Awarded for extensive work and promotion of Arts and Music and patronage of the creative spirit and young talent
The Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) today announced that its Founder, Hoda Al-Khamis Kanoo, will receive an award from the Women Together Organisation at the 5th Women Together Awards Ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York later this month.
The Women Together Awards are granted annually to outstanding individuals whose personal and professional efforts have made them symbols, icons and examples to younger generations. Mrs Kanoo receives the award for her relentless work over the past 15 years to promote art and music throughout Abu Dhabi, the UAE and the Gulf region, especially amongst women and children. Mrs Kanoo is the first recipient of the award from the GCC region.
Past recipients of the award include Hillary Clinton; Queen Rania of Jordan; Journalist Rosa María Calaf and Nobel Peace Prize winners: Muhammad Yunus and Shirin Ebadi. This year Mrs Kanoo will receive the award with other distinguished personalities including the former Irish President Mary Robinson;; former Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland; American Vogue Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson among others.
Mrs Kanoo began her relationship with arts and culture at the American College of Paris, where she studied French literature and art history. During her stay in the French capital she developed a deep interest in classical music, and took advantage of the access to some of the best museums and art collections in the world.
Upon moving to Abu Dhabi, she held senior positions with the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation and the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. In 1991 she was married to Mohammed Kanoo, a member of the prominent business family from Bahrain and himself an artist, curator and gallerist, and started a family.
In 1996, her passion and determination to advance classical music, the arts, culture and creativity amongst local nationals and residents, led to the establishment of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), under the Presidency and Patronage of HE Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
Today, ADMAF remains a leading cultural organisation, with a strong educational mission, a vibrant events calendar and community programmes that reaches across all the Emirates. Each year the Foundation hosts a series of prominent international and Arab artist lectures for students at schools and universities, in addition to public lectures at other venues within Abu Dhabi. ADMAF also directly supports student involvement in the arts, and last year created the Abu Dhabi Young National Press Leaders, a unique programme designed to encourage the direct involvement of young nationals in journalism.
With the guidance of Mrs. Kanoo, ADMAF also work with children with special needs and disabilities. The Foundation recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care, Special Needs and Minor’s Affairs (ZHO) through which they have identified a strategic approach to increasing the quality of access to the arts for people with disabilities and/or special needs.
ADMAF also works in collaboration with other leading international cultural organisations, diplomatic missions and Embassies to presents cultural events of the highest calibre. For example, ADMAF hosted the incredibly successful Francophone Week held last year, and currently the French Season which is runs until the 4 June 2009. These events help to involve a diverse range of cultures in the activities held and aim to support and enhance the cultural relations between the UAE and other countries.
Each year ADMAF presents the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival, the region’s foremost cultural event that attracts world-class artists from across the globe. This annual Festival features a rich and diverse programme that appeals to a variety of audiences and is a key feature of the Abu Dhabi culture calendar, helping to position Abu Dhabi as one of the region’s leading cultural destinations.
During the Festival ADMAF presents the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival Award, given to a National university student who has participated during the Festival in one of four categories including film production, literature, communication skills and visual arts. Other ADMAF awards to recognise, encourage and support young talent include the Annual Creativity Award and the Comic Strips and Cartoon Art Festival Award.
HE Mrs. Hoda I. Al-Khamis Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, said:
“I am very humbled to receive this award and would like to thank His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, for his ongoing patronage. I would also like to thank the ADMAF advisors and all ADMAF team members. This brilliant group of dedicated people work so hard to deliver a quality range of educational programmes and events throughout the year, and I am grateful for their commitment and support.
“My dream for the Foundation when we started in 1996 was to involve more people in art and musical activities. Now, some 13 years on, our educational work is going from strength-to-strength and we are reaching more people than ever before.
“The cultural scene in Abu Dhabi, and within the UAE, is experiencing a cultural renaissance and we are delighted to play our role within this. For me this award represents yet another milestone in the international recognition for ADMAF.”
Mrs Kanoo is the recipient of many other awards, including the Medal of Civil Merit (November 2005) conferred by HM King Juan Carlos of Spain, and the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (June 2008) bestowed by Horst Koehler, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany. She has received these awards as a token of appreciation for her efforts in establishing cultural relations with these countries.
The 5th Women Together Awards Ceremony will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday 20 May 2009. The Women Together Organisation was created in 1996 as a non-government organisation, and is supported by HM Queen Sofia of Spain as Honorary President. The Organisation has special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council and is associated with the UN programme for poverty eradication.
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