Art Circle Award 2024 (United Arab Emirates)

The Annual Art Circle Award is organized by The Art Circle, a non-profit organization registered in the UAE.

Through a carefully selected jury of art and culture professionals, all participants benefit from the visibility to curators and other cultural institution leaders during the selection process.

The Art Circle Award is by medium a painting and mix-media competition and each year holds a thematic to which the artists open call responds to.

All finalists will receive a certificate of participation and social media coverage.

Theme

• The theme for this year edition: “Mappa Mundi”
  • The word “map” comes from the Latin Mappa, which means napkin or cloth, and mundi meaning the world.
  • The definition of a map in the Cambridge Dictionary is: “A drawing of the earth’s surface, or part of that surface, showing the shape and position of different countries, political borders, natural features such as rivers and mountains, and artificial features such as roads and buildings: a map of the world.”
  • Through the history and since the ancient times, humans have been creating maps to guide them. The earliest map, found in France, is thought to be a schematic representation of the night sky and is dated back to 14,500 BCE.
  • Maps are physical tools on paper or digital on our electronic devices. These visual representations are the ways that we look at the world and represent its changes over time. Maps can tell a wide range of stories and now with technology one can map not only where the roads will guide one in the journeys, but one can map all kinds of data from bird migrations or commercial consumption of social media.

Award Information

• The wining proposal will be unveiled on the opening day of the exhibition and awarded AED 15,000.
• Shortlisted artworks will be included in an exhibition.
• The winning artwork will be part of The Art Circle collection and its reproduction,as a Giclee print, will be offered to the different art specialists it will collaborate with during its various visits and exchanges in 2025.

Conditions

• Participation in The Art Circle Award implies full acceptance of the below rules, without exception and participants should strictly comply with them at all times.
• Respect of the theme: “Mappa Mundi”
• The pictorial technique is at the discretion of the participant. No trademark may be alluded to and, in no way, the content of the work be offensive, in the broadest sense of the term.  The Art Circle reserves the right not to admit candidacies that, according to its criteria, do not comply with the technical, artistic and/or legal conditions required by the contest, or that may hurt the sensitivity of people, incite violence, discrimination or be contrary to social uses.
• Each artist may submit only one work. This work should not have received an award in any other contest. This will be proven by means of an affidavit.
• The title of the artwork, the name and surname of the artist will be clearly written on the back. The work shall be delivered signed only on the back. Artworks with the artist’s name or signature at the front of the painting will not be accepted.
• The painting must be completed and ready at the time of submitting the application.
• Dimensions: each side of the artwork should be minimum 40 cm and maximum 90 cm.
• Works made with digital techniques will not be accepted. In case of mixed techniques, the media used should be specified.
• The artwork must be framed in a simple, plain, wooden, American style. Seen from the front, the frame width should not exceed 3 cm. No glass or Plexiglas protected works will be accepted.

Eligibility Criteria

• Open to all Nationals and residents of the United Arab Emirates, over the age of 18.
• The winners of the previous editions cannot participate in the TAC Award 2024.
• The participant is entitled to submit only one artwork.

For more information, visit The Art Circle.