Mysuru teen, Aditya Anand won first place in the recently conducted International Indian Folk Art Competition, based exclusively on indigenous Indian folk art forms like Warli, Madhubani, Kalamkari etc.

This competition was conducted by the International Indian Folk Art Gallery (IIFAG), based in Australia. Students from across the world participated in this competition.

Aditya’s artwork was in the Cheriyal Scroll Painting form. This art form, originating in Telangana’s Cheriyal village, has a red base and bright borders, and the painting depicts either village life, or mythological stories. Before, the making of these paintings were spread across Andhra, but now the practice is carried out only in the village of Cheriyal.

The 15-year-old’s painting, aptly named ‘Rural Utopia’ shows five village scenarios, with the characters carrying out tasks like grazing cows or drawing water from a well. The painting was shortlisted for the top five in the category and was later declared the winning piece. 

The prize for first place was Rs. 20,000 cash, along with a voucher worth Rs. 2,000 for an art course.

What makes this feat all the more impressive is that after the public voting and judging procedure, Aditya’s artwork received a score of 238, which was the highest aggregate score across all categories in the competition. Subsequently, all the 12 winners across categories were interviewed for the Anjali Arora Talk Show, which has been uploaded on YouTube and Facebook.

Aditya was a student at ABC Academy in V.V. Mohalla and Excel Public School, before moving to Mumbai. Presently he is a student of Class 10 at Gundecha Education Academy. 

His proud parents are Anand Mohan, a Tax Consultant and CA T.G. Srilatha, a Company Secretary, who was also the former Chairperson of Mysuru Chapter of ICSI.