LAHORE: The four-day exhibition of the artworks by young artists opened at Alhamra Art Gallery, The Mall, on Tuesday.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Punjab University College of Art & Design Principal Prof Dr Shahida Manzoor.

The event was organised by Little Art under the title ‘The 3rd Art Beat’.

The exhibition showcased works of National Child Art Competition 2014. The 30 winners from across Pakistan would bag cash prizes and two young artists from particular categories will participate in Sharjah International Biennial for Children’s Arts.

This year’s theme was Landscapes/Portraits”.

The Little Art received nearly 4,000 artworks from 190 schools and 260 individual artists across Pakistan and 25 organisations working with special and profiled children. The project focused on promoting a visual culture among children, while making portraits of people they like, or the landscapes they can relate to and remember and share their voices through art with the community.

The Jury of ArtBeat consisted of artists such as R.M Naeem, (painter, teacher National College of Arts), Risham Hussain Syed (painter, educationist), Sadaf Naeem (painter, teacher), Zamania Aslam and Shahzeb Ahmed.

The exhibition was first held in Islamabad.

The toppers in different categories include Musa Raza, TNS Beaconhouse School System, Lahore, Umer Aseem, Beaconhouse School System, F 7/4, Islamabad, Syeda Urooj Zahra, The City School Cantt. Branch, Rawalpindi, Mahnoor Nadeem, Beaconhouse School System, Girls Branch, Johar Town, Lahore, Rija Ahmad, Lahore Grammar School, 55 Main Gulberg, Lahore, Ayesha Nauman, LACAS Girls Branch, Johar Town, Lahore. Nauman Mahmood, Fountain House, Lahore, Habibullah, Fountain House, Lahore, Rehmatullah, Bostan-i-Ilm, Rawalpindi, Sikandar, Bacha Khan School, Malakand, and Abdullah Jaan, Bacha Khan School, Peshawar.

Little Art Director Shoaib Iqbal said: “We worked with children and young adults irrespective of their social and economic background, from school going to street children, with special needs or children in shelter homes. The response and the quality of artworks received were astonishing.”

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2014