Earth Day Bahrain

AN art workshop for people with special needs can now go ahead, thanks to the support of donors.

The Rotary Club of Adliya has donated BD20,000 to the Social Development Ministry which will establish the specialised art workshop. It is one of four planned for across the country.

The aim of the initiative is to give disabled artists the opportunity to experiment with their talent and sell their art.

“We thought it was a good thing to develop their artistic skills and maybe they will be able to take it up as a profession later and earn a living,” said club president Talal Al Mannai.

“This is really a genuine cause. Rotary’s goal is to serve the community and people with special needs are at the top of our priorities.

“In the past we have focused on other needs in the community such as cochlear implants for the hearing impaired and maintenance on houses for the needy.”

Mr Al Mannai presented the BD20,000 donation to Social Development Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi at her office in Isa Town.

The club raised the money by holding an Earth Day Art Competition at the Marina Club in March.

More than 230 children and adults participated in the event, which was held in collaboration with Ispektrum-Bahrain.

The theme of the project, Arts for the Earth, Arts for a Cause, was held to coincide with Earth Day on March 20.

The club raised a total of BD26,750 at the event. It donated BD2,000 to Ispektrum-Bahrain to help destitute Filipino workers and BD4,750 is to be given to other charities.

The environment-themed competition was open to four groups: primary and elementary school students; secondary school students; special needs artists; and professional artists.

The winners received cash prizes and sponsors received the winning painting of the prize category they supported.

More than 200 paintings are still available for purchase and the money generated will be used for charitable causes.

The paintings and a short film from the day can be purchased via http://earthdaybahrain.org
Source: GDN – Rebecca Rorr – 1 June, ‘08

The "Earth Day" Art Competition was covered in the press, originally uploaded by Rotary Club of Adliya.

This is a scan of the coverage provided by “Gulf Weekly” (Vol 7, Issue 15, April 9 – 15, 2008 – page 21) in the Social Scene

The Rotary Club of Adliya thanks Mohammed Buhassan for his support, originally uploaded by Rotary Club of Adliya.

Rotarian Mahmood Al-Yousif (L) presented Mr. Mohammed Buhassan of Al Waraqoon a certificate of appreciation for his services during the “Earth Day” Art Competition. Mohammed and his coleague Saeed did a fantastic job by documenting the event through their professional photography.

It is with immense pleasure that I have received two acrylic on canvas paintings by renowned Bahraini artist Mr. Abbas Al-Mousawi.

Mr. Al-Mousawi is an instrumental force for good in Bahrain where he has pioneered and supported various local and international charitable efforts through his art. He has been an inspiration to the younger generation especially with his murals, paintings and peace efforts by engaging the youth and children to expound the values of his ideals through art.

We really appreciate the support Mr. Al-Mousawi has given to the Rotary Club of Adliya’s “Earth Day” Art Competition. His paintings will be auctioned off in a future event and the monies generated from them will go to our supported charitable endeavours.

Sponsors and judges of an art competition that raised BD26,750 for charity were honoured at the Rotary Club of Adliya’s weekly meeting held at Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel, Residence and Spa.

They were presented with certificates of appreciation from club president Talal Al Mannai, who thanked them for their generous contributions and support.

More than 230 children and adults participated in the Earth Day Art Competition, which was held by the club and Ispektrum-Bahrain at the Marina Club last month.

The theme of the project, ‘Arts for the Earth, Arts for a Cause’, was held to coincide with Earth Day, which is celebrated on March 20.

From the proceeds, BD20,000 will be given to the Social Development Ministry for the establishment of a specialised art workshop for people with special needs.

The aim of the workshop is to develop the talents of those with special needs and help them bring in an income.

The club will also donate BD2,000 to Ispektrum-Bahrain to help destitute Filipino workers, while the remainder of the proceeds will be given to other charities.

The environment-themed competition was open to four groups: primary and elementary school students, secondary school students, special needs artists, and professional artists.

Paintings

The first three groups participated in an on-the-spot painting contest lasting a maximum of five hours, while walk-in artists submitted a painting they had created at the event, or prior to the competition.

The winners received cash prizes and sponsors received the winning painting of the prize category they supported.

A total of 210 paintings are still available for purchase and the money generated will be used for charitable causes.

The paintings and a short film from the day can be purchased on http://earthdaybahrain.org.

“We are cataloguing all of the paintings and they can be ordered from the web directly,” said Rotarian Redha Faraj.

“The ones we don’t sell we will auction at various events throughout the year.

“The paintings will also be auctioned at Rotary meetings in Dubai and Beirut.”

The competition was sponsored by Al Maseerah Printing and Publishing House, Fakhrawi Framemaker, Taib Bank, Microsoft, Almoayyed International Group, BBK, Alba, Bahrain Duty Free, Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions, BMMI, Al Faraj Trading and Services, Burger Paints, Bahrain Training Institute, Caltex and Bahrain Cinema Club.
GDN – Rebecca Torr

It is with pleasure that we announce the immediate availability of the official Earth Day Art Competition DVD for viewing on this website and for purchase.

The DVD contains two movies; the first is the movie made by Arif Al-Yousif and Ahmed Karimi, two young gentlemen who shared their views of the environment and covered the actual Art Competition is a news-like report. The second video was produced by Gulf Broadcast for the club at no charge.

Should you wish to purchase your copy, please contact Sandra Dias at the Rotary Secretariat. The cost is BD 5. All the proceeds go directly to support the Rotary Club of Adliya’s charity efforts.

Hundreds of pictures have been uploaded to our Flickr Album, please visit to view them, leave a few comments and favourite some if you will.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

More than 300 children from private and government schools took part in an Earth Day art competition at the Marina Club yesterday.

Children began arriving at the club since early morning to register for the first of its kind event.

“I arrived with my son at 7am when the club was still closed. Several parents and children were waiting outside,” said Ali Salim Mubarak whose son took part in the event.

Talal is autistic. He was among 30 children with special needs who took part in the event organised by the Rotary Club of Adliya and Ispektrum – a group of Filipino artists.

A special tent was set up for children with special needs.

“We registered 300 children, including 30 with special needs who expressed themselves through their paintings and gave a tough competition to others,” said Mahmood Al Yousif from the Rotary Club.

The participants were provided with acrylics and other material and teachers tested their drawing skills. The competition was held under Minister Fatima bint Mohammed Al Belushi’s patronage.

Amina Habib Sarhan from Al Rahma Centre won the first prize of BD250 in the children with special needs category.

Esra Hasan and Hussain Akeel Ali received BD200 each in the primary and secondary school categories.

The Hussainiya Art workshop and the Bahrain Art Society judged the paintings.

The event raised BD26,750 of which BD20,000 will go to the Ministry of Social Development.

“The ministry may set up a special art centre to exhibit these paintings. We are providing a platform for children to gather and express views of the future through paintings,” Yousif said.

Part of proceeds from the competition will be used for distressed Filipino workers.

“We will use part of the money to buy air tickets homes for distressed Filipino workers,” said Mylene Pavedes from Ispektrum.

[S]he was joined by some 20 volunteers from the organisation.

The organisers plan to display the paintings on their website (www.earthdaybahrain.org) for bidding.

Bahrain Tribune – 22/3/08

الوسط – السبت ٢٢/٣/٠٨

It is with pleasure that we announce that renowned Bahraini artist Abbas Al-Mousawi has committed to donating one of his paintings to the Rotary Club of Adliya’s “Earth Day” event which will be auctioned and the funds generated will directly go to the main aim of this project.

We wish to thank Mr. Al-Mousawi for his continued support of philanthropic activities in Bahrain and internationally and wish him much luck in his artistic endeavors.