“I’m certainly moved every time this competition takes place. I didn’t take part in the competition; I didn’t create a piece of art, so I don’t have much to say to you. All I have to say is that you are young. You deserve to keep going. I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart for participating, and I wish you even greater success on your journey from here on out.” With these moving words, Despoina Venetoulia presented the Audience Award at the 6th Panhellenic Painting Competition in memory of the painter Loukas Venetoulias, organized by the Teloglion Foundation. The wife of the late Loukas Venetoulias, while presenting the award to the winner, Katerina Sarisavva, for her work End of Free Trial, 2026, acrylic on canvas, emphasized that “we adults live for the children and love them. Stay well, enjoy life, and keep creating.”

With the presentation of the awards and honorable mentions for the 6th Painting Competition in memory of Loukas Venetoulias, the exhibition titled “WATER: A & Z,” which had been on display at the Telogleio since July 15, at the Telloglou Museum, the exhibition themed “WATER: THE ALPHA AND ZED,” which had been on display since July 15 and featured a total of 48 works by young artists who participated in the event. The exhibition was curated by Nikos Vianas and Rafaela Nika from the Tellogleio. It should be noted that this year’s event, titled “Water: A & Z,” focused on an element fundamental to human life and the planet, inextricably linked to the challenges of the modern era and climate change. Water, as a source of life but also as a force of destruction, has inspired art throughout the ages through its natural, symbolic, spiritual, and mythological dimensions.