Beaujolais wine producer Georges Duboeuf has launched a contest in collaboration with Brooklyn based artis
t Michael “Mr Kaves” McLeer: “Nouveau Expression – Be Heard”. The contest invites all disciplines of artists 21 and older to submit original work to the Georges Duboeuf Facebook Fan Page.
The multimedia competition accepts art in all its forms, including fashion, poetry, sculpture, and dance. Kaves will choose 10 of the most “liked” entries to exhibit alongside his own work at the Nouveau Expression Art Exhibit which is the centre piece of the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration taking place in New York on November 16th – 17th.
The grand prize winner gets a trip to New York and the opportunity to spend a day with Kaves and attend the unveiling party. The highlight of the event will be the official arrival of the 2011 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau.
Each year the new Beaujolais is released on the third Thursday in November, and not earlier, by decree of the French Government. Just after midnight on the given day a race begins to ship the wine out all around the world as quickly as possible. It has generated stunts and excitable headlines.
There were car or balloon races, even elephant and rickshaw races, to bring the first bottles to Paris, Britain, Belgium and Germany.
It’s become a bit of a marketing stunt and was dreamt up by Georges Duboeuf in the 1970s but it’s roo
ts do go back to the 19th century when the harvest’s new wine would complete fermenting in cask en route to nearby towns and villages. Farmers in Beaujolais historically made these quick batches of wine, merely for a celebration of the harvest.
It was designed to be quaffed at a big party to reward folks for all the hard work they put in over the year. For a vintner the economic advantages of selling one’s wine before the end of the year are substantial and the French regard the annual event as part of their national heritage.
Kaves said that he was inspired by Georges Duboeuf:
“Here was this simple wine guy in the 1960s who had an idea, and his ‘tools’ were the land and the grapes. He started out peddling his wine on the street by bicycle, not that different from the way I began. I started with street art and tattoo. Then I added music, film making and acting.
These are the ways I express myself and make my statement. By participating in the Be Heard contest, I hope I can inspire someone else to find their voice.”
Franck Duboeuf, co-owner of Les Vins Georges Duboeuf explained that:
“The contest enables us to connect with our Nouveau wine consumers through social media and have them connect with each other.”
“We chose Kaves for his urban view, highly creative perspective and multi-faceted skills,
which range from music to acting and film making, tattooing and street art . . . Kaves reflects the vibrant youthfulness of Beaujolais Nouveau and the fresh new approach we are taking to connect with consumers.”
If you are interested in entering the contest you must “like” the Georges Duboeuf fan page (the “Web Site”) to enter the Promotion. To enter the Promotion, access the contest application on the Facebook platform at http://www.facebook.com/georgesduboeuf and follow the instructions to make your creative statement.
Your creative statement should fall into one of 9 categories: (1) photography, (2) painting, (3) drawing, (4) graphic design, (5) sculpture, (6) film, (7) music, (8) poetry, or (9) essay.
Submissions will be accepted between 12:00 AM EST on 1st August 2011 and 11:59:59 PM on 15th September 2011. The top ten submissions will be announced on Facebook on 15th October at 12 noon EST.
Good luck!
