To foster an interest in art and to promote the spirit of co-operation, the art club at an all-girls' school in Happy Valley held an inter-form fabric painting competition last weekend. St Paul's Secondary School has held the event annually since 1983. Regular lessons were cancelled for the afternoon, and teams of up to 10 students from each class painted their designs on to a piece of fabric about a metre wide and two metres long. The subject matter was set by the art club committee and teacher advisers. This year's set themes included scenes through a vehicle window, desire, the infinite, kaleidoscope and global village. In addition to drawing and painting, the teams also had to explain the ideas behind their artwork to the adjudicators. The judges commented on the high level of students' presentation skills. 'The students' standard of English was really good,' said University of Hong Kong Department of Architecture lecturer Peter Kou Tien-ting. The adjudication panel comprised professional artists and arts scholars who selected winners based on creativity, concept, visual effect, co-operation and cleanliness. Senior class 4BS (Science) was named overall champion for a painting based on the infinite theme. 'We couldn't believe we won,' said one class member. They had chosen the infinite theme to give themselves plenty of room to develop ideas. The committee noted desire and the infinite were the topics selected by most of the teams, due to the number of different ideas these themes allowed students to pursue. Another adjudicator, HKU Architecture Department assistant professor Debra Cheung Tin-mei, praised the competition as good for developing teamwork and promoting creativity. Results Overall champion: Class 4BS Senior - 1st: Class 4BS; 2nd: 6AA; 3rd: 5AS Junior - 1st: Class 1B; 2nd: 3B; 3rd: 3A Guest teams - 1st: Diocesan Boys' School; 2nd: Queen's College