Children take part in Kuni Chitrakara, a drawing competition, at Odisha Modern Art Gallery in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, July 16: Around 100 children took part in Kuni Chitrakara, a drawing competition, at Odisha Modern Art Gallery here.

The event, organised by a city-based cultural organisation Soumya Memorial Trust, saw children in the age group of five to 15 took part in this competition in three different categories — Group A (up to Class II), Group B (Class II to VI) and Group C (Class VI to X).

The participants, who came along with their parents, belonged to different private and public schools.

A panel consisting of noted artists of the state adjudged the contestants.

The paintings of the young artists will be displayed at the gallery on coming Sunday, July 21. The results will also be declared on the same day.

The organisers have decided to award nine artists while three painters, who have potential, will be given free art coaching for a year at the gallery.

Chairman of the trust, Kanhu Charan Parida, said: “The main objectives of the Kuni Chitrakara competition is to identify the most gifted students, to nurture their talent and provide them help so that they can perform better. As we all know, Odisha is a treasure trove of art and culture and such competitions are necessary to encourage the students to take up art and stay rooted to their Odia culture.”

He also said that the trust would organise several events in coming days for children to promote art and culture.

As there was no particular theme, the children painted everything from simple landscapes to complex ideas on canvas.

The participants exuded tremendous knowledge of current affairs by exploring issues that bother the present society.

Be it pencil, water, acrylic colours or simple sketches, children were also free to use any medium to express themselves.

This was the second edition of the competition and parents and their wards too found the two-hour event engaging.

“I drew Mother Earth and its depleting greenery. I tried to portray how increasing deforestation and pollution are taking a heavy toll on the nature,” said Vaibhav Parida, a 10-year-old contestant.

Tarakant Parida, founder of the gallery and an eminent artist, applauded the works of the little Picassos and Michelangelos.

“Given a little freedom and encouragement, these child artists can create stunning artworks,” he said.