This year???s National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) visual arts and photography categories saw an impressive number of entries of a high quality and standard.

This is according to Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley, who revealed that 637 entries were received in Visual Arts and 65 in Photography.

Speaking during the official opening of the First Citizens NIFCA Visual Arts Exhibition and the NIFCA Photography Exhibition, held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre last Sunday, Mr. Lashley said that the exhibition showed ???the bold large formats of many young, up-and-coming artists and newcomers to the exhibition???.

Among the many outstanding achievers highlighted by the Minister was Ellerton Primary School, which won the Most Promising School award.??Noting the school???s consistent participation over the years, Mr. Lashley commended the institution for continuing to participate in the photography competition and exhibition.

???The photographs received from this group are quite creative and the images captured were found by the judges to be generally of a high standard,??? he stated.

This year saw entries from more than 10 primary and secondary schools, with 171 entries in the area of craft, and 212 entries in the art category.??The evening also saw film makers and videographers awarded for their work.

Among the six awarded were Jason Russell, who received the Governor-General???s Award for the music video Controlled Confusion by South African artist, Blade Deep; and Clish Gittens, who received the Ministry of the Environment Award for his documentary H2O.

The First Citizens NIFCA Visual Arts Exhibition and the NIFCA Photography Exhibition will be on display at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre Mondays to Saturdays, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., until Saturday, November 21. The award- winning films will be screened at the Queen???s Park Steel Shed on Friday, November 20, at 6:00 p.m.

jamal.weekes@barbados.gov.bb

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