(IWS) International Watercolor Society in collaboration with the Cartoon Art Gallery will be hosting a 4-day Watercolor Festival in UAE from 22nd till 25th of February followed by 4 day painting tour from 26th February to 1st of March 2018.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Qassmi, an avid supporter of Art in the region, will grace the inauguration and also being a talented Artist himself, his work will be displayed at the IWS’s Watercolor Festival; Chief guests also include Mr. Can Dizdar  - The Ambassador of Turkey, Mr. Erdem Ozan – Turkish Counsulate Genereal, Mr. Salih Ozer - Turkish Culture and Tourism Atache, Sir Syed Mohamad Hasrin Aidid – Ambassador of Malaysia, Mr. Yubazlan Yusef – Malaysian Consulate General, There are artworks from the collection of  Former Malaysian Ambassador- Dato Mohd Yusof Ahmad and  Consul General, H.E. Carlos Tavera, Celebrity guests include actor Mr . Sohan Roy & Mrs Abhini Sohan Roy; the inauguration is hosted by MBF group at the Zahra Hospital in Al Barsha starting at 5:00pm and is open to the public.

This will be the region’s largest Art Festival dedicated to Water Colors. It will be the only one of its kind International Festival with More than 600 Artists from 50 countries. The International Watercolor Society has branches in 90 Countries and over 4 million social media reach. At the Dubai event, we expect more than 100 International Artist visiting Dubai, over 300 Artworks have been selected internationally for exhibition and participation of 100 Art teachers of UAE. The Winners of the IWS’s Watercolor competition in the International Category are-1st -Ali Sajid, 2nd Galuh Tajimalela and 3rd Aniket Mahale. The UAE Winners are 1st Bonny Mathew,2nd Rajeevan Kayyanthala, Dr Shaji Panickar,3rd Valia Abou Alfadel ,Thankachan Kumaran​ .Best Emirati Award winner is Fatma Al Hammadi, UAE Theme- Nilanjan Guha, Happiness Theme- Akabar Akbari. All the works will be displayed at the IWS’s Festival.

Mrinmay Sebastian – Cartoon Art Gallery Manager & IWS UAE Country head says, “All Watercolor Artist and enthusiast are eagerly looking forward to the most awaited day- The 1st International Watercolor Festival. The country head of International watercolor society (IWS UAE) says "Its a such a bliss to see such mesmerizing watercolor work and am truly proud to showcase these masterpieces in here in UAE for the 1st time. Along with creating the longest watercolor painting during the festival at Al Zahra Hospital in Al Barsha. One of the other highlights of the festival includes, plein air sessions which is open to all artists to join in, The French term 'En Plein air' means 'in the open air'. Even though it is new in this part of the region, plein air painting events are gaining popularity thanks to a few committed artists who devote at least half a day in a week to work in the open, natural light conditions.”

Mr Melvin Mathew , the owner of the Cartoon Art Gallery, Dr, Woodman Taylor, Head of Visual Communications Dept , of American University  in Dubai & Zaahira Muthy  jointly worked to curate for  the Festival.

The Watercolor Festival starts on the 22nd of February at Al Zahra Hosptial in Al Barsha with   live Watercolor demonstration by International Artist and Masters at 2:00 pm, demonstration by Celebrity Master, Alvaro Castagnet at 4pm and concluding with the Inauguration ceremony at 5:00pm leading to an exhibition at the Cartoon Art Gallery and ending with a Gala dinner. On 23rd of February the second day of the festival, artists are invited to join plein Air at Al Fahidi Historic District. On 24th of February the 3rd day, artists will be invited to take part in a Plein Air session at Deira Spice and at 3pm to join IWS to paint and create the Longest Watercolor Painting of UAE at Al Zahra hospital in Al Barsha. On 25th of February the fourth day of the festival, artists will head to Dubai Marina, for a Plein Air session, followed by a lunch at Dar El Kamar, along with live demonstrations by visiting Masters at the Cartoon Art Gallery ending the evening with the closing ceremony.

The Master Artists coming to the festival include the worlds number one watercolorist, Alvaro Castagnet, Atanur Dogan, Amit Kapoor, Agus Buditanto, Dr. Amer Hassan, Lafe, Nader Mohazabnia, Besnik  Xhemaili Ali Sajid, Jansen Chow, Kauser Hossain Masud, Helidon, , Alexandrya Bryksa, Mohammed A Wahab, Selama Todorova ,Galina Gomzina Vikrant Shitole, Sadhu Aliyur, GN Madhu, Faisal Abdul Qader Al Bastaki ,Fatma Al Hamadi, Anna Galea ,Bonny Mathew, are a few names coming to the IWS Watercolor Festival in the UAE.

Sponsors of the event include: The Cartoon Art Gallery, MBH Group, Zahra Hospital, Mijello, Nevskaya Palitra, Escoda , Daniel Smith, PT explorers,  Dar El Kamar , Expressions Handmade Papers by Zyphar's, KC 24 Productions, MAD (Mad About Dance Institute) & W2W Events & Pr.

Event Details: -

Venues:  Al Zahra Hospital – Al Barsha and the Cartoon Art Gallery.

Events: Opening ceremony & Exhibition of Artworks

Opening Reception: 22nd of February at 5:00pm in Al Zahra Hospital in Al Barsha

Closing Ceremony: 25th of February at 5:00pm in The Cartoon Art Gallery

Exhibition Dates: 22nd till 1st of March

Art Tour: 26th of February till 1st of March