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Aspiring space explorers have been busy designing their vision of the kingdom’s interplanetary future, as part of the National Space Science Agency’s Astro-Art competition.
Three young Bahrainis’ visions were recognised by the NSSA as winners of the competition, conducted in collaboration with local start-up Clever Play.
Hobb Al Maskati emerged on top with her painting exploring an astro-vision of Bahrain and the fruits of space travel.
“My winning painting is about an astronaut with the Bahrain flag coming out of his head and they look like flowers to show that the astronaut was basically planted in Bahrain like a flower,” the 11-year-old Bahrain Bayan School student who lives in Amwaj Islands, told GulfWeekly. “I decided to take part because I love painting just as much as I enjoy astronomy and space.”
Hobb submitted three art pieces for the competition, each exploring a different view of space from the perspective of an astronaut.
Meanwhile, Ali Khunji came second with his series of astronomical art pieces depicting the moon, mars, as well as some depicting his dream of going into space as an astronaut some day.
“I wanted to tell a story about an aspirational timeline in which I read an astronomy book, fell asleep and dreamt that the NSSA was opening up applications for astronauts, for which I applied and was then sent on a mission to the moon and Mars,” the nine-year-old Hawar International School student who lives in Riffa said.
Dana Ahmed, who studies at Malkiya Primary Intermediate Girls School, took third place, drawing on her experience participating in other artistic events to create an ‘astro-acrylic’ painting.
“I had this idea to draw an astronaut standing on the moon and looking at the earth while the sun’s rays peek out,” the 12-year-old student explained.
“The idea was to show that Bahrain is capable of reaching space.”
The three winners were chosen from amongst 40 entries by the NSSA and each received a trophy as well as some merchandise to encourage them to continue aiming for the stars and all the interplanetary wonders awaiting humanity in the ether.
