Lahore (NUT-DESK)
11th ArtBeat – National Child Art Exhibition is attracting Art Lovers in Capital.
Lahore 25th January, 2022:
The Little Art organized exhibition of 11th ArtBeat – National Child Art Competition and Exhibition. The event was organized at Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Islamabad is receiving outstanding response from the visitors.
The chief guest of the event was Mr. Bryce Hutchesson, Charge d’Affaires, Australian High Commission, Islamabad. The event was also attend as guest of honours by H.E. Ambassador Mr. Manuel Duran Gimenez-Rico (Ambassador of Spain to Pakistan), H.E. Ambassador Mr. Wouter Plomp (Ambassador of Netherlands to Pakistan) Ms. Aida Girma (UNICEF Pakistan Representative), Raziq Fahim (Director, CYAAD) and Sajjad Akram (Director, Nukta Studios).
ArtBeat is supported by Australian High Commission in Pakistan through the Direct Aid Program. On the occassion, the chief guest Mr. Bryce Hutchesson said; “In a country as diverse as Pakistan, the universal language of art – which defies linguistic and other boundaries – can help build awareness and appreciation of peace, democracy, and human rights. Australia is pleased to support The Little Art’s Artbeat competition and exhibition, which focuses on these important themes. Australia will continue to work with government and civil society in Pakistan to support socially cohesive and peaceful societies, including through exciting projects such as this.”
Ms. Aida Girma (UNICEF Pakistan Representative) added that; “We see creative expression are children’s fundamental right. It is such a pleasure to see amazing artworks by children and young people on a range of issues and topics, which are aesthetically pleasing and make us think as well.”
The project aimed to engage children and young people to make artworks on identified issues of peace and social cohesion, conducted workshops with schools teachers on using visual arts for conflict resolution and community engagement and is organizing physical and virtual exhibitions of artworks for wider community dialogue.
The Little Art undertook a4 national level visual art project for children and youth to raise awareness on peace, democracy and human rights. It is called “ArtBeat – Using Visual Arts for Peace, Democracy and Human Rights Awareness among Children and Young People”. Through this project, The Little Art facilitated capacity building workshops with grassroots level schools teachers especially from the marginalised and less privileged backgrounds on themes of peace, democracy and rights. A national-level competition of visual arts (painting and drawing) on the themes for children and youth is also organised, along with physical and virtual exhibitions.
ArtBeat – National Child Art Competition and Exhibitions is in its 11th edition now. The project 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 views as a point of discourse for adults and the community. In the past 10 years, nearly 100,000 children have participated as artists in ArtBeat. This year, with the support of Direct Aid Program (DAP) of Australian Government, artworks came from more than 185 schools from across the country and 24 community organizations participated this year in the competition.
A curated show of over 116 artworks was showcased at the exhibition at the gallery in PNCA. The show remained open for public for three days. Child artists who were selected to present their works at the gallery exhibitions in Lahore were awarded certificates and prizes by the honorable guests.
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.
*All COVID-19 safety measures were followed to organize the event.
Ajoka Institute director Nirvaan Nadeem congratulated the young actors for their energetic and skilful performances. He mentioned that several plays performed at the festival were produced by young actors groomed at Ajoka.
