The Regional Director for Youth revealed in Ponta Delgada that the 5th edition of LABJOVEM - Young Creators of the Azores Competition received 192 applications. A total of 27 projects were selected to be featured in the LABJOVEM 2016 Exhibition.

Speaking Saturday at the presentation of the results of LABJOVEM Competition, Pilar Damião stressed that the LABJOVEM Exhibition will be displayed in the Azores and Lisbon. For the first time, the winner of each area in competition will have the opportunity to participate, under this exhibition, in the Edinburgh Festival - Fringe, Scotland.

For the Regional Director for Youth, the investment in creative industries "is a strategic factor of competitiveness," adding that this is "this sector generates employment and wealth and contributes to the assertion of communities at international level."

"Providing young creators with a creative platform as LABJOVEM is to invest in a group of creative people with entrepreneurial spirit, skills, information, knowledge and talent that can enhance innovation and investment in technology," said the government official.
 
Pilar Damião also stated that, "according to the Regional Government, cultural agents are indubitably true social and economic agents of change" since "they have the tools to effectively respond to the new challenges of the knowledge society."
 
Among the selected projects, 18 are from young creators of São Miguel, five from Terceira and four from Faial.
 
The winners of the areas in competition are João Rebelo Costa (Architecture), Sofia Botelho (Fine Arts), Inês Ribeiro (Ceramic Design), André Pimentel (Graphic Design), Sara Azad (Photography), Luís Brum (Illustration and Comics ), Carla Veríssimo and Juan Cascales (Literature), Rubeshe Santos (Music) and Sara Azad (Video).
 
The LABJOVEM competition - Young Creators of the Azores is a project developed the Regional Government, through the Regional Directorate for Youth in partnership with "Burra de Milho" Association. It aims to encourage and promote young artists from different artistic areas, serving as a platform for a new generation of Azorean artists.