Two young Doha College artists impress BSME judges
RSI ART AWARD provides students from around the world the opportunity to draw on excellent subject knowledge and skills. It is a platform to showcase and share their artistic talents with their peers globally. For schools, it is an opportunity to showcase the impact of high-quality art education in their country. An initiative by the Research Science Institute, the competition was launched in 2006 with the aim of encouraging student creativity, increasing artistic awareness in schools and enabling talented students to communicate through the field of art.
The theme of this year's competition was ‘Peace’. Two Doha College students came runner up this year for digital and photographic entries: Layla Shouman in the Year 7-9 category for her digital art piece created using Procreate, and Madeleine Jackson in the Year 12-13 category for her photographic artwork ‘Family’.
'Family' by Madeleine Jackson
My image I submitted for the competition was based on the theme of peace and the first thing which sprung to my mind was the idea of war and a longing for peace. Palestine resonates with me as a good friend of mine is from the area and is extremely passionate about peace in the country. I included the use of three different generations of the same family to show the extraordinaty length of time that the struggle has continued for.
'Freedom, Charity, Unity' by Layla Shouman
My entry was inspired by Jackie Liu’s art, specifically a piece expressing grief through different hand positions. Peace could be interpreted in different ways too, as people find their peace differently. I incorporated three art pieces in one, a triptych, to show the variety of definitions of peace: freedom, charity and unity. In the square about freedom, the background of a light blue sky creates a sense of tranquility; the hands are open, welcoming, and gracefully free a dove. In the square of charity, it’s as simple as the act of giving that could bring peace to people. The warm tones in the sunset emphasize the warm feeling that peace and charity achieve. The vibrant red sun in the centre helps fill in the negative space and make the piece complete. I've decided to include coins in both hands to show the relationship between two different classes, lower class and higher class. The last square expresses unity, the hands firmly holding onto each other, and how one hand is coming from the bottom while the other hand helps them get up. I've used earthy tones to further represent the idea of unity; blue and green are commonly associated with earth, which symbolizes a community.
Celebrating this wonderful success are (l-r) Ms Walker, Head of Art and Photography, Madeleine Jackson (Y12), Ms Tamburini, art teacher, Layla Shouman (Y9), Principal Martin George, and Head of Secondary Jerome Scafe, Congratulations Madi and Layla, your chosen imagery and the skillful execution are inspiring!
To learn about last year's participation by Doha College students in the RSI BSME Art Competition, tab below: