Spaces of Light photography contest names winners

ABU DHABI - The judging panel of the "Spaces of Light" photography contest has held its last meeting recently at the centre's headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The competition is organized by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre under the sponsorship of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, with the aim of celebrating the cultural and visual beauty scene in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

During the meeting, nine winners in the three categories of the contest - 'The Close-up", "The Mosque and the People", and "The Panoramic Photo" - were chosen from amongst 4,000 participating photos from around 50 countries around the world.

"This is the first time in modern history a photography competition has been held for a religious place, which is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This is an unprecedented initiative, which will later open the door to the launch of other contests of this kind in the rest of the countries," said Dr Jasim al-Awadhi, the head of the judging panel.

The "Spaces of Light" competition, launched on 17th October 2010, "had attracted a large number of audiences interested to learn about the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque as an essential tourist attraction in the United Arab Emirates, and as a prominent religious edifice of a religious and moral value. The competition has also fostered the role of the mosque as a place for interaction and sponsorship of meaningful cultural and scientific activities," he added.

Al-Awadhi said that the judging panel, on which four experienced judges from the UAE, the Gulf and the world sit, had noticed, during the process of sorting and evaluating the participating photos, that most photographers had focused in their photos on showing the aesthetics of the mosque and the symmetry between figures, blocks and colours in it. They also focused on showing the building of the mosque as a whole with its various ornaments. He noted that the level of the participating photos revealed that the participants included not only professional, but also amateur photographers.

Al-Awadhi stressed that the judging panel was committed to the criteria of the competition that was announced from the beginning. The panel dealt with all participating photos in a professional and objective manner, taking into account, in its choice of the photos, the ability of the photographer to show the beauties of the mosque.

He praised the role of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre in removing obstacles before the work of the judging panel. This reflects the attention paid by the centre management to encouraging talents and boosting artistic flairs among the members of the Emirati society, particularly through sponsoring the art of photography among those interested, teaching them and urging them to engage in loving these human arts.

"The great interest in participation from various countries and cultures in a competition of this kind would give impetus to the 'Spaces of Light' contest, help it move strongly forwards in the coming years, and spread an atmosphere of cultural exchange and dialogue. The competition also demonstrates how far people are interested in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque as a majestic religious edifice that reflects the aesthetics of Islamic architecture and its uniqueness in Abu Dhabi," Al-Awadhi added.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre will organize a reception at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi for honouring and distributing awards to the winners, amounting to 300,000 UAE dirhams, spread across all categories. The centre will set up a gallery of the winning photos in the competition, in addition to a large number of other participating photos selected by the judging panel to be published later in a special album.

The Sheikh Grand Mosque Centre, affiliated to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, is sponsored by HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. The centre was created as a nucleus for the cultural and intellectual movement centring around the mosque, based on the cultural and national values which expresses the concepts and ethics established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. These are deep-rooted values in the sentiment and consciousness, and form an extension of the national identity inspired from the teachings of our true tolerant religion.

Article source: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=43534

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