UAE Online Art Archive Is Launched Alongside A Nation Wide Competition Showcasing The UAE’s Talent

The art community of the UAE is in for a lavish helping of the Emirates’ most comprehensive online database as the Office for the UAE Pavilion at the Venice Biennale launches the UAE Art Archive, www.uaeartarchive.org. The UAE Art Archive has been developed specifically to offer a platform for people interested in the art scene across the UAE to have a better understanding of art and the cultural infrastructure of the country and to showcase artists’ work.

Its launch is complemented by an image design contest that will enable anyone who is resident in the UAE to submit their design for the homepage banner of the art archive, which can be found at www.uaeartarchive.org. Supported by Emirates Airline, who is providing two economy class tickets to Venice, the competition encourages everyone with artistic flair to submit their work.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Lamees Hamdan, Commissioner of the UAE Pavilion, said:
“The UAE Art Archive provides a unique platform, for the first time, in the contemporary art community where we can all come together and share this vehicle across all seven Emirates. This is a collective space for artists practicing in the UAE to show their work, whereby profiles can be uploaded with a biography, reference to online websites and gallery affiliation can be made and exhibition histories and artwork can be created. The archive is published online and is open to everyone all over the world.

This is also an opportunity for UAE residents to participate in an exclusive competition and to be a part of an online community that is really working from a grass roots level for the art and cultural scene across the UAE. This competition, I believe, is one of the most effective paths in which we can engage people’s interests and encourage them to support our own pool of creative contemporary talent.”

Ahmed Khoory, Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations – Gulf, Middle East and Iran, Emirates Airline said:
"Emirates is delighted to be a part of this exciting initiative. I hope that the people of the UAE can take inspiration from the majestic beauty of this great country when developing their submissions. The UAE Pavilion has worked hard to encourage UAE residents to embrace and express their creativity and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them for many years to come."

Commencing from July 23nd, the competition will be judged by the Ambassadors to the UAE Pavilion: Sultan Al Qassemi, Alanood Al Warshaw, Jack Persekian, Paula Askari, Hannan Sayed, Nadine Kanso, Rashid Shabib, Ahmed Shabib, Sunny Rahbar and Maliha Tabari. The contest will close on September 2nd and an announcement of the winner will be made on September 16th at a Suhoor during Ramadan to reveal who will be awarded two economy flight tickets to Venice with a three-day stay at a four-star hotel in Venice and two tickets to visit the 53rd Venice Biennale, courtesy of Emirates Airline.

“As an Ambassador to the UAE Pavilion and one of the judges of this competition, I am enthusiastic to see the first glimpse of how the UAE’s art scene has evolved and what our local creative minds have in store. This contest is an innovative way to examine the developments which are currently taking place across the UAE’s art agenda,” Sultan Al Qassemi commented.

The announcement comes in the midst of an ongoing international art exhibition in Venice, Italy, the 2009 Venice Biennale, of which the UAE has sent its official contribution to play an integral part. Breaking ground as the first Arabian Gulf state ever to participate since the event began in 1895, the UAE Pavilion was established in recognition of the nation’s emergence as a cultural hub worthy of attracting global attention and was supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development.

Universally recognised as the world’s most prestigious contemporary art event, the Venice Biennale currently presents its 53rd International Art Exhibition, which began on June 7 and will be staged through November 22, 2009.