8th ArtBeat – National Child Art Exhibitions opens at NCA Lahore!

The Little Art organized the opening event of the 8th season of ArtBeat – National Child Art Competitions & Exhibitions. The ceremony was organized at the Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq Gallery, National College of Arts to announce the start of the national gallery exhibitions in Lahore. Following the Lahore event, the exhibition will then travel to Karachi (22nd February 2019) and Islamabad (1st March 2019)

This year’s theme was “My Mother, My Father,” to creatively highlight parents’ contribution in our lives beyond their conventional roles. The Little Art (TLA) gave the opportunity to young artists to draw or paint them as portrait, or share one scene from their life that represents them.

This year TLA received nearly 6799 artworks from more than 202 schools from across the country and nearly 11 community organizations participated in the competition. TLA’s Jury for this year’s competition consisted of esteemed painters, artists, and teachers such as; R.M. Naeem (Artist and Art Educator), Abdul Jabbar Gull (Sculptor and Painter) Sadaf Naeem (Visual Artist and Art Educator) and Sajjad Gul (Visual Artist and Art Educator).

Film actor Shaan Shahid graced the opening ceremony as the chief guest. The ceremony guests included Dr. Ajaz Anwer (distinguished painter of Pakistan), Dr. Murtaza Jaffri (Principal National College of Arts) R. M. Naeem, (Artist and Art Educator), Sadaf Naeem (Visual Artist and Art Educator), Zil-e-Huma (Visual Artist and Painter), Imran Ahmed (Visual Artist and Painter), Ali Azmat (Teacher PU and Painter) and Imran Faiz (Visual Artist and Painter). They all addressed the audience and commended the artistic initiative that is giving a chance to children from all over Pakistan to express their creative side.

Child artists who were selected to present their works at the gallery exhibitions in Lahore were awarded certificates and cash prizes by the honorable guests. The ceremony also screened a showreel of the highlights of the previous season of ArtBeat, with experiences from the competition and workshops shared by the students and jury members.

Some of schools that had been selected for prizes and exhibits included: TNS Beaconhouse DHA Lahore, SLS Montessori & High School Satellite Town Campus Rawalpindi, Foundation Public School Junior Section DHA Karachi, Beaconhouse School System Bahawalpur, Beaconhouse School System Clifton Campus Karachi, Peshawar Model Girls High School Peshawar, Fatima Fertilizer School Sadiqabad, Govt Special Education Center Muridke, Roshni Association Lahore and Bacha Khan School Pabaini Sawabi. 46 students will be working closely with RM Naeem in RM studios for the summer period, 30 selected artists by the jury will be attending close sessions with Abdul Jabbar Gul in AJG studios in Karachi, and 34 selected will attend a studio workshop in Nukta Studio in Islamabad.

The selected winners from the competition were awarded cash prizes worth Rs. 1,00,000 and certificates at the opening event. A curated show of over 126 artworks was showcased at the exhibition at the gallery in National College of Arts in Lahore. The show will be open to the public on 16th February from 10 am to 4 pm. Exhibitions will also take place in Islamabad and Karachi.

ArtBeat – National Child Art Competition and Exhibitions is a project of The Little Art which was initiated in 2012 with a vision to promote visual culture, understanding of issues among children and youth from their own perspective, celebrate children as artists and present children’s view as a point of discourse for adults and community.

The Little Art is a non –profit organization working for promoting arts education and providing creative learning opportunities to children and young people in Pakistan.