrate, Impact and Lead. In April the bank also announced the Union Bank Centenary Innovation Challenge, a nationwide competition to find and support young entrepreneurs developing sustainable business solutions to solve social problems in Nigeria was launched in partnership with Co-Creation Hub.

More details about the Centenary Art Challenge and how to enter can be found here.