Indian boy wins art competition in Poland

TORUN/POLAND: A 14-year-old boy from Hyderabad has won the first prize for his oil painting here, beating over 15,500 entries from 47 countries.

The painting by S Shekhar of Young Envoys International School, Hyderabad, was chosen over the other paintings in the 13-15 years category by the international jury.

From the original 15,553 entries from 47 countries the judges made their final choice after they short-listed 1,559 entries from 39 countries.

Indian Ambassador to Poland Anil Wadhwa was specially invited to the ceremony and he received the award on behalf of Shekhar.

"It is amazing that Shekhar has such a great talent at this age. All I can say is he truly deserves the highest award as his painting is really outstanding," Wadhwa said after the ceremony.

The ambassador also received another award given to Shekhar's school for contributing the maximum number of paintings of high quality.

A Polish company, Bella Primer from Torun, which has invested in Tamil Nadu, has given a special prize to Shekhar.

Shekhar's painting is a part of the exhibition, which opened to the public. The exhibition will remain open for two months in this city of Copernicus.

The city's Children Graphic Art and Gallery organises international competitions every year and this was its 15th International Biennale competition.

A boy from the Young Envoys International School had won the award last year too.