Dubai: The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation will organise a three-day cultural festival from February 27 to 29 to honour the winners of the 18th edition of its cultural award (2022-2023).
The festival will include an extraordinary exhibition showcasing the foundation’s esteemed collections, alongside an intellectual seminar where the award’s winners will offer insights into their creative literary journey. There will also be book signing ceremonies dedicated for the winners to sign copies of their books, which have been published by the foundation as part of its “The Winners” series.
The three-day cultural extravaganza will host a seminar featuring Bahraini storyteller and novelist Amin Saleh, organised in collaboration with the Sharjah-based Arab Cultural Club, and another seminar led by Moroccan thinker Abdul Salam Benabdelali, held in cooperation with the Philosophy House in Fujairah.
The winners include Hassan Talab (Poetry Award), Amin Saleh (Short Story, Novel and Drama Award), Dr Abdullah Ibrahim (Literary Studies and Criticism Award), and Dr Abdul Salam Benabdelali (Humanities and Future Studies Award).
Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Chairman of the foundation’s Board of Trustees will honour the winners who will be decorated with the UAE scarf and awarded gold medals, featuring the name and image of the winner on one side, and the award logo on the other side.
The winners will also receive valuable artistic certificates. The celebration will begin with a grand exhibition featuring the foundation’s collections, at 7pm on February 27. The exhibition showcases numerous paintings by 62 prominent Emirati, Arab, and international artists whose artworks have been exhibited at the foundation for almost four decades. The foundation has diligently worked to acquire and documented these masterpieces as part of its valuable cultural and intellectual assets.
The signings will feature four books wrote by the four winners. They include a book, titled “The Companions of the Port, The Companions of the Wind, a Hymn to the Universal Chamber, a Slight Death” by Bahraini storyteller Amin Saleh. The other books include “Conformity and Difference” by critic Dr. Abdullah Ibrahim, “Playing with Words” by intellectual Abdessalam Benabdelali, and “Poetry Collection “Something ... Through Nothing: a Poetic and Philosophical Dialogue” by poet Hassan Talab.
The portraits of the winners will also be displayed during the ceremony, continuing a tradition upheld by the foundation to immortalise the images of the awardees through paintings crafted by renowned artists. Additionally, the foundation’s exhibition hall will host a museum dedicated to the award winners, showcasing 105 paintings by the most prominent portrait painters.
The honouring ceremony is scheduled to take place on Thursday evening, February 29. The foundation has extended invitations to intellectuals, creative figures and media professionals from the UAE and beyond to attend this significant cultural event.
