47 kids, artists paint Zayed masterpiece

Artists join children in a live art painting session at Windsor Park in Dubai as part of the National Day celebrations.

Children as young as three years of age joined professional artists in painting a masterpiece as a tribute to the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. 
Forty-seven kids - aged three to 12 - and artists participated in the National Day live art event titled '24/47 Artists'. The group of 47 people worked on 24 canvases separately and later joined them to create one masterpiece.
The live art painting session was held at Windsor Park in Motor City under the guidance of The Artist Network team, which was led by Sijin Gopinath and Nissa Mubarak, and comprised artists from different walks of life.
"We assigned one artist to two kids. The artist does the outline and the kids fill it in with colour. The youngsters also get to draw what place of the UAE they like best - landscape, culture, etc. The aim behind this collaborative work was to create a team spirit, try and understand each other, embrace the feeling of unity, and have fun," said Sijin.
The spectacular artwork made up of 24 canvases will be exhibited and put up for sale. Twenty per cent of the amount will be donated to Tamil Nadu's Gaja Cyclone relief fund.
Drawing a parallel between the UAE and the concept of piecing the canvases together, artist Shehi Shafi said: "Each of the canvas alone is just an artwork but it becomes a masterpiece only when you bring all the 24 canvases together and see the bigger picture. It shows you how diverse the UAE is and how it stands united and binds everyone together.
"We are using this as an analogy of the seven emirates of the UAE. Although they are perfect emirates on their own, when they were united as one country, their power, aura and happiness have increased.
"Also, this is not just a regular art show. Here, we have kept in mind that this is the 'Year of Zayed' and so we are visually celebrating and honouring the life and achievements of the UAE's founding father, whose centennial birth year coincides with the 47th anniversary of the Union. We wanted to involve kids so they may understand the importance of this occasion," Shafi added.
Apart from Sijin and Nissa, other participating artists included Margarita Kunizheva, Amina Shahala, Subi Vasudev, Shuhaib K, Fiza Riyas, Neha, Kavita Sriram, Sneha Potdar, Honeylin Habal, Anju Rajan, Sapna Jain, Bhairavi Mistry, Maya Mazloum, Sayyaf Zubair, Nabeel Ali and Shehi Shafi.
saman@khaleejtimes.com