UAE, 13 June: Winners of the British Council’s online photography competition for amateur and professional photographers to capture what the cultural heritage of the Middle East means to them are announced today.
Using the theme of architecture the photographs provide a combined picture of the past, present and future of the region’s cultural heritage, as seen through the eyes of people living in the region. The winners are:
• Noora Alameri, Abu Dhabi (Overall Winner) for the photograph ‘Present’
• Zainab Alsatrawi, Bahrain (Best 13 – 24 Age Group) for the photograph ‘A moment in a memory in green-old room with a girl sitting there looking through the window “of her hurt” ‘’
• Aju George Chris, Qatar (Best 25 and over Age Group) for the photograph ‘This is the world's first and only football stadium built in the shape of a fort. Qatar's gift to future generations...’
• Huda Hadia, Saudi Arabia (Best brief: Past – a place in time) for the photograph ‘A traditional craft’
• Hanan Mohammed, Saudi Arabia (Best brief: Present – a sense of home) for the photograph ‘Al Khobar City of blessing’
• Hana Hamad Al-Maktoum, Saudi Arabia (Best brief: Future – nostalgia for the future) for the photograph ‘Small and old but I see the world though the eyes of satellites’
Noora will receive a top of the range digital SLR camera for her overall prize-winning entry, with the winners of individual categories each receiving a compact digital camera – all cameras provided by Olympus UK. The prize-winning photographs can be viewed online at www.britishcouncil.org/myfathershouse. They will also be displayed in July in an exhibition at the British Council in London, UK as a way to help build awareness and understanding about the region in the UK.
The competition was open to anyone aged 13 and above and resident in the Middle East countries of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Yemen. Entries were split into two age categories and photographers were invited to submit up to three photographs, one for each of the competition’s three themes. It is part of the British Council’s regional arts project My Father’s House: the architecture of cultural heritage.
My Father’s House used architecture to stimulate debate about the role and value of cultural heritage in defining cultural identity in a rapidly changing region and encouraged us all to take a fresh look at our surroundings. At its centre was a touring lens-based exhibition by 8 artists from the Middle East and the UK. More than 35,000 people saw the exhibition or participated in the project’s activities during its tour of five Middle East countries during 2009/10.
Hannah Henderson, British Council Regional Project Manager for Creativity said:
‘I congratulate all the winners of our My Father’s House online photography competition. Overall the judges were impressed with the quality and variety of the photos.’
‘I would also like to thank all those who participated in this competition. They have demonstrated their enthusiasm for looking afresh at our surroundings and the impact buildings have on our cultural heritage. Together, all the photographers have created a collection of images which raises awareness about the rich cultural heritage of this very dynamic part of the world.’