Culture & Education | Saturday 15 February, 2020 2:01 pm |

As part of its efforts to create an effective cultural movement and make Dubai the leading destination for cultural, creative, artistic, and literary talents as well as enhance its position as a pioneer on the global cultural map, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation to create an innovative cultural endowment project. It aims to expand endowments into the cultural sector to support intellectual and artistic talents, which will boost the creative ecosystem.

The cultural endowment project will enable educators to allocate their time to educate the community in various technical ways. This comes within the framework of the efforts made by Dubai Culture to implement the strategic initiatives that fall under the umbrella of the cultural vision launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai a global centre of culture, an incubator for creativity, and a thriving hub for talent.

The project also falls under the initiative ‘Art for Good,’ a charitable platform that allows proceeds from sales of participating artists to go towards humanitarian efforts. The wider aim is to establish an annual art week in Dubai that would comprise charitable auctions for collectors and businesspeople, where proceeds from participating artists will finance charitable and humanitarian projects across the Arab world.

The cultural endowment will also be increased through the ‘Schools of Life’ initiative that aims to transform public libraries in the Emirate into integrated cultural knowledge centres and platforms for learning, participation, and innovation that will boost cultural, artistic, creative, and life skills across society. As part of this programme, volunteers will offer cultural and educational opportunities to contribute to spreading the culture of endowment, whether for visitors of Dubai Public Library branches or society as a whole.

This initiative is supported by the Mohammed bin Rashid Global Center for Endowment Consultancy, which is under the management of the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation. It also contributes to achieving the Dubai Endowment Strategy to make Dubai a global centre as well as stimulate and enable endowments and grants while also granting endowment certificates. This is the embodiment of the statement of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who said: "We opened the doors to become the most supportive nation for endowment for the service of humanity."

Hala Badri, Director General at Dubai Culture, emphasised that this cooperation is important for attaining more comprehensive achievements of Dubai's strategic goals by translating the government’s vision. She said: "The cooperation between Dubai Culture and the Awqaf and Minors' Affairs Foundation enhances the importance of effective cultural mobility and strengthens the position of Dubai as the leading destination for diverse creative and cultural talents by directing endowment to various cultural aspects. In turn, this contributes to the development of society in various intellectual and cultural ways, helping position Dubai as a global centre for stimulating and enabling endowments for the better good. All these accomplishments work towards achieving the visions of our wise leadership and will have a global impact. This agreement constitutes the first of a series of future fields of cooperation with the Awqaf and Minors' Affairs Foundation, especially with the many joint projects between the two parties that will be witnessed in the coming period.”

HE Ali Al Mutawa, Secretary General of the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation, said: “Innovation in endowment, expansion of its uses, and allowing everyone to contribute to it, are all strategic goals that we work on in the foundation as a means of cooperation with various sectors, including institutions and individuals, to establish a culture of innovative endowment and expand the range of its beneficiaries in all fields.”

Al Mutawa added: “The concept of an endowment initiative that allows people to offer their time or talent is an innovative one that allows creators and talented people to contribute to serving the community and enhancing its culture. Ultimately, it empowers new creative talents by having them volunteer some of their time for humanitarian work, which results in achieving Dubai's position as a global platform for innovation in endowment and consolidates its position as the best city to live in, as per the January 4, 2020 document that was launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum earlier this year.”