The National Day celebrations were in full swing this week and what better way to mark the occasion than announce the winners of this year’s Treasures of the UAE calendar competition?
The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding’s (SMCCU) annual art competition encourages school children from all over the UAE to paint or draw famous historical sites and landmarks to be printed in two calendars – one in Arabic and one in English.
The 24 winners were announced on Tuesday at the SMCCU Heritage House in the Al Fahidi Historic District of Dubai amid National Day celebrations.
The winning artworks will be displayed in an exhibition at the centre, which is open to the public until Sunday January 4th.
Nasif Kayed, the managing director of the SMCCU said: “The UAE’s historic monuments and landscapes stand here to remind us of our roots, traditions and the UAE’s great history. This initiative strives to uncover a new interpretation of these historical landmarks from the next generation residing in the UAE, encouraging creativity combined with historic knowledge.”
We love this initiative because it brings the community together and gives children the incentive to be creative in a field that they might not otherwise choose. Also, the team at the SMCCU constantly strive build bridges between the different strands of our community and those who visit, which is highly commendable and deserves to be recognised.
* All submitted artwork may be viewed in an exclusive online gallery published on the SMCCU website
