Compassion in Action - International Art Contest - by Sneha Anand

An elderly woman laid in her hospital bed, hooked up to a ventilator to expand her lungs, with IV needles pumping fluids through her veins. She was in her last days, her battle with COVID-19 was coming to an end. The large room increased her feelings of isolation, there was no one at her side. The physician entered the room wearing full PPE and carrying a large laptop. He sat by the woman’s side as she wept from joy when seeing her grandchildren on the other side of the screen. With trembling fingers, she took the physician’s hand in her own and said her last goodbye. In that moment, the doctor provided her the greatest gift. Companionship, courage and compassion.

Stories like this have powerful messages, showing the purest form of humanity. In this past year, our world has shifted dramatically, and unique challenges have arisen universally. These anecdotes of empathy serve a valuable purpose: to invoke positive change.

The international art contest was created because we strongly believe in the virtue of compassion, which means Anukampa in Jainism. Our goal is to bring together people from around the world under the common theme of compassion, by capturing their imagination and expressing it in the form of artwork. It’s important to highlight compassion, especially in this critical socio-political time period, where many underprivileged and undeserved communities have been marginalized.

Compassion is the basic tenet of all religions in the world and it is applicable to even those who are not religious. We believe it is important to highlight compassion as that is one basic quality that brings all of us together irrespective of our backgrounds. We wanted this contest to have international roots to highlight that compassion is truly a global phenomenon. You don’t need to be a Hindu, Jain, Christian or a Muslim to be compassionate.

Artists can increase empathy in others through their work, eliciting that feeling from people who may be numb from all the terrible things going on in the world, making the viewer more sensitive and vulnerable.

Our message is bound to spread across borders. We are hoping to inspire hundreds of people to embrace the spirit of compassion and our effort is to encourage more and more people to engage in acts of empathy. Art is a powerful tool that can be used to raise awareness and ignite change. It does not need a language for communication. Hence it is the simplest way to share an idea or express an emotion. We encourage these artists to be the trailblazers of our generation and pave the way for positive social change.

Be part of this journey, encourage artist in you and participate in art contest and spread the love.

Please go to out website and register for art submission.

www.internationalartcontest.org

International Art contest is organized by Anekant Community Center and sponsored by Sarva Mangal Family Trust and Tarsadia Foundation. There are 5 categories ages 5-10, 11-15, 16-21, adults and professionals. Renowned Judges will choose and awards will be up to $1000 in each category. Chosen artwork will be in Virtual art gallery.

For further inquiry and details please contact Jayana Shah at artcontestinternational@gmail.com/ 714-856-4256