Qatar Museums (QM) in partnership with Qatar Foundation (QF) announces the winners of the Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Single Image Award and Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Project Award, as part of the Tasweer Photo Festival Qatar that was launched yesterday across many locations in the country.

 

The festival, which is expected to run until 30th of this month will feature a series of exhibitions dedicated to global photographers and image-makers. 

 

The awards are dedicated to Sheikh Saoud Al Thani (1966-2014), one of Qatar’s greatest collectors who largely shaped the Museum of Islamic Art’s extraordinary collection. 

 

 

The Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Project Award is an annual grant award that supports and enhances the photographers’ proposals for the development or completion of a photographic project. In October 2020, Tasweer announced the open call for applications for the annual grant and formed a jury comprising Sheikha Sara Al-Thani from the Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Awards; photographer and editor, Sueraya Shaheen; independent researcher Kristine Khouri and Sheikha Shaikha Al-Thani from Qatar Photographic Society along with Tasweer’s Artistic Director Charlotte Cotton, Tasweer Director Khalifa Ahmad Al Obaidly and Senior Curator Maryam Hassan Al-Thani. The jury selected six awardees namely Hayat Ahmed Al Sharif, Mohammed El Shamy, Mona Hassan, Rula Halawani, Samar Sayer Baiomy and Shaima Al-Tamimi.

 

The Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Single Image Award is an annual award funtion, which is an open call for a single image that represents the best photographer’s experience and personal narrative.

 

Winners of this prestigious award include Noufal Al Ruziqi, Javid Tafazoli, Mohammed Nageeb Nasr, Mohammed Al-Hajri, Omar Alsorori, Israa Mahmood Al Balushi, Alanoud Alghamdi, Mohammed Sawari, Heriadi Joewono and Tamim Baba. 

 

The top 10 prize-winning photographs of the 2021 Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Single Image Award will be exhibited in the main lobby of Doha Tower.

Over 200 submissions for the Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Single Image Award have been curated into an online exhibition on view at tasweer.qa. The curation was led by photography collective Photo Art Qatar comprising-Adriane de Souza, Ammar Alquamash, Latifa Aldarwish, and Shaima Ayoub and was shown on the screens at in-patient facilities of Hamad Medical Corporation. 

 

The Director of Tasweer, Khalida Al Obaidly said that, “We were incredibly impressed by the submissions received for both awards. The photographers capture the moments they have lived through and experienced – many of the images shining a spotlight on humanitarian crises across the region. It is crucial that photographers show us what is happening in Arab countries and capture the truth with an artist’s frame.”

 

“Tasweer is an invaluable platform that celebrates and showcases photography and the artistic talent of photographers from Western Asia and North Africa. Members of the community are invited to visit the eclectic mix of exhibitions on show as part of the inaugural event,” he added.

 

The Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Award was first announced in the year 2001 as a platform to support and encourage photographers. The award has now been once again launched by Tasweer in its inaugural year, with the Saoud bin Mohammed Al-Thani Foundation, as annual open calls to photographers in Western Asia and North Africa (WANA), continues its journey of celebrating and nurturing various talents and innate skills of the photographers. 

 

Tasweer, which was established by Qatar Museums under the leadership of its Chairperson, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and sponsored by the Social & Sport Contribution Fund (Daam), builds on a commitment to nurture artistic talent, enhance Qatar’s arts economy and support creative industry. M7, Qatar’s new hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in the creative industries, is the central location for Tasweer.