Cairo awards young RI painters

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A painting depicting 12 children of all races gathering before a sphinx was one of two works by young Indonesians which won gold medals at the 2000 "Egypt in the Eyes of Children" global competition.

"This is my 55th award, national and international," Indra Kencana, the proud owner said during a ceremony to accept the medal at Egyptian Ambassador Erzat Saad's residence, on Monday.

Like the other 10 Indonesian recipients of medals and certificates on Monday, Indra, a third grader from SMUN 68 high school in Jakarta, has never been to Egypt.

So where did the inspiration come from?

"I looked at pictures in magazines," Indra said.

Indra who has been accepted to study architect at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta next year, said painting is a mere hobby. "Although I wouldn't mind turning it into a profession."

The other Indonesian gold medalist was Sisylia Octavia of Surabaya, whose work depicts ancient Egyptian figures.

"I visualized it from reading material," Sisylia, a third grader at Ciputra Junior High School, said.

She, too is accustomed to winning ways, but then, so are her three younger siblings Fransisca, Grace and Natania.

"We've turned our house (in Surabaya) into a gallery, with over 200 paintings from the four girls," Farida Wijaya, their proud mother, said. "We will take some of the works to an exhibition in China next month," she added.

Besides the two gold medals, Ambassador Saad gave four silver medals and five certificates. Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Culture, I Gede Ardhika, helped in presenting the honors.

"The works by the children show a strong knowledge of our civilization and reflect at the same time their very deep and rich artistic background," the ambassador said.

Reprints of their paintings, using crayons, oil and water paints, were displayed at the lobby of Saad's residence on Monday, while their originals were kept at the Egyptian National Center for Children Causes in Cairo, which held the competition.

Indonesia took the most medals in the five-yearly competition. The winners were announced in mid-year 2001 and it took the Embassy a while to locate them and bring them all to Jakarta.

The silver medals went to Aldi Kristanto Jokroasmoro of Jakarta, Isabel Mulia Wibisono (Surabaya), Dinda Ameliya (Bandung) and Alexander (Jakarta). The certificates went to Dicky Haqvillah Yabin of Bandung, Florencia Nirmala Wibisono (Surabaya), Hendra Angkajaya (Surabaya) and Astari Shine (Bandung).