Students from BSK participate during the event. — Photos by Athoob Al-Shuaibi

Within the activities of Future Generations Festival (The 27th) which is nestled by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), the 10th annual anniversary of Khalifa Qattan Children & Youth Fine Arts competition was launched yesterday under the theme "Junior Creations in Islamic Arts". The workshop will continue until tomorrow - in two sittings. The theme of the workshop was picked in line with the choice of Kuwait as the capital of Islamic Culture 2016. Music inspired by the Middle East was played - accompanied by a slideshow displaying oriental paintings of Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy to help the participants to stay in focus and feed their visual imagination. There were also specialist volunteers.

Jalila Qattan, organizer and the daughter of the late artist said: "In the past nine years, we have not had any limitations as we encourage children's creativity and imaginations. However, this year Kuwait was chosen as the capital of Islamic Culture, we wanted to do something special. We created a theme which includes three categories; calligraphy, Islamic design and Islamic architecture. Also, for the very first time, we're hosting three guests - Calligrapher Fadhel Al-Raees lectured during a workshop on calligraphy, on Friday; Art teacher Dalal Al-Ayyam will be giving lecture on Islamic design, while Architect Engr Hamad Al-Fawwaz will be presenting a workshop on Islamic architecture tomorrow".

The best 100 artworks will be chosen by a committee and all these paintings will be showcased next September during the Khalifa Qattan Children and Youth Art exhibition which will be held in the Art Hall at Dhayat Abdullah Al-Salem. "Since we are against competitions, there will be no first or second or third places. All the winners will be giving a Certificate of Excellence, a trophy and an artistic gift plus a calendar designed from their paintings. What is more important for their family is the catalogue that contains a record of their paintings and a photograph of each child and where they come from, which is something they will be proud of," Qattan added.

"Feedback is also very important. It is the way we support and encourage the children. Children nowadays are losing touch with what they can do with their hands - to write and to draw or even read a book. Everything is electronic - we have to encourage children to use their hands as we sharpen their imaginations," Jalila explained.

She expressed passion in what she does. "I do it out of love. My father was a great man - he was the first fine artist in Kuwait who was not very much appreciated by his own countrymen - unfortunately. I do it for his legacy and of course to educate the new generations. I'm very proud of making it a multi-national event," she said. Participation is all free of charge and the event is opened to children from 4to 14 years old. Morning session is from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm; evening session is from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

By Athoob Al-Shuaibi