The Sovereign Art Prize comes to MENA

Abdelmonem Alserkal, founder and owner of Alserkal Avenue at the community iftar at his avenue in Dubai. Ravindranath K / The National

The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) is launching a regional prize for the Middle East and North Africa. The charity, registered in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, raises money to help disadvantaged children using the arts as rehabilitation, education and therapy and already have a prize for Asia, Europe and Africa.

The Sovereign MENA Art Prize will be awarded to a mid career artist nominated by art professionals from museums, galleries and universities.

The winner will be announced in October at a ceremony in Dubai and will receive $30,000 (Dh110,195). The winner’s work and that of 29 other finalists will be auctioned off at the gala event with 40 per cent of the funds raised going to the artists and the remaining 60 per cent being donated to the charity.

The board of nominees has been chosen and comprises 20 of the region’s independent art professionals including curators, art historians and writers. They include them Tim Marlow from London’s Royal Academy, prominent art collector Fati Maleki, Alserkal Avenue founder Abdelmonem Alserkal, David Elliott an international curator and Simon Njami, a writer and independent curator.

Not only have they been asked to nominate, but they will also be the judges to decide on the final winner.

The charity is partnering with START, a non-profit organisation which runs art-based workshops for orphans, refugees and special needs children across the MENA region. So, with the inaugural UAE event SAF aims to raise funds to sustain existing START projects in addition to helping in their mission to expand their reach to more vulnerable children.

For details go to www.sovereignartfoundation.com