Introduction

Silk Road Youth International Photography Competition is the first of its kind mainly facing the countries along the route of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Serving as an important demonstration project, this competition is a valuable attempt to promote collaborative innovation and cultural exchange of BRI countries, especially among young people. This competition strives to build a cultural exchange platform for the world's youth through photography as a medium. The purpose of this contest is to strengthen the understanding and communication of young people from BRI countries, and promote them to be witnesses, builders and inheritors of Silk Road culture.

Silk Road Youth International Photography Competition is the core unit of the Beijing International Photography Week that is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Beijing Government, and the China Artistic Photography Academy. The competition has been approved by the Ministry of Education as a national competition for elementary and middle school students. The exhibition of the most excellent work produced in this competition was listed as a funding project of the National Art Fund and selected as the top ten external exhibition projects of the Central Propaganda Department in 2019.

Under the guidance of the implementation of Belt and Road Initiative, the contest has made useful explorations for cultural and people-to-people exchanges among young people in the countries along the route of BRI. In 2019, more than 97,000 contestants from 57 countries and regions submitted 264,568 pieces of works, and a total of more than 20 touring exhibitions of award-winning works were held at home and abroad.

The Silk Road Youth International Photography Competition is mainly composed of competitions, touring exhibitions, forums, and related research activities, etc. World-renowned photography experts and educators are invited to form a jury panel and winners are invited to attend the awards ceremony and other related activities in China during the National Photography Week in October each year.

Project Description

I. Competition
The competition section is mainly composed of calling for works, selection and awarding process.

In 2018, the competition received 157,988 pieces (group) of 61,000 young people from 53 countries in 2018, and 264,568 pieces (group) of 97,085 young people from 57 countries in 2019. Especially facing to international participants, the Silk Road Youth International Photography Competition sends invitations for submission in 6 languages to more than 100 representative offices of member countries of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), a subsidiary of UNESCO. Young people who have won awards of the international youth photographic contests are invited to act as ambassadors of the competition to disseminate the message of the contest. Public agencies are broadly involved to promote the influence of this competition, including International Exchange and Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Embassies of China in countries along the route of the Silk Road, the International Photography Network, and international schools in Beijing. The domestic contest divisions also accept international submissions. Sichuan division has worked with relative organizations in Nepal, India and Bangladesh in establishing cooperation mechanisms of judging panels and submission channels.

The appraising process is composed of the initial evaluation and the final evaluation. The initial evaluation is completed by each division and the international representative office. The judging panel of final evaluation is composed of world-class juries and SOM technology is introduced for fair and transparent appraisement.

II. Touring exhibition
Exhibitions presenting outstanding and award-winning works are held in China and abroad.
In 2019, a total of 10 domestic exhibitions and related seminars were held in Quanzhou, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Urumqi, Ningyang of Shandong, Langde of Guizhou, Taiyuan, Changsha and Xi'an. In cooperation with China International Cultural Exchange Center under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, international tour exhibitions and other related activities were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sydney, Australia, and Bucharest of Romania.

III. Forum
Silk Road Youth Photography Education Development Forum is established to invite experts from photography, education and sociology circles to discuss the important roles played by photography in the youth development, aesthetic education, and cross-cultural exchange. Sub-forums and other activities are also included to enrich the forum platform.

IV. Research and study
Prize winners of the competition are sponsored to attend study tours. In July 2019, the first research base of the Silk Road Youth International Photography Competition was established in Ulanqab of Inner Mongolia.

Notice Calling for Work
Now, contest activities of Sichuan Division have begun. Here is the notice inviting participants in Sichuan Division:
Host: Sichuan Sub-regional Organizing Committee
Organizers: Science and Education Channel of Sichuan Radio and TV Station, Sichuan Zhidian Culture and Education Consulting Co., Ltd., Chengdu PSAS Visual Photography Club.
Co-organizers: Chengdu Love Photography, China-Nepal Media Association, China-Nepal Cultural Tourism Promotion Association, Sichuan Encyclopedia Tourism Group, Chengdu Zonglan Training, Ltd., and secondary division in Sichuan Province.
Designated legal institution: Sichuan Xintian Law Firm

Entry Requirements
I. Participant requirements
1. All photography enthusiasts aged between 8-25
2. The competition will be divided into (A\B\C\D) four groups
Group A solicits photographic works for 8-12 year olds;
Group B solicits photographic works for 13-18 year olds;
Group C solicits photographic works for 19-25 year olds;
Group D solicits video works for 8-25 year olds;
Participants in A\B\C groups can submit individual or serial photos
II. Requirements for entries
1. Theme of this competition: "My Home"
2. Content requirements: photographic works and short video works should represent the daily life of the respective countries and ethnic groups, families and campuses, festivals, natural environments, social events, natural and cultural heritage, etc.
3. Submission requirements: The total number of photographic entries submitted by each person must not exceed 10, and the number of pictures of serial photos is limited to 4-8; Entries must indicate the title, author, nationality, age, and email address; Entries should be accompanied by a description of at least 30 words of picture content;
4. All entries are in JPEG format; each file is not less than 4MB;
5. This competition only accepts electronic document submissions through channels of designated websites and mailboxes.
6. Participants must fill in the entry form truthfully. Participants inside China fill the entry form in Chinese, and those outside China in English.
7. The length of each short video works should not exceed 3 minutes (including the opening and closing subtitles), and participants can submit up to 3 short videos. The work must be submitted in the form of CD or U disk. Please use rmvb/avi/mp4 format. The frame size of the work is not lower than the standard definition level (720*576). The picture quality should be clear, full and smooth; the lens should be stable; and the layout should be proper. The short video works require strong expressiveness, reasonable structure and editing, and innovative ideas.
8. Participants can join in both the photography group and short video group.
9. Special note: The entries must be filmed from January 2018 to July 2020; the submitted works must be fully copyrighted; if using post-synthesis, or modification via technical processing, special instructions must be required; Sichuan division will select works to participate in national (global) finals, and raw data files of the selected entries must be provided.
10. Deadline: July 10, 2020

