Cairo awards young RI painters

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).