Phoenicia Hotel Art Photo Competition Launches Exhibition

The culmination of a 12-month photo competition and the launch of an exhibition showcasing the results were celebrated during a cocktail reception at the Phoenicia Hotel on March 9. The event drew a large attendance to admire the 12 works of art produced during the inaugural PhoeniciaHotelArtPhoto (PHAP) competition. The exhibition will be open to the public in the Phoenicia lobby until Friday 31st March.
During the year-long initiative each month saw one photographer hosted for a night at the Phoenicia Hotel and invited to produce one art photo during his or her stay, and thus to compete for the grand prize of USD5,000. The resulting 12 works were judged by a jury composed of globally exhibited photographer Roger Moukarzel, art collector Tarek Nahas, President of the Videoinsight Foundation Rebecca Russo, Phoenicia Hotel Area General Manager 2009-15 Georg Weinlaender, SGHL Chairman Mazen Salha, and the PHAP founding judge Najib Salha.
Announcing the jury’s decision at the event, Phoenicia Hotel General Manager Dagmar Symes revealed a tie, with the grand prize of USD5,000 to be split between Mamad Mossadegh for his work titled “Devoured” and Chady Khalaf for his work titled “Life in Wanderlust”. The prize money also came with a quirky twist: it was increased by the same amount in dollars as the room number allocated to the winning artist during their stay; Mamad Mossadegh had stayed in Room 1052 and Chadi Khalaf had stayed in Room 923. 
The PHAP exhibition continues in the Phoenicia Hotel lobby, with a limited edition of five prints available for sale on a first come basis. Each unframed photo edition is priced at $500 with 50 percent of the sale price donated to the designated charity of the artist. 
Buoyed by the success of the first edition, the second PHAP competition for 2017/2018 has already opened for applications. For more information on limited edition photo print sales or on applying for PHAP, please contact [email protected]

The PHAP 12 finalists:
Virginia Khuri – Serenity
Genia Maalouf – Walk of Life
Mario Daou – Calm in Chaos
Antoine Eid – Cupid Was Here
Chady Khalaf – Life in Wanderlust
Loukman Nasreddine – Upgrade
Mamad Mossadesgh – Devoured
Angela Solomon – Morning
Charbel Bouez – Phoenicia, The Art of Serving You
Jeroen Kramer – Forrest Encounter
Ghaleb Cabbabe – Backstage
Diane Aftimos – Watching Over Beirut