The international jury of the First Islamic Competition for Ornamenting Makkah has received 442 submissions from artists in 22 countries and will announce on Sept. 27 the winning works of art which have been selected to be displayed in 12 sites in the holy city, Makkah Mayor Dr. Osama Al-Bar announced at a press conference here, Tuesday. He said that the organizers of the competition have been overwhelmed by the number and quality of the works that have been submitted by artists from both Muslim and non-Muslim countries, adding that the competition, which was launched at the beginning of this year, was supported by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah. “The Emir is very enthusiastic about the project and keen that it should come to fruition,” said Dr. Al-Bar. The mayor introduced the jury which is tasked with selecting the winning works of art and which is headed by the first mayor of Jeddah Dr. Mohammad Farsi. “Today we are reaping the first fruit of this competition in that we are honored to be sitting with an elite group of international art experts,” Dr. Al-Bar said. He explained that the jury is composed of a chairman and four well-known international art experts who represent the most important schools of the plastic arts and have experience in judging similar art competitions. He said that as Makkah has more than 10 million visitors every year, the mayoralty wanted to turn the holy city into an Islamic art museum. Dr. Farsi, the jury chairman, said, “Makkah has a special place in the hearts of all Muslims. Therefore, particular care must be taken in ornamenting its bridges and streets.” He said that the concept of the competition is to adorn Makkah by giving a chance to distinguished artists to create international works of art according to Islamic concepts. He added that the competition also provides an opportunity to develop the aesthetic awareness of the community. Assuming that most of the artwork submitted for the competition would make use of Arabic calligraphy, Saudi Gazette asked if any consideration had been given to including languages other than Arabic so that non-Arabic speaking visitors to Makkah would be able to recognize some of the languages used in the works of art. Members of the jury answered that art is a universal language and that it makes no difference if a work of art makes use of Arabic or of other languages. Dr. Mustafa Al-Razaz, an Egyptian jury member, said that Islamic art is a universal language that speaks to international cultures, while Dr. Fareed Al-Zahi, a jury member from Morocco, said that the concept of plastic art is that “it is a visual work that needs only the eyes to realize its beauty”. – SG Jury u Dr. Mohammad Saeed Farsi, the first Mayor of Jeddah, Chairman, Saudi Arabia. u Dr. Mustafa Al-Razaz, artist, critic and art professor, Egypt. u Dr. Fareed Al-Zahi, author of books on photography, plastic art and Arabic culture, Morocco. u Dr. Dzulhaimi Mohammad Zain, professor of art history, Malaysia. u Dr. Yakuba Konati, head of the international association of art critics in Paris affiliated with UNESCO, Ivory Coast. __
