Artist’s medal design takes gold
A Wellington artist finished ahead of 300 other entrants from around the world when his medal design was chosen for the 2020 Youth Winter Olympics.
Zakea Page, a creative media student at Massey University, submitted the winning entry entitled ‘‘beauty in diversity’’.
The 20-year-old – who grew up in New Zealand, England, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Vietnam and China – spent a month completing the design and drew inspiration from a quote from legendary American poet Maya Angelou.
His design was selected ahead of entrants from 60 nations. It will be cast in gold, silver and bronze for the Lausanne 2020 games, to be held in the Swiss city in January.
He was humbled, overwhelmed and excited to have won. ‘‘I’m a huge fan of the Olympic Games, a huge fan of sports and also a big fan of poetry. I was inspired by one of my favourite poets Maya Angelou and her quote, ‘there’s beauty in diversity’.
‘‘That was a big inspiration, especially in terms of what’s been happening in the world with lots of terrorist attacks and what happened in Christchurch.
‘‘I thought the best message for the Olympic Games would be to have a medal that celebrates diversity and our differences.
‘‘I think what makes us unique and makes life beautiful is our differences, different cultures and different religions.
‘‘For me, an Olympic medal is one of the biggest symbols of excellence in humanity and I think part of that comes with our diversity.’’
Competition judge Carolina Joly said: ‘‘Zakea’s design was my favourite. It is beautiful and encapsulates the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games. I am very glad it will be the official design of the Lausanne 2020 medals.’’
‘‘I’m a huge fan of the Olympic Games.’’ Zakea Page