“I love painting, and I hope I win,” said Roshni K.R, an excited 12-year-old who, like many others, had turned up to participate in the Art Olympiad 2015 organised by Small Hand Big Art in collaboration with Lalit Kala Akademi powered by The Hindu In School and The Hindu Young World .
Armed with paints, colours, crayons and brushes, more than 100 art lovers between the ages of five and 15 livened up the day with paintings of varied hues and themes. They painted landscapes, mountains, wildlife, monuments, and colourful birds.
Unfolding a tale
Every painting had a story to tell. Samuel Joseph, for instance, had painted what looked like an eagle. “But that’s not just an eagle, that’s an optical illusion,” clarified the Std. VIII student from Everwin Vidhyashram as he elaborated on how he had started off with the intention of drawing a cliff, and how it had turned out looking like an eagle’s head. “That’s when I realised that art is after all about the unexpected,” he said.
Pooja Mehrotra, Director, Small Hand Big Art explained that the Art Olympiad was an endeavour to promote art as more than just a hobby. “Children show immense potential for art. Sadly, in many cases, academics trumps art and it is not seen as a potential career We wanted to change this line of thought, thus, this is an art competition with a difference — we go beyond awarding winners, identify promising talent and nurture it,” said Pooja.
Once the winners are identified, they will have the opportunity to interact with and be mentored by senior artists. “We have four categories of winners. Those who fall into categories C and D are between the ages of 11 and 15. They will get to attend workshops and meet experts who will talk to them about how they could take up art as a career,” said Pooja. “For instance, the insights into the field that a senior artist can give the winners will be different from what they will learn from gallery owners. While the former could educate them on the different types of art, the latter could explain how kids can get their paintings displayed in a gallery, the kind of portfolio they need, and so on,” she added.
“As we have received a lot of positive response from people, we will be holding an ‘Open Day’ in Bengaluru on December 25, this year,” said Shashi Mehta, Founder. "It’s been a great experience collaborating with Small Hand Big Art and it is heartening to see such enthusiastic talent,” said R.M Palaniappan, Regional Secretary, Chennai Chapter, Lalit Kala Akademi.
Prizes galore
The top 100 winners, 25 each from categories A, B, C and D will receive a cash prize of Rs.3,000 and certificates signed by Small Hand Big Art and Lalit Kala Akademi. Winners from categories C and D will also get to attend a sponsored workshop at one of the top fine arts institutes in India and will be mentored by professionals in the field. They will also receive a year’s free subscription of The Hindu Young World . The results will be announced in January 2015 .
