Look and Draw — Fundació Dionís Bennàssar

Fundació Dionís Bennàssar · Mira i Dibuixa

LOOK AND
DRAW

A drawing competition in museums, for young people aged 3 to 18

Take a sheet of paper and pencils, go to a museum, choose anything you see, and draw it.

Few of us look at anything for long. We see something, we think we know what it is, and we move on, our attention drawn to what's next.

Drawing is what slows that down. You cannot draw something without looking at it properly.

Dionís Bennàssar spent his life looking at Mallorca: the people, the land, the sea, the traditions. He was not painting anything nobody else could see. He was painting what everybody could see and few looked at.

Our museums are filled with the wonders of the island's people and land. Quiet and free to enter, they are the perfect place to look, and draw.

This is an invitation to sit in one of them for half an hour with a pencil, and find out what is actually there.

How to enter

  1. Bring what you need to draw with. Paper A3 or smaller.
  2. Draw inside the museum, not at home, and without help from an adult.
  3. Ask at the desk for an entry slip, fill it in, and attach it to the back of your drawing. Write your name on the back too.
  4. Leave your drawing in the folder.

Enter as many drawings as you like. Each entrant may win one prize.

Participating museums

Museu de Pollença

Convent de Sant Domingo

Free entry

Museu Dionís Bennàssar

Carrer de la Roca 14, Pollença

Free entry

Check each museum's opening hours before you go.

Closing date

1 April 2027

Opens 1 October 2026

Prizes

18 May 2027

Exhibition and prize-giving on International Museum Day

Age categories

Infantil 3-6 · Primària 1r-3r · Primària 4t-6è · ESO 1r-2n · ESO 3r-4t and Batxillerat

Prizes

First, second and third prize in each category, plus certificates of commendation.

Everyone who takes part receives a certificate of participation when they hand in their drawing.

Selected drawings will be exhibited, and the prizes presented on 18 May 2027, International Museum Day.

The panel is made up of artists and teachers. Drawings that do not win cannot be returned, so take a photograph before you hand yours in if you want to keep it.

Downloads

Poster A3 Poster A4 Entry slips Rules for museums Note for teachers

Questions

Do I need to bring my own materials?

Yes. The museums do not provide paper or pencils. Paper A3 or smaller.

Can I draw at home and bring it in?

No. The drawing has to be made in the museum, in front of what you are drawing. That is the point of the competition.

Does it cost anything to enter?

No. Entry is free, and the museums taking part this year are free to visit.

What can I draw?

Anything on display. An object in a case, a tool, a piece of furniture, a painting, the building itself.

How many drawings can I enter?

As many as you like. Each entrant can win only one prize.

I am not very good at drawing.

Almost nobody was at the start, including the painter this museum is named after. The judges are looking at how carefully you have looked at something, not at whether the drawing is perfect.

Do I have to live in Mallorca?

No. Anyone aged 3 to 18 can enter, including visitors.

Can I enter on my own?

Yes. If you are 14 or over you can fill in and sign the slip yourself. If you are younger, a parent or guardian has to sign it. Each museum sets its own rules about visiting unaccompanied, so check before you go.

Can my class come?

Yes, and schools are very welcome. Write to info@fdionis.org and we will help you arrange it.

What happens to my child's details?

The slip asks for a contact so we can reach the winners. The details are used only for the competition. There is a box to allow the drawing to be exhibited and photographed. If you leave it unticked, the drawing is still judged, it simply will not be shown publicly.

Why a competition?

Judging art is an uncomfortable idea, and it should be. No drawing is better than another in any way that really matters, and no result here is a verdict on anyone's ability.

But prizes and recognition from people who have spent their lives looking at art are as old as the idea of being an artist. Being taken seriously by people who specialise in the art of looking has encouraged artists for centuries, and it still does. That is what the prizes are for, and it is all they are for.

What the judges look for is attention. How carefully you have looked at what was in front of you, and how honestly you have set it down. Not neatness, and not whether it resembles a photograph.

Everyone who enters has already done the part that counts: sitting in a museum and looking hard at one thing for half an hour.

The prizes go to a few. Looking and drawing belong to everybody.

For schools

A visit works well as a single session. Pupils need paper, pencils, somewhere to sit, and about an hour. We can help arrange dates with the museum and provide entry slips in advance.

Write to info@fdionis.org.

For museums

Look and Draw is open to any museum in Mallorca with a permanent collection on display. Taking part means putting up a poster, keeping a folder at the desk, and stamping the certificates. The Fundació Dionís Bennàssar handles the judging, the certificates, the exhibition and the press.

If your museum would like to join, write to info@fdionis.org.

FUNDACIÓ DIONÍS BENNÀSSAR

Carrer de la Roca 14, 07460 Pollença, Mallorca
info@fdionis.org