Amna Jamal Shah of Hunerkada hosted the National Final of Red Bull Doodle Art at Islamabad Art Gallery on 12 March 2023 to select the best young talent to represent Pakistan at the World Final in Amsterdam. 19 of Pakistani’s most inspiring young talents were selected to take the spotlight at the final event. The participants witnessed the most creative doodles and doodlers and also were surprised by the creative workshops and sculptures displayed there.
Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lifting the drawing device from the paper, in which case it is usually called a scribble.
Doodlers assembled in Islamabad from across Pakistan to present their art and compete for the trophy at the electric Red Bull Doodle Art 2023 Pakistan national finals.
Spring 2023 is officially the Doodle season and doodlers are out in droves to doodle all over our physical and digital reality. At least that’s what you’d gather if you were present at the Islamabad Art Gallery in F-9 Park where Red Bull Doodle Art 2023 Pakistan finals were held.
Out of 3000 entries, only 20 made it to the national finals. The 19 finalists (one had two entries in the finals) sparked up Islamabad with their original ideas, doodling techniques and just pure, wonderful, breath-taking art. Not only that, artists doodled away with all creative freedom and let their muses guide their hands (and pens) over a massive blank wall set up at the venue.
The hook of Red Bull Doodle Art 2023 was that art wasn’t confined to one dimension, but rather celebrated across both physical and digital realms. With that twist, the competition this year encompassed the physical as well as digital art, such as NFTs. And that inspired the finalists to push themselves even further, creatively.
The finalists then presented their work and doodled away in order to not only win the Red Bull Doodle Art national finals, and with it, the NFT (digital collectible) trophy, but also an opportunity to represent Pakistan in the Red Bull Doodle Art World Final in Amsterdam later this spring.
The top 19 doodlers – Aliyan Salam, Ameer Hamza, Hayyan Harmann, Iqra Qureshi, Maria Khalid, Maria Khan, Minahil Noor (the only participant with two entries in the finals), Mominah Arif, Noor ul Ain, Rabia Zafar, Rafia Abid, Rafia Ashraf, Rahat Shakeel, Rumaisa Jabeen, Sami Ullah, Shahnoor Ejaz, Taqdees Sher, Umer Nadeem and Unzila Idrees – came from all age groups and backgrounds and brought with themselves their unique doodling styles influenced by their unique life experiences, culture and inspirations.
The jury panel comprised of Mr. Imran Ali Dina – graphics designer, founder of GFX Mentor, Media Science teacher and YouTuber with over 22 years of experiences; and Ms. Amna Shah – Director at Hunerkada, an institute where she also studied sculpture, and a relentless promotor of arts and culture in Pakistan.
The two judges evaluated the entries based on three main criteria: creativity, artistic skill and the way the doodle expresses a ‘love for life’, the theme of the competition.
Out of all the talented finalists, Umer Nadeem emerged as the winner of the Red Bull Doodle Art Pakistan 2023. Iqra Qureshi and Mominah Arif were the first and second runners-up respectively.
Cultural Desk
