On Sunday 6th, it was a pleasure to walk through that white piece of Mediterranean poetry that is Mijas, in which bright colours and black and white were once again the inspiration for creations in the perfect setting. After being cancelled last year due to COVID, the XX Rapid Painting contest 'Pinta en Mijas' and the XXI Photographic Marathon 'Enfoca en Mijas' returned with a very special edition in which the artists surrendered to their muse. “It has been a pleasure for me to walk through those streets full of art, we have seen so much joy, people painting in every corner. Art broadens the soul and the truth is that for me it has been spectacular to see the Village looking so beautiful", said the councillor for Culture, Verónica Ensberg (PSOE).
Well equipped with their canvases and brushes, the artists roamed the Village from very early in search of the most suitable place to capture it in oil, watercolour or acrylic. Among the participants, which, in the case of the painting contest, were 56, with a great variety, from children, to adults, to professionals, apprentices and amateurs. Among the most portrayed motifs, some that never fail were repeated, such as the whitewashed streets, the donkey-taxis, the viewpoints or the hermitage of the Virgen de la Peña. Elvira Gómez, who was accompanied by her son Hugo, assured: "I love this contest because I can paint with him, he relaxes a lot and it is an activity that we try to do every year". Everyone falls in love with Mijas; hence, many did not mind traveling from far, to capture their vision on canvas. This is the case of Ana Sánchez, from Almeria. “I knew Mijas because I came here, not to paint but on holiday, a couple of years ago. It is an emblematic, charismatic place, an area that I really liked when I first saw it and it was clear to me that I wanted to paint it”, she explained.
The awards
After evaluating the works in "an edition with a high level" in which the participants "made it very difficult for the jury", as the councillor for Culture assured, on Sunday afternoon the awards were handed out in the courtyard of the Folk Museum. The first to collect their prizes were the children. In this section, there were honourable mentions for four young artists: Martina Santillana, Hugo Serrano, Vasilisa Dergunova and Guadalupe Faggiolini.
Next came the participants in the categories of adults and Open University (UP) who collected their prizes. Miguel Sampedro won the first prize, valued at 800 euros, with a painting of the recently restored ‘La Puente’, an enclave whose light, he assured, “surprised me this morning and I no longer wanted to seek anywhere else. I went directly to try to capture it and I have not done too badly”. There were three second prizes, valued at 300 euros each. The first, for Adrián Marmolejo with his stairway up to Avenida del Compás from Plaza Virgen de la Peña. "I noticed this location some time ago because I like its volume of light and shadows, so it was clear to me", he pointed out. Another of the second prizes went to Javier Martín, from Ciudad Real, who, without knowing it, portrayed one of the most emblematic streets of Mijas, Calle San Sebastián, which, he said, “captivated me with its perspective, and the elements seen on it. Many people have told me that I have chosen to paint the best of Mijas”. The last second prize went to Antonio Cantero, who decided to change the streets of the Village for the sea, with a painting inspired by the surroundings of the Peñón del Cura. "I have been very lucky to find a fabulous place from which you can see the Calaburras Lighthouse and the rock", he said.
The category C award, corresponding to students at the Open University and with a check for 100 euros and a course at the painting workshop of the UP during the next academic year, went to Humildad Ríos. Her work, a very original painting, in which she decided to capture "the union of two main streets, calle Carril and calle Coín, reflected in a mirror".
The winning works remain on display at the Folk Museum’s exhibition hall to be enjoyed by all.
Focus Mijas
A total of 220 people participated in the photographic marathon, in which different themes were established to be chosen from: La Puente, poetry in the streets, movement, traditional architecture, geometry and symmetry, and lights and shadows. Lucía Díez, for example, was encouraged to participate accompanied by her group of friends. All of them came from Las Lagunas and they knew very well what they wanted to photograph: "We want to go to the little streets around here, because they have nice corners and so on", Lucía explained. As in the painting competition, there were some who came from other parts, such as Rafa and Antonio, from Córdoba. For Antonio, “this contest has a lot of quality and I love the village”.
Of course, there were the ‘native’ photographers from Mijas, those who know the town like the back of their hand. "Those of us who love our village always carry our cameras whenever we go for a walk and that is one of our advantages", said Francisco Alarcón ‘Corro’. 'Enfoca en Mijas' participants had the whole day on Sunday to take their photographs. They have until June 9th to submit their work. The jury's decision will be on the 25th of this month, while the best 30 images will be available to be seen from June 26th on the walls of the 'Patio de las Fuentes' (Fountain Patio) in the Mijas Town Hall.
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