JEDDAH, 21 January 2008 — A pan-Arab gold and jewelry design contest will award employment opportunities and world tour to winners, organizers said yesterday. The World Gold Council (WGC) and Hammer Group, in partnership with AngloGold Ashanti, are launching AuDITIONS Arabia for the first time in the Arab World from three countries — Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.
“We will consider offering employment to the best contestants and also send them on a world tour to showcase their award-winning entries,” Majid Algouneh, chief managing director of Hammer Group, claimed to be the largest multinational German jewelry group in the world and a partner in the competition, said.
The contest “is the only gold jewelry design contest of its kind in the Arab World,” WGC Managing Director Moaz Barakat said in a press conference held at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (JCCI), yesterday. “It is launching the contest from Jeddah, well known as the ‘Gate of gold’ in the Middle Eas.”
AuDITIONS Arabia will be a platform for showcasing new talents in gold jewelry design across the region. The contest, considered as the Oscars for gold jewelry design, has been launched to inspire unrestricted creativity, reward the winners, and ultimately expand the horizons of gold jewelry, Barakat said.
“We expect about 15,000 gold jewelry designers to participate from the Arab world, and globally 50,000 — 30,000 from India alone,” Barakat added. AuDITIONS Arabia will showcase some 30 designs that will be translated into actual gold jewelry pieces for international exposure.
First three winners will win prizes worth $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively. The packages may come in the form of overseas trips to attend a jewelry design forum, training in a gold jewelry workshop, or a subsidy to study in a design university, college or institute.
AuDITIONS Arabia is part of AuDITIONS Global platform which is a gold jewelry design competition launched across the globe in South Africa, Brazil, China and India in partnership with “AngloGold Ashanti,” one of the world’s leading gold producers.