Renad Ghanem
Saudi Gazette
To showcase the unique and exceptional talent of participants of the Olympics of Creativity and Giftedness (OCG) program, Doroob recently opened a visual arts exhibition at Jeddah’s Arabian Mall to exhibit the work of 72 finalists of its 2014 Photography and Vlogging competition.
The goal of the exhibition was to bring together the finalists and their work within a public setting to showcase the creativity of the youth.
The exhibition is also being held to officially announce the forthcoming 9th Annual Olympics Creativity and Giftedness program.
Sulafa Batterjee, CEO of Doroob, said that participants were aged between six and 18. “Our vision is to empower the young generation to be leaders that make positive changes in society,” she said.
“The unique thing about the exhibition is that all of the participants are school students … It is also an interactive exhibition.
Participants can express their opinion about pictures by comments and likes because our theme is the social media,” she said.
“This is our 9th season in operation and we are working to get more students involved from all over Saudi.
We will work on that next season,” she added. “This year, we are going to launch our workshops in different places; it is for those passionate about photography and vlogging,” she said.
This year witnesses further developments in the Olympics of Creativity and Giftedness program with concentration on youth empowerment and development in the visual arts categories: Through the Eyes of Youth (Photography) and Express (Vlogging).
Students from across the Kingdom will be able to take part simply by registering and uploading their work through the Olympics of Creativity and Giftedness program website.
Registration and participation in the program is easy and any student across the Kingdom studying in all schools from the 1st till the 12th grade can take part.
“By easing the manner in which they can take part, students from any location in Saudi Arabia can participate and be eligible for the program, and benefit from the opportunities at hand such as the scholarship options we offer,” said Batterjee.
“Our key aim is to help students achieve their full potential and open new avenues of creativity enhancement and skills empowerment allowing them to utilize 21st century skills and opportunities in a unique innovative manner that allows them to be productive and resourceful in what they can offer,” she added.
“By launching the 9th Annual Olympics Creativity and Giftedness program during our visual arts exhibition featuring the 2014 finalists, we have recognized the achievement of young people and have provided the necessary platform for potential participants to see first-hand what they can achieve, motivating them to bring out their creativity by expressing themselves in a language they all know well today,” Batterjee added.
During the exhibition, participants were able to meet with the OCG judges and take part in a number of program activities, which included the following: Photography Corner, Dare Your Mind, Train Your Brain, Lamps & Arts and Hand Printing.
The exhibition included a section titled “Be the Ambassador of Your Dreams.” The opening was well attended by and widely received; it is expected to attract a significant number of guests during the week.
The exhibition is open to the public from the morning with a special supporting program taking part daily after 6pm.
OCG, for the past 8 years, has been held in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. The program is open to students from across the Kingdom to compete in the following five categories: Mental Math, Memory, Fast Reading, Photography and Vlogging.
Last year, 20,600 students took part from across the Kingdom with the participation being narrowed down to 109 finalists who came to Jeddah to compete in the final segment of the program.
Doroob—the company sponsoring OCG—wishes to expand the program to cover all regions of the Kingdom in coming years.
