The IM GROUP Foundation recently announced the winners of the international autistic arts competition "Anak Syurga". The winners will exhibit their works in a gallery in Turin in 2022.
IM GROUP Foundation President Alice Chang Guerra announced the winners of the "Anak Syurga" international autistic arts competition. Next year, those who won will exhibit their works in a gallery in Turin, (Italy), where the IM GROUP headquarters for EMEA/America are based.
The CSR program, organized by IM GROUP, was hosted at Ms. Chang Guerra's private art gallery at Lai Lai Art Studio in a special event where the judges met to decree the ten winners among the numerous works of art presented by twenty-three Malaysian autistic artists.
Among the people who joined the event, stand out important figures of the Kuala Lumpur’s art scene, from artists and celebrities to collectors and supporters. The winners were chosen by Italian artist and architect Dato’ Luciano Miri; art apasionado and supporter, Rex; celebrity photographer, Bonnie Yap; celebrity chef, James Won; Navy Captain and Defence Attaché for Italy in Malaysia, Cesare Petruzziello; President of Perupa, Abu Zaki Hadri; IM GROUP’s CEO for Asia Pacific, Roberto Guerra; and Global Director of HR and President of IM GROUP, Valentina Cigna, who joined the event virtually from Italy.
“We were all overwhelmed by the incredible effort and high standard of work submitted for the competition; I speak for all the judges when I say that it was extremely difficult to select the final ten that will go to Italy, to exhibit their works, next year. I would just like to say that all were worthy and for those who did not make it this time, keep painting and drawing, there will plenty more occasions,” said Ms. Chang Guerra encouragingly, “IM GROUP Foundation is embarking on a series of CSR projects to commence next year that will be repeated year on year involving different nations where IM GROUP has premises. The first of these projects for 2022 is targeted at artists with autism and will be called IM MORE, to highlight that people with autism not only can contribute to our society but, due to their condition, have something “more” to add to our society as they have an uncommon ability of seeing things differently.”
The first event of the IM MORE project will be “The Tigers of Malaysia”; the event that will bring the ten winners of the "Anak Syurga" competition to exhibit their art in a gallery in Turin. The company is also planning an exchange program in which other ten artists will come from Turin to exhibit their works in Kuala Lumpur.
Chang Guerra concluded, “IM GROUP Foundation’s objective is to empower people that usually live on the margin of societies - for example people with any kind of disabilities - to live with their own independence. In this case we are offering career development and growth opportunities to artists with autism from Kuala Lumpur, where IM GROUP’s has its Asia Pacific HQ.”