DUBAI: The Saudi Misk Art Institute announced the winners of its 2021 Misk Art Grant, an annual program that provides technical and financial support to artists inside and outside the Kingdom. 

The honorees are Saudi artists Rashed Al-Shashai, Basma Felemban, and Obaid Al-Safi; Emirati artists Latifa Saeed and Afra Al-Dhaheri and architects Jawaher Al-Mutairi and Mira Al-Mazrooei; Kuwaiti artist Mishari Al-Najjar; Bahraini artist Nour Al-Wan; and French-Algerian artist Zoulikha Bouabdellah.

The winners were artists practicing visual art, painting, sculpture, photography, or multidisciplinary art.

The award, in its second year, grants the winners funds of $266,632.

The theme of this year’s edition was “Under Construction.” It explores how identity is perceived as an emblem of growth, continuity, and endless iterations of cultural representations throughout history, according to the organization. 

The Misk Art Institute was established in 2017 to provide support for artists and arts of all kinds, in addition to stimulating creativity and raising it to international levels.