ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 14th Apr, 2019) Emirati artists and visual arts practitioners have just a few more days to submit their entries for The Gulf Capital – Abu Dhabi Festival Visual Arts Award as deadline to submit applications is 17th April.
The winning entry, selected by an esteemed panel of judges, will receive a cash prize of AED10,000, with the winning artwork being exhibited at Emirates Palace as part of next year’s Abu Dhabi Festival.
This year, the challenge was set to produce a visual artwork – across any medium – inspired by Abu Dhabi Festival’s Visual Arts exhibition, Distant Prospects, which presented the history of European landscape painting with more than 80 pieces from the world-renowned LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections.
Commenting on the award, Dr. Karim El Solh, CEO of Gulf Capital, said, "We are excited to participate once again as sponsors and supporters of Abu Dhabi Festival. The award programme is a great opportunity for Gulf Capital to support Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation's, ADMAF's, cultural initiatives fully in line with our own CSR strategy and vision about education, youth and entrepreneurship."
Launched during the Abu Dhabi Festival 2013, award was established to support the growth of UAE’s visual arts scene, nurturing the creativity of Emirati students and emerging artists by fostering engagement with Abu Dhabi Festival’s annual exhibitions.
The award’s criteria is based on artistic merit, evidence of original and creative thinking, and personal application of technical skills. The 2018 award was presented to Arwa Najem for Al Zahiya, a multimedia installation that "examines the theoretical links between the human interpretation of the nothing and the actuality of the nothing".
Encouraging further opportunities within the country’s growing creative and cultural industries, ADMAF and Gulf Capital also recently celebrated young creativity in literature with The Gulf Capital – ADMAF Creativity Award. The 2019 Award was presented to Shamma Albastaki for House to House, a collection of ethnographic, photographic and text-image based poetry.
