Dubai: This is a story about a special surprise. A leading homegrown bank invites over 100 art patrons and its private and priority banking customers to an art exhibition of “emerging talent” followed by a live auction of the works in Dubai. The gathering goes gaga and the auction is a sell-out, each of the 37 paintings going way over their base price of Dh5,000.
Bidding over, Emirates NBD, the bank, makes the surprise announcement: the emerging talent happens to be special needs children from the Manzil Centre for Individuals with Disabilities. The revelation is met with shock and awe as 20 artists appear in person. The interface that follows becomes the talk of the town.
Incredible talent
Captured in a video, the event has also gone viral on the internet.
According to Vikram Krishna, head, group marketing and customer experience, Emirates NBD: “The aim was to not only showcase the incredible talent of these gifted individuals, but to also change our perspective on their unique skills. By providing these artists a platform to express their creativity, we hope to empower them in other facets of life.”
Besides raising thousands of dirhams for the cause of the children, the event titled Perspectives also set out to raise awareness about the high cost of schooling special children and the need for greater support and involvement in their betterment.
Dr Aisha Saeed Hussaini, Director of Manzil, said: “We are grateful to Emirates NBD for Perspectives. This event has helped bring about the much awaited change in the way society has so far perceived us. Our artists are now acclaimed as people with extraordinary abilities, instead of people with disabilities.”
The bank’s initiative is said to be part of its wider community movement PRIDE – People Receiving Independence and Dignity through Empowerment. Dubai-based Auction House helped conduct the auction and FP7/DXB of the McCann Worldgroup was the creative agency behind the initiative.
Encouraged by the response, the bank will be building on what began as a one-off event to support disadvantaged members of society. In another novel initiative last year, Emirates NBD brought Bollywood to Dubai’s labour camps by organising big screen viewings of popular Hindi films, complete with popcorm and cola, at the doorsteps of the labourers. To view the video on the special auction, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGExmlENkrY
