With the ever-growing cultural scenario in the Kingdom, the Misk Art Institute is another new artist-centred cultural organisation. Operating under the patronage of the Misk Foundation, established by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the art institute offers grants to various budding artists intending to encourage them to take up activities related to art.

The Institute has now announced the winners of the 2021 Misk Art Grant –the first grant that has been opened to non-Saudi nationals along with Saudi artists.

The award that carries a huge 1,000,000 Saudi riyals ($267,000) is in its second year and aids in boosting the artistic dreams of many students. The money helps to fund projects pitched to the institute by expectant artists. Not just that, the recipients also receive mentorship from a committee of artists and art professionals.

The Institute has issued grants to Saudi artists Rashed Alshashai, Basma Felemban, and Obaid Alsafi, Kuwaiti artist Mishari AlNajjar; Nour Alwan from Bahrain, Latifa Saeed, Afra Al Dhaheri, and architects Jawaher Almutairi and Mira Almazrooei from the UAE, and French-Algerian artist Zoulikha Bouabdellah.

Themed ‘Under Construction’ this year, the Institute relates to the emerging cultural scenes within the Arab region, laying a focus on questions of identity, community and cultural representation—all key themes in contemporary Arab work, especially in the Gulf.

In its second year, this year’s jury comprised of Reem Fadda, director of Abu Dhabi’s Cultural Foundation, Laila Alfaddagh, director-general of Saudi Arabia’s National Museum, Myrna Ayad, a cultural strategist and former Art Dubai director and Konstantinos Chatziantoniou, head of collections and conservation at the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, also known as Ithra, in Dhahran.