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A national arts competition sponsored by the corporate sector received praise from the Minister for Media, Information and Broadcasting, who attended the prize-giving ceremony in Colombo yesterday.
Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardane told parents and children that the work of young artists from all over Sri Lanka was highly commendable, and the initiative of the corporate sector was very welcome. ‘It is good that businesses are helping and promoting the arts, especially in rural areas’ the minister said. ‘There are already sponsors in sport, for example, but relatively little for arts. Those organizations handling the Arts Circle and other sponsors should do more. It is obvious there is a lot of great talent out there’.
120 prizes were presented at the ceremony, which took place at the Museum for Arts in Colombo. Children from all parts of Sri-Lanka, split into eight age-categories, from pre-school to 18-years old, were presented their prizes by Abeywardane, actress and TV presenter Umayan Gana, and actress Charika.
The 2008 All Island Arts Competition received 250,000 entrants – the highest number in the four years the competition has run. Special post office collections had to be arranged, using extra trucks and lorries, to bring all the artwork to Colombo. From those entries, 2000 commendable entries were selected for display at the award ceremony.
Abu Shak A. Rahman, managing director of Colorcraft Ltd. who sponsored the competition, said ‘a great and unique talent is on display here. Receiving high-quality entries from all over the nation, including the disturbed areas of the north, shows that all the children are looking at a bright future’.
The Competition is part of an ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, which provides after-school workshops, seminars, and teacher training, which takes place in Elpitiya in the southern province.
‘This year’s competition started in March, when posters and a newsletter were sent to 10,000 schools, along with articles in newspapers, designed to reach out to more inaccessible schools’ Mr Rahman told the Island.
Amongst the prizewinners were 1st Prize winner, 10 year-old Chirath Saujitha, whose painting depicted the building of a temple. Chirath said the painting took one-week to make, and he was inspired to paint it because it was unusual. Also receiving awards were 8 year-old Pamindu Lilan Rajapaksha, from Badulla, who painted a collage of elephants, and M.G. Nilinda Niraj, from Matara, whose painting depicted a bicycle race. Both received 2nd prize in their age category.
