Artists from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt & Pakistan, countries with ongoing conflicts & political unrest, have won 2013 Abraj Capital Art Prize to exhibit their artworks commissioned for Art Dubai 2013 (March 20 – 24)

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The winning artists are: Vartan Avakian (Lebanon), Iman Issa (Egypt), Huma Mulji (Pakistan), Hrair Sarkissian (Syria) and Rayyane Tabet (Lebanon). The artists have already started working closely with the selected Guest Curator for 2013, Murtaza Vali.

About Abraj Capital Art Prize

Announced in 2008, the Abraaj Capital Art Prize is in its fifth edition.
The prize is unique for the following reasons:

• It is the only art prize specifically for the Middle East, North Africa and South
Asia (MENASA) region.
• It is the only art prize that rewards proposals rather than completed works-of-art. The
winning artists then go on to create the artworks.
• It is aimed at curators and artists working together and not a single artist.

The aim of the prize is to empower potential and give often under-represented, contemporary artists from the vibrant MENASA region the resources to further develop their talent. The artists work with an internationally renowned curator. This collaboration allows them to tap the latest trends, while the prize gives them a global platform to showcase their works and their region. The prize reflects Abraaj Capital’s own investment philosophy, which is to take viable businesses with great potential, and create regional and global champions.
Following their unveiling at Art Dubai each March, the works go on to form part of the Abraaj Capital Collection and are exhibited in a variety of locations. To date, artworks have been shown in the UAE at Art Dubai, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Maraya Arts Centre, Sharjah; in the US at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; in London at City Hall; in Italy as part of an official collateral exhibition of the 54th Venice Biennale ‘The Future of a Promise’ and in Tunis at the National Museum of Carthage as part of ‘Chkoun Ahna’. Winning artists and curators have gone on to be leading players in the emerging MENASA art scene.

Al Mahha wishes the winners all the luck & looking forward revealing their artworks in forthcoming Art Dubai.

Cheers