DUBAI // Emerging talent in the UAE received a nod of recognition from the arts community last night as part of the Sheikha Manal Young Artist Award (YAA).
At a gala award ceremony held at The Address, Downtown Dubai, a total of Dh180,000 in prize money was distributed between nine artists living and working in the country.
The award is under the patronage of HH Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Women Establishment, and is in its sixth edition.
On the opening night of the award, Muna Bin Kalli, executive director of Dubai Ladies Club, said that the vision of the award lies with its founder and patron. “We believe that such art initiatives are essential for building innovative thinkers who will be the world leaders of tomorrow.”
Works are grouped according to three categories: First place in the fine art category went to Walid Al Wawi, whose playful painting, Place The Dots, featured a series of Arabic words with their punctuating diacritic dots removed. Omar Aly Mohamed received the top award for photography while Chinese-born, Dubai-based conceptual artist Lantian Xie was given first place in the multimedia category for his frenzied animation depicting locally available fast food items.
First, second and third place in each category was awarded with Dh30,000, Dh20,000 and Dh10,000 respectively, while the People's Choice Award, voted for by the public online, was awarded to Arwa Al Absi Al Jundi for her oil on canvas work.
The top three winners in each category were selected by leading figures in the art scene from over 200 submissions from 11 different nationalities.
clord@thenational.ae
