Darat Safeya Binzagr held its annual art competition for children at Le Mall on Tahlia Street last week. This year’s theme was ‘Traditional Door.’ Children aged 10 to 14 submitted their sketches of a traditional door and the supervisors chose 63 of them to be cut out on cardboard. The children then used different kinds of coloring tools and items to decorate the doors. This is the fifth year of this competition and it is the first time that handicapped children have participated. Five of the entries took the top five positions, winning televisions and DVDs. Twelve others won for distinguished work — two of them are handicapped — and their prizes consisted of stereos. The other participants did not walk out empty handed but won Walkmans.

Darat Safeya Binzagr also held its annual children’s exhibition last weekend. “We have an hour workshop for children and another for teenagers every Thursday throughout the year and at the end of the year we display their works here for parents and visitors to see,” said Safeya Binzagr. The children aged 6 to 11 are taught about such renowned artists as Van Gogh and Cezanne and then asked not to copy one of their famous paintings but to paint a similar picture. For example, with Van Gogh’s sunflower painting, the children did not imitate him but had a real vase and sunflowers in it to paint. “They learn basic drawing in three-dimensional form using flexible coloring tools such as water or pencil but not oil because it is too early for them,” said Safeya. “The difference between what we teach them and what they learn in school is that we give them the freedom to express their talent, but the child first has to have the desire otherwise he/she won’t continue,” she said. A parent agreed, “My daughter loves to paint and here she’s learing how to understand and appreciate art and to look at things in depth before drawing them.”

The younger children also learned about animals and their anatomy and were excited to see their paper cut-out animals displayed on the wall. The Darat has an extensive art library where children are taught to appreciate books and respect libraries. Mothers volunteer at the library to read for the students and accompany them. “Children are creative but they need encouragement from their parents. Abroad, parents take their children to museums and art galleries from an early age to develop their artistic sense. We miss this here. They can at least talk with their children about the sculptures on the corniche and what they think about them,” said Safeya. The Darat also offers art classes for adults.

Darat Safeya Binzagr is a museum and art gallery and it is located on Wali Al-Ahd Street., Tel. 6571030 and it is open to the public free of charge on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.