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An art exhibition with a difference was held at Modhesh Fun City, at the Airport Expo, Dubai, when paintings focusing on Arabic script, and created by Dubai-based students, went on display as part of the Dubai Holding Fine Art Awards 2008.
 
The paintings were inspired by the highly successful Word Into Art, Artists of the Modern Middle East exhibition, presented by the British Museum, in partnership with Dubai Holding, at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) earlier this year. The winner of the competition, Bharti Tilwani, received an all expenses paid trip to London, including a unique behind the scenes tour of the British Museum. The other prize winners, Rashida Shabbir Rashid and Shamma Mohammed bin Masoud, shared prizes valued at AED 7,000.
 
All the paintings on display at Modesh Fun City were created by students, between the ages of 12 and 18 years, after they visited the Word Into Art, Artists of the Modern Middle East exhibition. In line with the theme of the exhibition, each painting included Arabic text, combined with an image to convey the artist’s message.
 
The competition, which attracted more than 200 entries, was judged by Venetia Porter, Curator of the British Museum’s Word Into Art exhibition; Sonia Brewin, Director of START, a programme that links child development with arts education; Malek Inja, Group Chief Marketing Officer, Dubai Holding, and Wissam Shawkat, an Iraqi calligrapher. Alia Al Sadek, AUD Visual Arts Student and START intern, who helped and led the education programme for Word Into Art, supported the judging panel.
 
Porter praised the quality of the work submitted by the students and explained that the judges had had a very difficult task to select the four winners.
 
“I was impressed by the creativity demonstrated by the student artists and delighted that Word Into Art had inspired them so. Many of the works submitted underline how the Arabic script can be used by artists in so many imaginative ways, and the way it can help reinforce an Arab identity in a fast changing world. The future of Modern Art in the UAE is very bright indeed,” said Porter.

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