Ｍａｌｔｅｓｅ Ｃｈｉｌｄｒｅｎ Ｗｉｎ Ｇｏｌｄ ａｎｄ Ｂｒｏｎｚｅ Ｍｅｄａｌｓ ａｔ Ｐａｉｎｔｉｎｇ Ｃｏｍｐｅｔｉｔｉｏｎ ｉｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ

Maltese teenagers Maria Tonna and Andy Grech did Malta proud when they won the gold and bronze medals respectively at the International Children’s Culture and Art Festival held from July 29 to August 3， 2004 in Tianjin， China. The festival is a biannual event organized by the Tianjin Municipal Government with the support of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Ms Tonna’s painting， depicting a happy child putting a hat on a dog， captured the hearts of the Chinese and international jury who awarded her the gold medal. So high was the level of the paintings submitted by the Maltese participants that another one by the 14-year-old Andy Grech won the bronze medal. Young artists from 25 countries and from various provinces in China entered the competition.

Malta’s participation in the prestigious festival was made possible thanks to the hard work of the Malta China Friendship Society， which in April 2004 invited children in three age groups (under seven years old， seven –13， and 14-18) to submit entries for the Tianjin competition. A panel of artists headed by Joseph Barbara， a member of the society’s executive， and artist Frans Galea， chose the best nine paintings， three from each age group， which were sent to the festival organizers in Tianjin.

On August 24， 2004， Dr. Francis Zammit Dimech， Maltese minister for tourism and culture， invited Maria Tonna and Andy Grech to his office and congratulated them on their success.

On August 27， the nine children whose paintings were sent to represent Malta in the Tianjin Festival were the guests of the Chinese Embassy in Malta， the Chinese Cultural Centre and the Malta China Friendship Society. They received certificates issued by the Organizing Committee of the International Arts and Cultural Festival from Tang Youting， charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Malta， Xiang Xiaowei， director of the Chinese Cultural Centre， and Mr. Calleja， president of the Malta China Friendship Society. A CD of the festival was also shown to the children and their parents.

The author is chairman of Malta China Friendship Society， a voluntary non-funded organization that was set up by Reno Calleja and other China enthusiasts 30 years ago. The Society has been the catalyst of promoting the friendly relations between the Chinese and Maltese people.