Visit Maldives announced the art competition ‘Thasveeru: Maldives Through Art’ in collaboration with Maldivian Artist Community on July. Held for a month, the competition was an open call for artists from around the world to showcase their painting skills and tell the story of how they saw Maldives in line with the theme ‘Celebration of Nature: Beautiful Ecosystems’.
On October 13, winners of the international competition were awarded with certificates and prize money in a special ceremony held for the occasion. Managing Director of Visit Maldives, Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed gave away the prizes.
Selected based on the highest number of ‘Likes’ on Instagram (50%) and total scores given by the judging panel, Ahmed Ihsan grabbed first place in the local category, followed by Aminath Rooba in second. Malar Vizhi Kadarkaraipandai from India and Karolina Pys from Poland won first place and second place respectively in the international category. Winners bagged USD 3000 and USD 2000 for first and second ranking in both categories.
A total of 110 artworks were submitted for the competition. Marking the success of the competition, Mr. Thoyyib said, “Our dream was to portray the Maldives in a medium that can capture the feeling of the Maldives, and the artists captured this in a remarkable way”.