Global Call Opens for 2027 Date Palm Photography and Poetry Competitions.
ABU DHABI(News Desk):: Under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, nominations have opened for the 18th session of the Date Palm International Photography Competition and the 11th session of the Date Palm International Poetry Competition, both being held in 2027.
Organised by the General Secretariat of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, the competitions aim to celebrate the date palm as a symbol of heritage, generosity, life and cultural identity, while highlighting its agricultural, environmental, nutritional and economic importance.
The photography competition is open to professional photographers and photography enthusiasts from around the world. It seeks to encourage creative images that capture the relationship between the date palm, people and their surroundings, while documenting cultural landscapes and preserving memories associated with the tree.
The poetry competition invites poets from across the Arab world to participate, with entries accepted in both Nabati and Classical Arabic poetry. The initiative aims to strengthen awareness of the date palm’s role in Arab heritage and agriculture and to highlight poetry’s contribution to preserving cultural and agricultural memory.
According to the organisers, the two competitions go beyond artistic and literary expression by promoting a shared cultural message. Photography portrays the date palm as a visual record of the relationship between communities, land and the environment, while poetry gives expression to the values associated with the tree, including patience, generosity, belonging and sustainability.
The competitions also seek to build cultural bridges between generations and communities and encourage creative efforts to preserve the date palm’s longstanding place in human heritage.
The deadline for submitting entries for both competitions is December 15, 2026.
Photographs must be submitted exclusively through the official competition website, Date Palm International Photography Competition, while poetry entries must be submitted through Date Palm International Poetry Competition.
The winners of both competitions are scheduled to be announced in February 2027.
