Al Burdah Award, instituted by the the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development (MCYCD), aims to promote and reward artists and poets in various categories including eloquent poetry (poems in praise of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him), poetry, traditional calligraphy, modern calligraphy and classical ornamental decoration. These are open to artists and poets from the UAE and across the world.
The names of the 36 winners were announced at a press conference addressed by Bilal Al Budoor, assistant deputy of arts and culture.
Al Burdah awards are held in two categories of poetry — formal and Nabati; and two categories of Arabic calligraphy — traditional and modern as well as decoration. A jury of leading writers and experts evaluated the 366 entries that were in the running for this year’s award.
Speaking at the press conference, Al Budoor said that the eighth edition of the award was characterized by the high quality of entries in all categories.
There were high quality entries from many Arab and Islamic countries. 170 entries were submitted in the competition for formal and Nabati poetry, 113 in the Arabic calligraphy category and 28 in decoration.
There were no winners for first place in Nabati poetry but Ali Bin Abdullah Al Qurni, from Yemen and Ibrahim Abdullah Hussein Ali from UAE won second place; and Abdullah Saleh Al Emari of Yemen and Saeed Mohammed Obaid of Oman, third place.
Winners in fluent poetry are: Mohamed Areej of Morocco, first place; Hassan Mubarak Mohamed Al Rabeeh of Saudi Arabia, second place; Nezar Najm Nasser Al Jabouri of Iraq got third place and Jassim Mohammed Al Saheeh of Saudi Arabia won fourth place.
Top three winners in Annaskh Calligraphy are Sabah Maqdeer Babeer of Britain (first); Amhamed Safarbati of Algeria (second) and Abdel Rahman Ahmed Al Abdi of Syria (third).
Top three winners in calligraphy are: Kiwan Yadallahi of Iran (first); Ihan Ahmadi, of Iran (second), and Hameed Ramadenio of Iran (third).
Top three decoration winners are: Laila Abbassi of Iran,( first); Shaimaa Akour from Turkey (second) and Mohsen Akameri of Iran (third).
Winners in modern style: Alaa Ismail Abdel Rahman of Iraq (first); Taj Alser Hassan of Sudan (second) and Hossam Ahmed Abdel Wahab Ali of Egypt (third).
Al Budoor added that a lot of entries in the poetry category covered new creative areas which proved the award’s increasing appeal to artists in the Arabic and islamic world. This Arabic and Islamic participation reflects positively on the local environment and artists. The ministry enlists the services of well-reputed experts and artists from around the world to assess the award’s different categories.
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development has been organizing the awards from 2004, to stimulate the younger generation to commit to their religion and to recognize their duties towards the Islamic faith. It also honors individuals and institutions worldwide that have made significant contributions to the Islamic community.
Hakem Ghanem, the general coordinator of the awards, and other senior officials of the Ministry also were present at the press conference.
