Emaar International Art Symposium scales great heights as artists create wonders

These sentiments were echoed by A.J. Jaganathan, CEO, Emaar Properties, at the glittering award ceremony for the event which concluded yesterday (February 6).

'I am honoured to be here because you have created amazing wonders in stone and on canvas. The Emaar International Art Symposium has become part of our commitment to promote the growth of art and culture,' Jaganathan said.

'The grand buildings we construct are living testimonials to the power of art in all its manifestations. This is especially true of Burj Dubai. In creating the tallest skyscraper in the world, Emaar has endeavored to not only create a new image by developing an architectural landmark, but also provided it with a distinct identity.'

Artists, organisers and promoters of Dubai's premier creative art forum attended the exclusive event at the Burj Dubai site which saw twelve of the 70 international artists walk away with grand prizes worth USD 90,000.

Featuring a painting and sculpting contest, the Emaar International Art Symposium 2005 formed part of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Emirates, the award-winning airline, was the official carrier for the Symposium.

A three-member committee of prominent artists including Dr. Najat Makki, Obai Hattoum and Ayoob Al-Balooshi organised and managed the event including the selection of the artists.

Two winners each bagged the first three places in both the contests. For the painting, these included: Ibrahim Bu Saad (Bahrain) and Nazar Yahya (Iraq), (Ist prize winners), Carlos Barao (Portugal) and Hassan Bourkia (Morocco) (2nd prize winners), Bachar Al Essa (France), and Mohammed Eunus (Bangladesh) (3rd prize winners).

In the sculpting category, the first prize was won by Ali Jabbar from Iraq and Caroline Ramersdorfer from Austria whereas Kemal Tufan (Turkey) and Akhtam Abdul Hamid (Syria) received the second prize. Antonios Myrodias (Greece) and Jo Kley (Germany) stood third.

The Symposium started on January 12 with the sculptors taking positions at a specially created site next to the Dubai World Trade Centre. The painting competition commenced on January 25 and was held at the Dubai Marina Promenade. Both contests concluded on February 6.

Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Executive Director, Emaar Properties and Chairman of the Symposium Organising Committee said: 'Judging by the tremendous response we have received from the global and regional artist community in the last two years, we are confident that the Emaar International Art Symposium is here to stay and is destined for even greater heights.'