Around 50 students from 12 nationalities from across the UAE displayed their out of the box creativity at a student exhibition titled Beyond Borders, with the youngest artist being just 6 years of age.
We displayed 80 artworks from students in the age-group 6-17 years, from across various schools in Sharjah, Ajman and Dubai representing different nationalities such as Lebanon, Australia, Egypt, Pakistan, India and more. The theme was tolerance, wisdom, peace, joy, love, nature and dreams of the students of the country.
The project initiated by Art4U gallery aimed at creating awareness and appreciation of art and aesthetics among children, stimulate creative thinking, build an urge to go beyond the obvious and start thinking out of the box. The youngest artist was Nial Jish, 6, who had put up three paintings that displayed different themes of tolerance and love for nature.
Jesno Jackson, founder of Art4you gallery, said the purpose of this exhibition was to serve as a wide exposure for visual art and promote the achievements of students. “Through this exhibition we gave an opportunity to students and also their teachers to display their creative work from the classroom in a public place, where they got to interact with established artists to encourage the young artists. We allowed students to display paintings using any kind of medium including pencil sketches, 3D, acrylic or oil painitng and even sculpture. It was a great way for the students also to understand and respect each other’s talents, cultures and backgrounds through their art works. They learned and benefited out of this and we gave them the opportunity to sell their paintings and get encouraged ”
Emirati businessman and philanthropist Suhail Al Zarooni was the chief guest at the event that also saw the presence of established artists such as Sultana Farouq Kazim and Emirati artist Ahmed Rukni Al Awadhi, who came to encourage and motivate the students.
Australian national Jannah Abdellatif, 16, who has been in the UAE for five years now, said she was glad to present her painting she called ‘Change’ to the public for the very first time. ” My painintg shows an eye with the reflection of a ship in it and it describes my journey of moving from Australia to the UAE.. It captures my emotions of sadness, overcoming the fear of unknown and then getting settled and making use of the number of opportunities the new place has to offer.Moving may seem hard at the time but there is always a better outcome in the end.”
Showcasing three unique art works at the exhibition, 15 year old Eashan Dasgupta, said he has been painting from the age of 4 but this was the first time he got a chance to display his work at an exhibition.
“My artwork is inspired by music and represents artistic freedom. My rendition of Mona Lisa, where I have combined the beauty of the masterpiece and fused it with my rock and roll themed style which gives it a unique touch. My other artwork that got a lot of the attention of everyone in the room is titled ‘The Teen Spirit ‘ which is a painting on canvas shoes. The shoe is dedicated to one of my personal heroes, Kurt Cobain who was a singer-songwriter, poet and an artist in his field. Another painting of mine at the exhibition is titled ‘Revolutionary’ and is done on canvas in the memory of famous guerilla leader Che Guevara, who was revolutionary and military theorist. I tried to express his message of rebellion in an artistic way with a fiery red colour.”
The student art works are exhibited at the Studio Seven Art Gallery.
© Khaleej Times
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