Al Burda Award announces 2024 winners

Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, Minister of Culture, honours 33 winners at Louvre Abu Dhabi ceremony

Sheikh Salem bin Khalid al Qassimi, Minister of Culture, gives the award to Reyyan Seyda Gonen in the classical ornamentation category at Al Burda Awards 2024. Pawan Singh / The National

Al Burda Awards has announced the 33 winners across eight categories of its 18th year celebrating Islamic arts and culture.

In a ceremony at Louvre Abu Dhabi tonight, the winners were recognised for their contributions to the richness and diversity of Islamic arts, with key figures from around the world showcasing their talents.

Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, Minister of Culture, presented the awards at the event, organised by the Ministry of Culture and Youth.

The prize is usually open to poets, calligraphers and artists whose works are inspired by the Prophet Mohammed, the Quran and Hadiths, across three main categories: poetry, Arabic calligraphy and ornamentation.

These categories also include subcategories. Poetry includes classical, Nabati and free verse. Arabic calligraphy includes classical, contemporary and typography design. Ornamentation includes traditional and contemporary. Free verse poetry, Arabic typography and contemporary ornamentation are new to this year's awards programme.

This year’s artists were asked to submit work that explores the theme of Al Noor, which translates to the light. The theme was inspired by verse 15 of the fifth chapter of the Quran titled Surah Al Maida. The chapter delves into various important themes and focuses on the ideas of faith and belief and refers to the Prophet Mohammed. The concept of light is integral to these themes where the Prophet’s message is seen as a beacon of truth and message for humanity.

Yassine Hazguer was the winner in the category of classical poetry, Awad Alawd was the winner in the Nabati poetry section and Ahmed El Hattab won in the free verse category.

Meryem Nevruzihalilani won first place in the classical Arabic calligraphy category. Daoudi Abdelkader won for contemporary Arabic calligraphy.

Yasmin Naeem won first place in typographic design, Afsaneh Mahdavi won in classical ornamentation and Mahboubeh Mahdavi won in the contemporary ornamentation category.

This year, the award also hosted 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 a prize of Dh210,000 which will be distributed among the top five winners. The winners in the new sub-categories including free verse poetry, Arabic typography and contemporary ornamentation, will each receive Dh160,000.