Day: January 28, 2022

Saudia’a AlUla Design Award announce Winners for Inspired Product Designs : January 2022

The AlUla Design Award has announced the winners of its various categories for outstanding products inspired by AlUla.

The categories adjudicated at the Saudi Design Festival in Riyadh’s Jax district included jewelry, leather goods, footwear, homeware accessories, and other lifestyle products. 

Over 400 applications were received, with shortlisted designs reviewed by a jury. The six best products were selected to receive the prestigious AlUla Design Award, including Harry Dobbs Design x Rukun, a collaboration between a British and Saudi design studio, which proposed a distinctive set of artifacts that capture AlUla’s spirit and memory.

The other five winners included Nour Shourbagy, a Saudi-based designer, who proposed a collection of travel carry-ons and clutches inspired by AlUla’s aesthetics and motifs.  

Tarek Elkassouf, a Lebanese designer, now based in Australia, proposed a collection of gifts crafted by traditional artisans, while Mohamad Baalbaki x AlJoharah Al-Rasheed, a Saudi-based studio, put forward a collection of products evoking all five senses, with an interaction between play and memory. 

Niko Kapa, a Greek designer based in Dubai, offered a collection of accessories inspired by the natural landscapes of AlUla, and Reem Bashawri, a Saudi-based designer, entered a line of luxurious winter shawls echoing the region’s natural beauty.

Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, governor of the Royal Commission for AlUla, stated that the award was an important milestone in AlUla’s flourishing arts and cultural sector, to make AlUla a region for inspiration to all designers globally.

source/content: arabnews.com

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Winners and jury of AlUla Design Awards in Saudi Design Festival. (AN Photo/Saleh Al Ghannam)

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SAUDI ARABIA / LEBANESE / AUSTRALIAN

Egyptian Filmmaker Marianne Khoury Awarded France’s Legion of Honour : January 2022

Egyptian Producer and director Marianne Khoury was awarded France’s Legion of Honour in the degree of Chevalier (Knight).

The award was given to Khoury by the Ambassador of France to Egypt in Cairo Marc Baréty. The Legion of Honour is the highest French decoration and one of the most famous in the world. For two centuries, it has been presented on behalf of the Head of State to reward the most deserving citizens in all fields of activity.

It is highest French decoration, one of most famous in world.

Born in 1958, Khoury is a graduate of economics from both Cairo and Oxford Universities. She has directed and produced films on controversial issues such as identity, memory, and social exclusion. Khoury, who is the niece of late great Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, is a managing partner in prominent Cairo-based Misr International, one of Egypt’s production companies, which Chahine founded.

She is also a co-founder of the Panorama of The European Film. She directed her first documentary, ‘The Times of Laura’ in 1999. She then worked on ‘Women Who Loved Cinema’ in 2002 and ‘Shadows’, which tackles personal and social perceptions of the mentally ill.

Shadows premiered at the Opening of the Venice Film Festival in 2010 and won the FIPRESCI award at the Dubai Film Festival of the same year and the Italian television Rai Award in 2011 at the International Festival of Mediterranean Documentary and Current Affairs Films.

She also produced and directed ‘Let’s Talk’ in 2019, which received the Audience Award at the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. Very personal in character, the film is a conversation between her and her daughter about ordinary things in life: Death, life, illness, identity, marriage, etc.

source/content : dailynewsegypt.com

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EGYPT

Dubai Bags Record for World’s Largest Inflatable Water Park : January 2022

AquaFun, anchored in the Gulf waters alongside the JBR beach, has received a Guinness World Record certificate for being the world’s largest inflatable water park.

Launched for the first time in 2016, AquaFun has now expanded to three times its original size to reach 42,400 square metres. It currently forms the words ‘I love (heart symbol) Expo 2020 Dubai’, which can be seen from aircraft flying into Dubai.

It features over 72 obstacles and operates all year round. Prices start from Dh155 for an all-day pass ticket.

Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), said: “To secure another world record for Dubai during such an important event in our calendar, the Dubai Shopping Festival, is a moment of real pride for the city.

Ahmed Ben Chaibah, CEO & Founder of AquaFun, said the aim with the project five years ago was to enrich the Dubai Marina and JBR areas’ offerings.

Emirate bagged yet another world record in the final week of its shopping festival.

source/content: khaleejtimes.com

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DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E)