Visitors observe the works of the young. Photo: Mumit M

The Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Art School recently held a two-day painting exhibition featuring art works of young children and adolescents. The paintings, on display at the National Museum, were selected through a nationwide contest conducted by the school. Professor Mahmudul Haque, teacher, Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), University of Dhaka; Artist Monirul Islam and Professor Abul Barq Alvi, teacher, FFA, DU were judges at the contest.
Of the thousands of entries, 250 paintings were selected for the exhibition, the fifth such event organised by the Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Art School.
Entries were divided into three groups Group “A” (from 3 to 7 years), Group "B" (from 8-12 years), Group "C" (from 13-16 years) and Group "D" for students of the host institution. There was also a group for differently abled children: Group "F". A total of 50 painting were submitted for this group. Khaled Mosharraf Manik, of the Dhaka Badhir High School was awarded a gold medal by the school. Other first prize winners of the contest are Meer Tahsin Raiyan (group A), Mahir Yasar Farabi (group B) Nilufar Momtaz Neela (group C) and Imarana Haque and Maliha Tasnim (group D).
The first, second and third prize winners were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. Apart from the medals, the school also handed out five honourable mention awards from each group. The prizes were handed out by Abul Kalam Azad, Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs. The event was sponsored by Duncan Brothers (BD.) Ltd and supported by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute.