The National Museum of Computing announces code-breaking poetry and Atari Art Re-imagined competitions
/See your prize design appear on a Museum T-shirt, indulge your creative passion with winners’ vouchers for books, art supplies or gaming.
Bletchley, 13th July 2022 - The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) is kicking off two competitions for the summer targeting creatives with a passion for expression through writing and the visual arts.
Poetry challenge
The Young People’s Poetry Competition asks aspiring writers to produce a piece in honour of somebody they feel deserves greater recognition. Our competition has been launched in honour of Betty O’Connell, one of the thousands of women integral to Bletchley Park’s code-breaking success in the Second World War.
Betty was a member of the Women’s Royal Navy Service who celebrated her fellow WRNS operating the code-breaking machines of Bletchley with a poem she penned in 1944. Her family recently discovered the poem and now have generously loaned this lovely item to our museum - this is now the inspiration for our competition.
Jacqui Garrad, museum director, said: “Betty was one of a cohort of women who worked with strength and determination behind the scenes of Bletchley Park’s coding-breaking factory. They forged strong friendships while working in conditions that proved mentally and psychologically taxing. We are surrounded by hidden stories of strength and selflessness today; we chose to honour that as we re-discovered Betty’s poem.”
Art competition
Atari, a computer games legend and cultural icon, was born 50 years ago - and we’re celebrating with a competition to re-imagine the eye-catching and distinctive box art that first fired our imaginations.
Atari was a huge success in the global games market with its popular 2600/VCX system establishing titles like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong in both gaming and popular culture.
Atari Art Re-imagined pays tribute to the pioneering artists and graphics designers who achieved that breakthrough by asking the artists of today to re-interpret a piece of classic Atari box art.
It’s a huge field with hundreds of titles to pick: choose any game - famous or favourite - and use any artistic medium you want!
Prizes and deadlines
We have a range of fabulous prizes for both competitions.
Winners in both will be picked by age group and entitled to £50 vouchers - bookshop for the poetry competition and either art suppliers or game.co.uk vouchers for the Atari challenge. Winners will also receive 12-month family memberships to TNMOC and museum goodie bag,
We will also pick an overall winner for the poetry competition. Their work will appear on a gift card or tote bag for the museum’s gift shop, with the opportunity to sell some for the charity of their choice.
Deadline for submissions is Thursday 15th September, and winners will be announced on 24th.
The overall winner of Atari Art Re-imagined will see their design reproduced on a museum T-shirt, greeting card or tote bag, and receive a copy of Art of Atari and Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon signed by author and competition judge, Tim Lapetino.
Deadline for submissions is Friday September 9th, and winners will be announced at the museum on our September 17th Atari celebration day, details here.
Jacqui said: “The creative arts are opening up new opportunities to investigate science and technology. They help challenge the pre-conception that to appreciate science and technology you must somehow be ‘good’ at topics like maths or computing. The arts challenge the way we see STEM and create greater diversity. Our competitions will help bring a fresh perspective to two important moments in our shared technology heritage.”
How to enter the competitions
Entries to either competition can be submitted via email to competitions@tnmoc.org. Please include the email address of an adult for all entrants aged 16 or younger.
For the poetry competition, use “Betty Oliver competition” as the email’s subject line.
For the Atari art competition, attach a high-resolution version of your work to the email with your name and the age category you are entering.
About The National Museum of Computing
Located on Bletchley Park as an independent museum, The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) brings to life the history and ongoing development of computing for the inspiration and enjoyment of both the general public and computing enthusiasts.
TNMOC acquires, conserves, restores, and rebuilds historic computing machinery and related artefacts. The museum displays and interprets its exhibits to tell the history of modern computing, with a particular emphasis on British contributions. Many of the exhibits are maintained in working condition and regularly demonstrated, including the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus code breaking machines from WWII, the Harwell Dekatron Computer, the world’s oldest still working original computer dating from 1951, mainframe computers and minicomputers from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, through home and personal computers of the 90s, to modern tablet computers and smartphones.
The museum runs a highly successful Sandford Awarded learning programme for schools and colleges that introduces computing technology and coding to young people, to help inspire the next generation of computer scientists and engineers. It also runs a popular ongoing programme of hands-on activities during school holidays, offers lectures and interactive events, both on site and via remote Internet access.