Dubai, UAE; March 2, 2008: The Emaar International Art Symposium (EIAS), a premier painting and sculpting event organised by Emaar Properties as part of its support to the Dubai shopping Festival, concluded with a gala event to announce the winners in both categories.
An international panel of jury selected three winners each from painters and sculptors who took part in the Emaar International Art Symposium. The fortnight-long art festival was attended by 13 painters and 13 sculptors from around the world.
The winners in the painting competition are: 1st place, Dina Pizzarello from USA, in 2nd place, Golnar Tabibzadeh from Iran and in third place, Sidnea D’Amico from Brazil.
The prize winning sculptors are: 1st place, Dimitrios Skalkotos from Greece, 2nd place, Evrim Kilic from Turkey and in 3rd place, Thomas Reifferschied from Germany.
Mr Ahmad Al Matrooshi, UAE Managing Director, Emaar Properties, presented the prizes at a gala dinner hosted at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club. Emaar also presented mementos to Yousif Mubarak, Director of Events, Operations and Logistics, Dubai Shopping Festival Organising Committee, and Tatiana Korshunova, Emirates Airline, for their support to the event. UAE National students who worked on the EIAS were also recognised with certificates of participation at the ceremony.
Mr Al Matrooshi said: “The objective of Emaar International Art Symposium is to bring together artists and sculptors from around the world, in Dubai. It is a perfect fit to Dubai’s growing fame as a destination for art and cultural events. Over the years, the patronage for art in the city has grown leaps and bounds and this is reflected in the enthusiastic response to the EIAS.”
He added: “Art is a true reflection of the creative thinking of the community. By organising the event, we once again highlighted our corporate social responsibility initiatives aimed at making meaningful contributions to Dubai’s society. It is to this extent that we involved UAE National students in the event. They could gain a valuable insight into working with international artists and gain inspiration to pursue their artistic talents.”
Ms Laila Suhail, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Shopping Festival, said: “The overwhelming success of the 13th Dubai Shopping Festival inspires us to set new targets, backed by innovative initiatives, in the coming years. The Emaar International Art Symposium provided a truly creative element to the DSF activities and helped in attracting art lovers to Dubai from around the world.”
Mr Boutros Boutros, Senior Vice President Media Relations, Sponsorships & Events for Emirates, said: “Supporting a global event such as the Emaar International Art Symposium, once again, highlighted our global reach. Emirates is committed to supporting art initiatives that reflect the cultural ethos of Dubai.”
The paintings and sculptures created at the EIAS will eventually be displayed in Emaar’s master-planned communities in Dubai.
