ComBank to reward young artists with return of ‘Arunalu Siththam’ art competition

Picasso’s view that ‘Every child is an artist’ is reflected in an island-wide children’s art competition just announced by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon to invite young artists to express their thoughts through drawings, and to encourage, recognise and reward their talent.

The ‘Arunalu Siththam Children’s Art Competition 2021’ conducted under the banner of the Bank’s popular children’s savings account ‘Arunalu’ will present more than Rs 2 million in 137 cash prizes in addition to 250 Merit Certificates, the Bank said.

The competition is open to any Sri Lankan child irrespective of whether he or she is an account holder at Commercial Bank, and will be conducted under five age groups : Pre-school Category (ages 4-5), Primary Category (ages 6-7), Post Primary Category (ages 8-10), Junior Category (ages 11-13), and Senior Category (ages 14-16). While the younger contestants can choose their own topics and draw on A3 size paper, participants in the Junior Category should submit drawings that demonstrate the theme of ‘Our lifestyle,’ and Senior category participants should submit drawings under the theme of ‘Gifts of nature,’ on 14×18 inch paper. Participants may choose any medium of their preference to express themselves but avoid sticky or non-drying types of paint, the Bank said.

To enter the competition, applicants must visit www.arunalusiththam.lk before 10th November 2021 and upload a scanned copy of their completed drawing along with relevant details. The drawing should be in JPEG format and should not exceed 5MB in file size. Submissions are limited to one drawing per contestant and should be an original piece of work, never-before submitted to any other competition.

During submission, applicants will be asked to complete details such as their full name, date of birth, address, email address, telephone number, name of parent or guardian, and name of school and address. When a drawing is selected for the final round, applicants will be required to send in the hard copy of the drawing to the Bank. Upon winning a prize, the original drawing must be certified by the child’s school principal, Grama Niladhari, a lawyer or by a Justice of the Peace.

The Bank said 25 of the youngest contestants who submit outstanding original drawings in the Pre-School category will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each with certificates. Another 50 participants in this category will also receive Merit Certificates.