Selection Process and Award Setting
I. Time schedule
On July 10th, at 24pm, Sichuan Division will finish receiving works;
On July 12th, the appraising work in Sichuan Division will finish;
On July 15th, the list of the selected works in Sichuan division will be announced and sent to the national (global) finals;
On August 20, the selected works of the national (global) finals will be presented on the official website of Beijing International Photography Week;
From August to October, the exhibition and award ceremony of the prize-winning works of Sichuan division will be held on a choosing date;
Mid-to-late October, the exhibition and award ceremony of the award-winning works of national (global) finals will be held at China Millennium Monument; After that, touring exhibitions will be carried out across China and Silk Road countries;
From October to December, touring exhibitions of award-winning works of the Sichuan Division will be held across the province and China.
II. National (Global) Finals Award Setting
1. Gold Award (3 each in A\B\C\D group), awarding trophies, certificates, award-winning portfolio, and study tours.
2. Silver Award (5 each in A\B\C\D group), awarding trophies, certificates, award-winning portfolio, and study tours.
3. Bronze Award (40 each in A\B\C\D group), awarding trophies, certificates, award-winning portfolio and study tours.
4. Excellence Award (120 each in A\B\C\D group), awarding certificates and award-winning portfolio.
5. Excellent Instructor Award (20 domestic/10 international), awarding certificates to instructors.
6. Best Organization Award (10 domestic / 5 international), awarding certificates to the photography education institutions which organized teams participating in the competition.
7. Outstanding Organization Award (20 domestic/10 international), awarding certificates to institutions which contributed a great deal in organizing the competition.
III. Award Setting of Sichuan Division
1. Gold Award of Sichuan Division (3 each in A\B\C\D group), awarding trophies, certificates, award-winning portfolio and study tours.
2. Silver Award of Sichuan Division (3-5 each in A\B\C\D group), awarding trophies, certificates, award-winning portfolio and study tours.
3. Bronze Award of Sichuan Division (5-10 each in A\B\C\D group), awarding trophies, certificates, award-winning portfolio and study tours.
4. Excellence Award of Sichuan Division (120 in A\B\C\D Group), awarding certificates and award-winning portfolio.
5. Excellent Instructor Award of Sichuan Division (10), awarding certificates and medals to instructors.
6. Best Organization Award of Sichuan Division (5), awarding certificates and medals to the photography education institutions which organized teams participating in the competition.
7. Special Contribution Award of Sichuan Division (5) awarding certificates and medals to institutions which contributed a great deal in organizing the competition in Sichuan Division.

Rights and Obligations of Contestants
I. Participants' rights
1. Entries will have the opportunity to be presented in the touring exhibitions in secondary divisions;
2. Entries will have the opportunity to be presented in the exhibitions of Beijing International Photography Week, as well as touring exhibitions in member countries of Silk Road Photographic Organization International Alliance;
3. Entries and introductions of authors will have the opportunity to be presented on various publicity platforms of Sichuan Province's cultural, educational, artistic and other official agencies, as well as on the official websites of the Silk Road National Photographic Organization and Beijing International Photography Week;
4. The winning works will have the opportunity to be selected into the Outstanding Portfolio of the Silk Road Youth International Photography Competition.
5. Authors of the selected works of the Sichuan Division will be invited to participate in the award ceremony of the Beijing International Photography Week, as well as seminars, work visits, media meetings and other activities if they win the gold, silver or the best organization awards.
6. Entries and authors will have the opportunity to participate in domestic and international photography research activities organized by the competition organizing committee;
II. Participants' obligations 　　
1. Participants must confirm that all the submitted works should be original. Participants must guarantee that they have full copyright in the submitted works and do not violate any laws and regulations.　　
2. Participants must irrevocably agree and grant the Sichuan organizing committee and co-organizers free, permanent, and non-exclusive permissions and licenses to present the entries on media channels of the Silk Road Youth International Photography Competition, including but not limited to press releases, touring exhibitions at home and abroad, etc.
3. Participants must accept the relevant agreements and terms of this competition. Participants should be prepared to be invited to participate in exhibitions, achievement sharing meetings, and other activities etc.

Submission and contact information
Submission methods:
Method 1: collective submission. Relevant organizations, or the secondary division organizing committee can organize contestants to submit entries collectively, and contact the Sichuan division organizing committee in advance.
Method 2: Individual participants can submit their entries directly to the designated email address of the Sichuan Organizing Committee 171579701@qq.com, please consult the official QQ group for details (account number: 171679701).
Contact:
International participant can submit their works to the organizing committee of Sichuan Division with recommendation from various schools. Please contact the organizing committee office for specific methods.

Source: SABRI