Launched in 2008, the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (ACAP) is the only art prize specifically for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region and the only prize to reward proposals rather than completed works of art. The winning artists go on to create the works alongside an international curator appointed by ACAP. At US$ 1 million in annual disbursements, it is the world’s most generous art prize.

 

ACAP serves a number of purposes which fit perfectly into our culture and indeed our business model. Rather than looking at this as pure philanthropy, it is important to communicate how this fits into our business vision.

 

Firstly, the prize serves to empower creative potential, the potential of upcoming artists in our region who are in need of financial support as well as a platform from which they can express themselves to a wider, even global audience. ‘Empowering Individual Potential’ is more than ever a powerful theme in a region which needs this vacuum to be filled in almost every aspect of endeavor, and the ACAP is a proxy towards the fulfilment of that objective within the artistic spheres. Working with an international curator enables these artists to tap the latest trends, while the prize gives them a global platform on which to showcase their works and their region.

 

The prize reflects Abraaj Capital’s own investment philosophy, which is to take viable businesses with great potential, and create regional and global champions. Once completed, the works become part of the Abraaj Capital Art Collection.

 

Art knows no boundaries, and as such we are also supporting the integration of cultures and vast cultural heritage found in the MENASA region through this art prize, as yet another way in which we act to make our region sustainable and globally recognized within the international artistic fraternity.