The 18th annual Al Burda Awards announced 33 winners across eight categories, celebrating the richness and diversity of Islamic arts and culture at a ceremony held at Louvre Abu Dhabi. Key figures from around the world gathered to showcase their talents. Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, Minister of Culture, presented the awards, which were organized by the Ministry of Culture and Youth.
The Al Burda Awards are typically open to poets, calligraphers, and artists whose works are inspired by the Prophet Mohammed PBUH, the Quran, and Hadiths, across three main categories: poetry, Arabic calligraphy, and ornamentation. These categories include subcategories such as classical, Nabati, and free verse poetry; classical, contemporary, and typography design in Arabic calligraphy; and traditional and contemporary ornamentation. New to this year’s awards were free verse poetry, Arabic typography, and contemporary ornamentation.
Artists were asked to submit work that explores the theme of Al Noor, meaning “the light,” inspired by verse 15 of Surah Al Maida in the Quran. This chapter focuses on faith, belief, and the Prophet Mohammed’s message as a beacon of truth for humanity.
Winners included:
- Classical Poetry: Yassine Hazguer
- Nabati Poetry: Awad Alawd
- Free Verse Poetry: Ahmed El Hattab
- Classical Arabic Calligraphy: Meryem Nevruzihalilani
- Contemporary Arabic Calligraphy: Daoudi Abdelkader
- Typographic Design: Yasmin Naeem
- Classical Ornamentation: Afsaneh Mahdavi
- Contemporary Ornamentation: Mahboubeh Mahdavi
The event also honored Morocco as the guest of honour and presented the Moroccan National School for Arts with an award of appreciation. Winners in the three main categories receive Dh210,000, distributed among the top five winners. Winners in the new sub-categories will each receive Dh160,000.
Reported by: The National
