Youthinktober 2023 poster
Inktober, a globally recognized art challenge, was founded in 2009 and takes place every year in October to encourage artists to develop positive drawing habits using ink.
Every year, the Inktober Challenge website announces a 31-day prompts list that artists can use to create their drawings throughout October and share them on social media.
Initiated by YouTHink, the Youthinktober challenge encourages Egyptian artists to express their artistic skills, gain exposure, and have the chance to participate in an art exhibition organized by YouTHink after the challenge concludes.
YouTHink is an Egyptian community on Instagram that provides various types of content tailored for youth in both English and Arabic. It also serves as a hub supporting youth in highlighting their voices, ideas, and talents.
This October, the second edition of the Youthinktober challenge comes with a theme focused on conveying emotions. The prompts list includes Arabic words for various emotions, allowing artists to unleash their creativity and visualize these emotions in their drawings.
Sakinah (Tranquility), Haneen (Nostalgia), and Rawhaniyah (Spirituality) are among the keywords included in the prompts list.
The Youthinktober 2023 prompts list
The keywords included in the prompts list were picked by 31 artists that the YouTHink community reached out to, where each artist chose a keyword to draw a certain feeling they struggle to articulate in words, according to the Project Director of Youthinktober Sarah Seyam.
“This allows the artists to convey the emotions and mental states they experience when verbal expression falls short,” explained Seyam.
“Drawing often becomes routine, particularly for those whose professions centre around it, so we came up with this theme to encourage artists to create art that goes beyond mere checkboxes on a to-do list and revive their creative passion,” she added.
Artists who want to join the challenge can simply participate by sharing their artwork according to the prompts list on social media using the #youthinktober hashtag.
After the art challenge concludes, YouTHink is set to hold a big event by the end of the year, where the best contributions will be exhibited.
The best contributions will be selected by a committee of artists who work with YouTHink, according to Mahmoud Taher, the founder of YouTHink.
The event will serve as a melting pot for creatives, offering various activities throughout the day in collaboration with other entities including Injection, Movart, Jidar, and Artkhana.
Details of the event will be announced on the YouTHink Instagram page.
Youthinktober's first edition
Last year, the Youthinktober challenge was launched with the theme "Egyptian Street" to celebrate Egyptian culture.
"We chose the Egyptian street as a theme to embrace and highlight some unique aspects of Egyptian culture and daily life while localizing the Inktober challenge to allow artists to draw about things they witness on a daily basis," explained Seyam.
The Youthinktober challenge gained significant engagement as hundreds of artists participated and shared their art on social media using the Youthinktober prompts list.
After the challenge concluded, YouTHink held an event at Rawabet Art Space in December, showcasing the best contributions selected by a committee of artists from the YouTHink community and hosting a workshop and panel talk related to art.
Photo of Youthinktober 2022 event
YouTHink launched a new merch line in collaboration with the artists whose work was exhibited, including tote bags and hoodies.
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