As a celebration of its national pride and Emirati heritage, Aldar Properties PJSC (Aldar), Abu Dhabi’s leading listed property development, investment and management company has released a new National Day song and launched a calligraphy art competition, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the foundation of the United Arab Emirates.

Aldar released the song in collaboration with famed Emirati artists for the poem “الدار عامرة بأھلها”,  (meaning the beauty of our home comes from its people) written by the Emirati poet, Hassan Al Obaidly, composed by Emirati Moussa Mohammed, and sung by the Emirati artist, Aida Al Menhali. The song can be heard across a number of TV channels, radio stations, and key social media networks.

To inspire community engagement with this celebration of UAE National Day, Aldar launched a calligraphy art competition, welcoming all the talented calligraphers and visual artists in the country to use art to interpret the poem’s title using Arabic calligraphy design.

Commenting on this initiative, H.E. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chief Executive Officer of Aldar, said: “The 45th UAE National Day celebrations contribute to national pride, and remind us of our leaders’ journeys and the strength of our union, guided by His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan – may he rest in peace – and his fellow founding leaders of the UAE. Their wise vision has made the UAE a world leader, competing across sectors with nations around the world.

“We are both grateful and proud to have collaborated with these renowned Emirati artists in producing a poem and song that expresses our feeling of belonging to the UAE, and its unique culture and heritage. We are also pleased to help cultivate and promote UAE talent through the Arabic calligraphy art competition around the poem’s lyrics.  We hope this will inspire the people and residents of the UAE.”

The collaborating artists, Hassan Al Obaidly, Moussa Mohammed and Aida Al Menhali, expressed their pride and enthusiasm in being part of this project, and praised Aldar’s initiative to encourage art and to promote a sense of national belonging. They also urged youth to preserve their cultural traditions and heritage, and to contribute to the UAE’s continued development by following the examples of its founding fathers and leadership.

Registration and artwork submission for the calligraphy art competition is now open through Aldar’s official website, www.aldar.com Submissions will be accepted until 26th October 2016.

Emirati calligrapher, Mohammed Mandi, will lead the competition judging panel, with judges selecting shortlist of 10 designs, with the shortlisted artists granted AED 10,000 each to re-create their designs live at Yas Mall from 3 to 12 November 2016. The competition is open for everyone in the UAE and first and second place winners set to be awarded prizes of AED 100,000 and AED 50,000 respectively. Winners will be announced and honoured in a ceremony on the 13th of November at Yas Mall.

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