Giving is a joint effort requiring compassion and care

One of the UAE's defining factors is that the country is made up of many nationalities, languages, influences and cultures, writes Huda Ebrahim Alkhamis

Emirati artist Karima al Shomely seen through the perspex and wood art installation she helped design for the Shopopolis event held at the Westfield shopping centre in West London. Stephen Lock for The National.Show less

In Arabic, khair conveys an overall sense of well-being, combining good health and benevolence. This year has been declared the year of khair (giving) by Sheikh Khalifa, the President, to share the blessings of this country with its people – nationals and expatriates – and to extend this to people around the world. We are blessed that this spirit is the legacy of Sheikh Zayed, the founding President.

It has been more than two decades since we began the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation. Our aim has always been to develop the community in which we live through culture or, more specifically, the arts. We believe that this is an important part of a thriving and beneficial society.

Sustained economic development is the bedrock of any country. The development of a nation’s human capacity is integral to forging the strength of a nation. And the investment in creativity, knowledge and soft skills are vital to its prosperity.

As we embark on the 2017 Abu Dhabi Festival, we continue our journey of the past 14 years to embrace diversity and bridge cultures through the presentation of a broad programme of performances across many disciplines. Not only do we provide an effective platform to gifted, creative people here in the UAE, but we are also enabling many Arab artists in the diaspora. This March, for example, the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra will perform two concerts in Europe as result of direct support by the Abu Dhabi Festival. This is followed in July, with a recurrent collaboration with London’s largest festival of contemporary Arab culture, Shubbak, featuring a chamber music opera and residencies for three Arab composers at the Royal Opera House. This September, Portrait of a Nation, our major exhibition of contemporary Emirati art will be presented at Berlin Art Week.

The foundation believes that we can all make a difference in an individual’s life, in society and in the nation. We continue to deepen our support of academic studies through scholarships, the fruits of which are ripening – such as Karima Al Shomely, the first Emirati woman to be awarded a doctorate in fine art. This year, we are very proud to have established the Abu Dhabi Festival Scholarship in Berlin, which is allowing Faris Amin, the gifted Palestinian cellist, to study at the Barenboim-Said Akademie.

Back home we must never forget the less fortunate. Our exhibition Silent Voices shines a light on the power of art therapy for women and children from the Ewa’a Shelters, an organisation dedicated to working with victims of abuse. We aim to help in healing, using the power of music, through performances in hospitals and special needs centre.

Our investment in the young remains our proudest achievement as we provide ongoing creative leadership programmes such as Young Media Leaders in which we empower those seeking careers in the media. Our Cultural Excellence Fellowship trains and mentors young professionals already working in the UAE’s creative industries.

Competition is the spark that drives determination for self-improvement and creativity. We recognise just how exciting this can be and support initiatives from around the world. The Christo & Jeanne-Claude Award is one example in which we fund an emerging visual artist to take a design from concept to reality. Additionally, we host the Design Commission for young Emiratis in the field of design and science as well as our creativity award for the visual and performing arts, literature and film.

The National’s Gallery is at the heart of the foundation’s support for the visual arts, whereby we have created a range of resources to advocate, nurture and support artists. Our Art Collection contains more than 100 works by Emirati and Arab artists.

In this Year of Giving, I urge anyone who wishes to make a positive impact to give back in whatever way they can. We shall be doing this through the largest celebration of arts and culture in the Arabian Gulf. The defining factor of our country is that we are a nation of many nationalities, languages, influences and cultures. If there is one thing I have learnt over the 21 years since establishing the foundation in 1996, it is that khair (giving) is a collective endeavour that requires compassion, endurance, sacrifice, love and care.

HE Huda Ebrahim Alkhamis is the founder of ADMAF