Participating artists and winners in the cartoon drawing competition held at the Jeddah's Red Sea Mall recently, pose for a group photo with the chief guest Mohammad Alawi, CEO of the Red Sea Mall. — SG photoFatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH –– Around 50 participants from Jeddah, Makkah, Riyadh and Eastern Province competed against each other in a cartoon drawing competition at the Red Sea Mall here last week. At the conclusion of the competition, the CEO of the Red Sea Mall, Mohammad Alawi, handed over the prizes to the top three winners — Bayan Yasin, Dia Abdul Kareen, and Nawaf Momina — for their outstanding art contributions, while seven other participants also received accolades for their notable artwork. Muhanad Bajhmoum, an organizer, said: “They had initially decided to award only three winners, but the extraordinary work from the participants changed their mind and they decided to award an additional seven winners." “We also decided to give away a prize to Ghazi Al-Barqawi, who impressed us with his innovative idea," he said. The competition's main aim was to discover, encourage and enhance the hidden talents of the young artists. The top three winners will now be inducted to a training program where they will further polish their creating skills. It will not only include drawing cartoons, but also teach them how to market cartoon figures, launch exhibitions and make products of those cartoons. The event was organized by Five Shots and Athar Yuathir exhibition. Fatima Ba'adeem, founder of Athar Yuathir, said youth of both genders used their imaginations to draw their characters, along with making use of traditional elements and animal world. Ba'adeem explained they witnessed budding professional participants who were willing to initiate, implement and direct ideas. “As organizers what we look for is that each artist would develop a story that can be transformed into a cartoon figure. It should carry the artist's name and should make a mark in the world of cartoon making." The organizers of the competition have also set an exhibition to show the artworks of the top 10 position holders. Ba'adeem said she wants the talented artists to showoff their work to the world, representing the real Muslim and Arabic identity. The artworks of the artists were evaluated by cartoonist Hanna Hajar.
