Toyota Dream Car Art Contest doubles participation in 2016

• Al-Futtaim Motors sees more than 2,000 local entries from 30 different schools
• Nine local winners submitted to international competition
• Chance to win a trip to Japan

Dubai, UAE, May 25, 2016:  Al-Futtaim Motors, exclusive distributor of Toyota in the UAE, has seen double the participation in its second edition of Toyota’s global initiative, the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest, designed to inspire creativity in youth and encourage interest in making the world a better place. 

More than 2,000 entries were made in this year’s edition, up from 1,000, while school participation increased from just 12 in the inaugural year, to 30 this year from across the three different age groups: below 7, 8 to 11, and 12 to 15.

Al-Futtaim Motors celebrated the winners at a special art exhibition and awards ceremony held at the Toyota Dubai Festival City showroom where top national winners and global contest shortlists were awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze Prizes.

“Last year’s competition was impressive in its own right, with over 1,000 entries in the inaugural competition also resulting in a global award,” said Saud Abbasi, Managing Director of Toyota at Al-Futtaim Motors. “We’ve been very impressed not just with the turnout this year, but also the artistic quality of the artwork that we’ve received. More importantly, the topics covered by these young artists reflect the awareness that they have about the world we live in, whether it’s humanitarian aid, the environment, the dangers of over-reliance on smart devices, negative thoughts or anything else that affect our lives.”

Children who will make it to the final stages of the global contest will be invited along with their parents or guardians on a trip to Japan to participate in an awards ceremony in August 2016. While in Japan winners will visit a Toyota factory and get to experience different facets of the Japanese culture. 

Last year, 875,000 entries from approximately 81 countries and regions around the globe were submitted to the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest worldwide.

The Gold winners’ category consists of:

• 7 year old Syed Yusuf Fakruddin from the Leaders Private School Sharjah for his “Toyota Liberation Car” submission
• 11 year old Nishtha Vimalkumar Mistry from the East Point Indian School Sharjah for her “Toyota Positive Brain Car” submission
• 12 year old Prarthik Krishnan Menon from Leaders Private School Sharjah for his “Timeyota” submission

The Silver winners’ category consists of:

• 7 year old Anusha Chinmai Talwalkar from The Springdales School Dubai for her "Healing Power of Music” submission
• 8 year old Samaira Sanjay Varma from the Emirates International School for her “Peace Car” submission
• 13 year old Fakhra Mohammed Al Mehairi from Raffles World Academy for her “City Painter” submission

The Bronze winners’ category consists of:

• 7 year old Vedika Dattatra Dakare from Leaders Private School Sharjah for her “Eco-Friendly Car” submission
• 11 year old Garance Marie Mitiffiot De Belair from the Raffles World Academy Dubai for her “The Doodleocar” submission
• 13 year old Jenny Wu from the Sharjah American International School for her “Cancer Go Away” submission

Winners received art and technology related prizes worth around AED 35,000 in total.

Select artwork from the contest will be touring and decorating the Toyota facilities in the UAE, allowing an even wider audience to celebrate the talent and vision of the UAE’s up and coming generation of artists.

An additional People’s Choice Award was voted on by the audience and went to 14 year old Ranim Osama Kasasbeh. The 9 winners, along with three distinguished artworks submitted by Gargi Sachin Giripunje, Pratheeksha Menon and Afreen Nizam Rasheed will be combined in the Al-Futtaim Motors 2017 calendars which will include high quality reproductions of all 12 entries, celebrating the young talent representing the UAE at the global Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.