Metro

Friday November 6, 2009

Equator sweeps prizes

By K. KASTURI DEWI, Photos by RONNIE CHIN


Excellent work: Students of Equator art school bag the most prizes in Tanjong Heritage 2009 art contest.

EQUATOR Academy of Art proved its dominance with its students winning the bulk of prizes at the recent Tanjong Heritage 2009 Art Competition.

They won 16 of the first, second, third and consolation prizes that were up for grabs in the four categories - Oil/ Acrylic, Print Mix Media, Charcoal/ Pencil/ Ink and Print Making.

The rest of the prizes were won by students from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Art Technology Education Centre (ATEC) and KDU School of Arts.

USM’s School of Arts final year student Au Lai Mun, 23, won the first prize in the print mix media category entitled ‘The Old & New’ which was a cleverly executed three-dimensional artwork portraying the modern era whilst retaining the traditional aspects of a Straits Settlement shophouse.

Au, from Ipoh, who received RM3,000 and a certificate of achievement, said it was the first time she took part in an art competition.

“I am just delighted that I managed to win the first prize on my first attempt.”

Au, who worked day and night for a week on her piece, said she used cardboard and clay for the artwork which is known as the doll house and miniature trend.

“This is a new trend in the art world in Malaysia and is slowly gaining popularity,” she said.

Au added that she got the idea for her artwork after observing the pre-war shophouses in the heritage enclave of George Town.

Equator’s Fine Arts third-year diploma student Lim Chee Ying, 21, who won the first prize in the Print Making category with her piece entitled ‘Image’ from the time of Straits Settlements, said she picked up her idea from an old postcard.

“I used a silk screen and did stencilling on fabric which was used as the base material. It took me five weeks to complete the piece.

“Before taking part in this competition, I also participated in various other competitions but only took home the consolation prizes.

“Therefore, winning the first prize for the first time is a pleasant surprise and this will be a motivation for me to produce more winning works,” said the aspiring art teacher.

The first three place winners walked away with RM3,000, RM2,000 and RM1,000 respectively.

Tanjong Public Limited Company director Leong Wai Hoong said in his speech that the competition was initiated nine years ago as a simple community project but has since grown into a highly anticipated event amongst art colleges and the heritage fraternity.

He said the competition received a total of 668 entries this year, which was a significant increase from only 472 entries last year.

“The listing of George Town as a heritage site has further reinforced the importance of safeguarding our country’s vast cultural and historical treasures be it in a tangible manner such as buildings, or in an intangible manner such as in the form of old trades,” he added.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who was the guest of honour gave away the prizes.

Good work: Peh Ling Ling (left) gets some praise from Lim for winning the first prize in the oil/acrylic category with her artwork entitled 'Old Building'.

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