The ceremony marks the culmination of a two day exhibition in which art pieces created by children across Pakistan were showcased. Over 250 pieces were short listed from amongst the 150 schools that participated this year.
The ceremony was well attended by teachers, students and key stakeholders. Hameed Haroon, CEO Dawn Group was the chief guest at the ceremony.
The Unilever International Schools Art Project, first launched in 2001, encourages young people from around the world to create a painting, a sculpture or even a small installation on a given theme. Last year thousands of young artists from countries around the world including Colombia, China, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Zimbabwe, USA and the UK created works of art around the theme Reality & Dreams, inspired by Carsten Höller's TEST SITE, the seventh annual commission in The Unilever Series at the Tate Modern.
This is the seventh year that Unilever is undertaking this project which involves schools across Pakistan and encourages creativity and innovation amongst school children between the ages of 5 to eighteen. Paddle Pop, the iconic Wall's treat for young consumers, is the ideal co-partner for the Art project. The Paddle Pop brand encourages children to indulge in fun and adventurous activities and to express themselves through adventure and revel in the thrill they get from rising to the challenge.
In an effort to challenge the youth to think imaginatively about what motivates them and what they are passionate about, the theme for this year’s Art Project was - "Beauty & Difference – world’s apart". Artist, Doris Salcedo said; "I am very pleased that this year's theme for The Unilever International Schools Art Project, which will encourage children and students from many different parts of the world to engage with some of the most pressing issues of today".Centered on the theme, the artworks from Pakistan were diverse and detailed and clearly showed the time and effort put in by the students. During the course of the project Paddle Pop brand ambassadors visited the participating schools and offered a selection of flavours to the students.
Each category had four winners, First, Second, Third and Runners-up. This year the schools saw a difference in the annual Art Project process. In order to more fully involve the schools and elevate the project to a more interactive level, regional judging was conducted by the schools themselves. Mrs. Naiza Khan (Artist – VASL) and Marjorie Hussain (Art critic) conducted the final judging.
The three winning pieces will be sent and judged at the Tate Modern Art Gallery in London. The chosen piece will be exhibited at the museum.
Unilever Pakistan is committed to integrating business as a part of society, and the Company actively engages in initiatives that improve the quality of life, particularly of the lesser privileged members of our society. The main thrust in the Company’s social initiatives have been primarily in the areas of education, health care and water sustainability.
