Late last year. Malaysian students were given an opportunity to showcase their artistic talents at the 2019 Usaha Tegas Heritage Art Competition.
The competition is organised annually by Usaha Tegas to encourage young artists to pursue their passion in the arts as well as cultivate a love for Malaysian heritage.
Marking its 20th year, the competition has managed to garner wide support from students nationwide.
Last year’s competition saw 264 artworks from a total of 27 higher-learning institutions across the nation vying for the top prize. The overally quality of submissions for the 20th edition truly impressed the judges, with the winning entries combining story narration of the subject matter with sound technique to produce striking visuals that expounded on the theme ‘A timeless expression’.
Noor Athirah Md Ghazali, a Kelantan native from Universiti Sains Malaysia was the recipient of the first prize for the Print Making category, while Universiti Teknologi MARA’s Wan Qaisara Asyura Wan Bazli and Mardiah Ab Aziz bagged the second and third prizes respectively.
Yong Hui Lin from the Malaysian Institute of Art was the only contestant to win two prizes, winning the first prize for the Mixed Media category and second prize for the Charcoal/Pencil/Ink category.
Norfatihah Yusof from Universiti Sains Malaysia topped the Charcoal/Pencil/Ink category, while Fong Jia Wei of ATEC Academy was awarded the third prize.
Meanwhile, Sabahan students from Universiti Malaysia Sabah Low Guek Xin and Atazliana Atee were awarded the second and third prizes respectively for the Mixed Media category.
