The Child Ali Qasim…Talent Dovetailed with Passion

He was anxiously waiting for us with his beautiful child face and calm gaze, which made us feel that we were standing in front of a man who had already exceeded forty years of age. He would answer our questions with amazing words reflecting his love and passion for painting. He is the five-year-old Ali Qasim from the province of Homs.

Ali has a unique talent for drawing using pencil, watercolors, oil colors and charcoal.He is also fluent in reciting poetry and has a distinguished presence in this regard.

Ali’s mother says proudly, “we noticed that Ali, from an early age, holds a pencil and draws various shapes dealing with various topics, including static nature, landscapes, portraits and cartoon characters, so we decided to help him develop this talent. Thus, Ali enrolled in an institute that teaches drawing to learn and master the arts of drawing by professional artists.”

“After finishing preparing his homework, he does not go to play or spend long hours in front of the TV like the other children. He is always busy with his colors and pencils or reading stories. when he reads a story, he hurries to draw either its characters or embody the idea of the story through a drawing.

Likewise, when he wants to watch children’s programs, his colors are always with him to draw cartoon characters that he likes.” She added.

Drawing trainer, Miss. Reham Abboud says, “Ali has a keen intelligence and a special talent that helped him to understand and master many of the drawing techniques that he was studying at our institute and was able to translate all the information he received into distinctive paintings.

I am sure that Ali will achieve a prestigious position in the field of painting, as he has an amazing ability to draw for long hours without getting bored and in perfect harmony between his imagination and his colors.”

Ali says, “I like to spend my free time with my colors and paintings, I draw everything that comes to my mind without haste and I adjust my painting a lot until I feel that it has become exactly as I want.”

Ali went on to say, “I don’t like my hands to move uselessly, I’m always busy with drawing, especially since the headteacher, Miss Zeina, promised that she would help me show my talent to the public and become famous, and by your visit today I feel that she has fulfilled her promise to me. She also helped me to participate with my paintings in the annual exhibition of the school and in many events in the province, the latest of which is the first Flower Show that is currently being held.”

“I promise miss Zeina and all my teachers, my father and mother to work hard to develop my talent so that I can become a famous artist and make my country proud of me and prove to the whole world that Syria is a country of art, heritage and civilization.” concluded.

Miss. Zeina Jarad, the headteacher says, “Ali drew the attention of the teaching staff to his unique talent in drawing and his ability to mix colors professionally. Therefore, and based on our orientation in the school to support all our talented students, we decided to help and support him.”

“In addition to Ali, we also have two more than wonderful talents in the school, namely: Hala Wanous, sixth grade, she is a pioneer at the country level in the field of singing. She participated in the Song Festival at the Opera House stage last year, and this year she participated in the Syrian Child Singing Festival and received the festival shield. She will participate in a mission with the Vanguards Organization to Belarus in the next few days.

We also have Uday Al-Saleh, who enjoys a more than brilliant voice that enables him to perform all kinds of singing.”

“Ali, Hala and Uday participated in the events held at the psychological support shelter in Baba Amr for those affected by the earthquake.

They are now participating in the first Flower Show under the supervision of the music teacher, Miss. Mervat Ramadan, who created a special choir for the school that performed a song about the earthquake broadcast by the Radio and Television Center in Homs, and it resonated greatly on social media pages.” Miss Zeina added

Interviewed by:  Amal Farhat