Abu Dhabi, 29 April 2009: Pyramedia, one of the fastest growing production companies in the Middle East, has won the Best Arts and Cultural Event Award at the Middle East Events Awards 2009, for the production of the Al Mahabba Awards Festival, a celebration of love for the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) through art.

The winners of the awards show were announced at a dinner held last night at the Joharah Ballroom at the Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai. Hypnotist Dave Crane presented the awards among hundreds of people that gathered to celebrate the best in the Middle East events industry.

Mona Al Ruwaini, Producer of the Al Mahabba Awards Festival accepted the award on behalf of the Pyramedia team and quoted, “First of all I would like to thank God for this Award, and then of course the whole team at Pyramedia, as without them we would not be able to go from strength to strength in the projects that we produce, I would also like to thank the Al Mahabba Board of Directors who kindly put their trust in us to make their event a huge success and we look forward to seeing everyone again in 2010.

The award is one in a string of Awards that Pyramedia and its CEO have received in 2009 including the Digital Studio Award for Lighting Installation of the Year for the highly acclaimed live TV show Millions Poet produced by Pyramedia and broadcast on Abu Dhabi TV.  Nashwa Al Ruwaini, the CEO of the company has also recently received the Feigenbaum Leadership Excellence Award for ‘Women Leaders; Media Personality of the Year at the Shabab 20 Magazine awards and an honorary award at the Oscars for Excellence held in Abu Dhabi last month.

Al Ruwaini, who was unable to attend the event last night quoted, “On behalf of Pyramedia, I thank Allah for his blessing, the organizers of the event and the jurors and most of all the Pyramedia team for making it happen. When such top professionals acknowledge us, it means a lot to us in the events industry. We thank the Al Mahabba board for their trust in us and in the end, this wasn’t a job for us, it was a commitment, a commitment towards a cause. The Al Mahabba Awards Festival is a symbol of love to the Prophet and a hope that peaceful coexistence will continue to grow stronger and stronger.

Pyramedia produced the Festival for the Al Mahabba Awards Board of Directors in its second edition which was held at the Al Raha Beach Theatre in Abu Dhabi from April 24 to 26 in 2008. The Al Mahabba Awards was created to promote artistic expressions of love for the Prophet and inspire Muslims all over the world, especially young people, to express their deep love for the Prophet through the arts. The Awards came about three years ago in response to a series of disrespectful cartoons published in a Danish newspaper depicting the Prophet Mohammed.  The festival brought together Islamic pop bands, artists, filmmakers and poets from all around the world showcasing three concerts, an art exhibition and an elaborate Opening and Closing ceremony over the three days.

Presented by meeting and events industry publication meetme (Meet Middle East) magazine and hosted by Event 360, the Middle East Event Awards awards programme was open to companies who plan, manage, supply or service exhibitions; consumer, corporate and public events; weddings, parties, concerts, venues and theatres. Its aim was to honour, reward and recognise the regions leading events, suppliers and personnel.

The nominations were judged by an independent panel made-up of internationally recognised and respected judges from a variety of industry sectors and disciplines. The Best Arts and Cultural Event category recognized an outstanding art or cultural event whose main theme was to represent and celebrate a culture, tradition or holiday specific to a nationality or religion.