Roo Siththam 2015:

Giving wings to creativity

The Awards ceremony and prize distribution of 'Roo Siththam', an all-island, annual, Children's art competition organized by Fashion Bug was held at the Bishops College Auditorium in Colombo and the Hindu Cultural Centre in Kandy, recently.

'Roo Siththam' is the signature annual event pertaining to 'Sisu Dirimaga'- Fashion Bug's social sustainability platform dedicated to education and the upliftment of Sri Lankan students. This year the competition yielded over 50,000 entries from all over the island, representing over 220 schools. Over 450 students belonging to three age categories, namely 7-9, 10-12 and 13-15 were recognized for their achievements at the Award Ceremony, which is one of the most sought after events among the little art enthusiasts of Sri Lanka.

Initiated in 2011 with the objective of identifying the creative talents of school children, the event has been growing in size and popularity over the last four years with a year on year growth in the number of entries being submitted.

This year's winners were selected by a prominent panel from the University of Visual & Performing Arts Colombo.

The Chief Guest at the Colombo event was Gayantha Karunatileka - Minister of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs and Chief Government Whip, while Musician, Singer and Composer Visharad Edward Jayakodi and Actress Chandani Senavirathna were the Guests of Honour.

At the Kandy event, the Chief Guest was Vijith Wijayamuni Zoysa - Minister of Irrigation and Water Resource Management, while the Guest of Honour was Kalasoori Sathishchandra Edirisinghe, famed Producer, Director and Actor.

More than 450 students were awarded medals, certificates and gift packs, while the All Island Winners from each category were presented a gift pack worth Rs 25,000 each, which comprised a cash prize, mountain bike, Gift vouchers and many more.

"Our objective in conducting this art competition on an annual basis is to give an opportunity for school children to exhibit their inherent talents and encourage the creativity that lies within them, simultaneously harnessing this creativity into the appropriate channels," said Shabier Subian Director Fashion Bug.

"It is our aim to establish a sustainable CSR platform as opposed to miscellaneous one-off projects that lack clear long term objectives. The 'Sisu Dirimaga' programme will ensure that all the projects will stem from one clear platform, establishing a clear CSR identity for Fashion Bug as a responsible Corporate Citizen," he said.

"We wish to get the foundation accredited by the Ministry of Education to centralise the auditing process of our recipients and to establish a better feedback and feed-forward method between us and the beneficiaries, thus making 'Sisu Dirimaga' a stronger and more effective force in making a real and sustainable change in rural education. Developing underprivileged schools in rural areas through mobilising of projects, upholding and financially enabling underprivileged students who excel academically, enabling the dreams of those with the desire to learn and making a reality of education for them, as well as developing their talents, in this case their artistic capabilities, no matter their circumstances in life, is our goal," he explained.