Over 40,000 entries, 15 Categories, 10 high brow jury members, images that told compelling stories, a packed house at the eclectic TODA( Theatre of Digital Art, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai), an immersive experience at the auditorium, handpan music, a virtual avatar keynote, a multicultural invitee presence, loads of prizes and trophies, delight and despair, the 3rd edition of the Kioxia ExceLENS Awards ceremony had it all.
Santosh Varghese, Vice President, Toshiba Gulf FZE addressing the audience
Hand pan artist Anas Al Halabi regaling the audience at the ExceLENS Awards with his magic
Conceptualised, engineered and executed by Dubai headquartered creative and branding agency ISD Global, the awards is a salutation to the creativity, ingenuity and talent of the region’s professional and amateur photographers and videographers.Not to mention, an initiative to enhance and bolster the creator economy by also encouraging students, hobbyists and homemakers to participate as well.
Bastian James, Regional Product Manager, Toshiba Gulf, handing over the trophy to Rino Soren, Winner in the Drone Category
President of Emirates Culinary Guild Chef Uwe with his better half & Sunjeh Raja, Founder & CEO of ICCA, admiring some of the nominated work
Some of the special guests having a ring side view of the proceedings
This year’s edition of the awards had entries coming in from UAE, the rest of the GCC, Africa, Bangladesh, Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Bali etc. Geography is truly history in this case.
” We at Kioxia have always recognised that memories can be everlasting and tell compelling stories. The Kioxia ExceLENS Awards, now in its 3rd edition is delivering consistently on the promise of respecting & unearthing photography | videography talent in the region and beyond. Our ambition is to make this bigger, broader, better in every sense and the next edition will bear testimony to our vision. Continuous innovation, breaking the mould while remaining relevant and recognising, respecting and rewarding deserving talent is what we set out to do, always “, avered Santosh Varghese, Vice President, Toshiba Gulf FZE.
The admiration continues. One of the ExceLENSers doing a deep dive of the work on display
Dr. Ashok Iyer, Associate Professor- Program leader, School of Engineering, Architecture & Interior Design – Amity University Dubai, Handing over the Winner & Runner-Up trophies to Riyas Muhammad and Hiwot Tesfaye respectively for the Architecture Category.
Grinning from ear to ear and why not? Arjun Sasi with the two Runners Up trophies that he won in Astrophotography & Automobile “
Stevi Lowmass, Founder & CEO, The Camel Factory, presenting the award to Joel Ryan Tailsic, Runner Up in the People Category
” Meritocracy took centre stage while we were judging the multiple thousands of entries across so many categories at the Kioxia ExceLENS Awards. And sometimes, we were caught between a rock and a hard place, such was the quality of the entries received. In the end, all of us jury members put our best effort to be as objective and neutral as possible and followed a consistent judging rubric to ensure that we got it right “, echoed Pinu Rahman, one of the esteemed jury panel members and multiple award winning photographer, based out of Bangladesh.
Mr Pramod Balakrishnan, Operating Partner, Ashmore Capital presenting the award to Deepa Girish, winner, Wildlife category
Srikumar Sreedharan, General Manager GCC at Mathrubhumi Group presenting the award to Nowfel Abdullah, winner, Sports & Entertainment Category
Mr Marco Fraschetti- Art Consultant | Photographer | Musician, giving away the award to Maya Mohan, winner in the Automobile category
Chef Michel Uwe: Culinary legend, Father of Chefs and President, Emirates Culinary Guild presenting the award to Subham Kumar, Runner Up, Food Category
At ISD Global, we have always been at the forefront of innovation & creativity. Our concepts & IPs are all about identifying, reaching out, influencing & impacting communities be they Content creators, C Suite Thought Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Brand Owners & Guardians, the Design community, Homemakers and Students.
H E Consul General of Bangladesh in Dubai presenting the award to Winner Abhishek in the Astrophotography category
Sunjeh Raja handing over the Street category Runner Up Award to Mayas Hawari
Santosh Varghese, Vice President, Toshiba Gulf FZE in deep conversation with Pravin Ahir, Creative Director, ISD Global and Suresh Dinakaran, Chief Storyteller, ISD Global
Ajas Sheikh proudly posing with his Runner up trophy in the Sports & Entertainment Category
We believe strongly in ‘ pattern interrupts ‘ and building communities across genres. The Kioxia ExceLENS Awards is an ode to that ethos and thinking and we are grateful for the solidarity and support that brand Kioxa has invested in the initiative to make it bigger, larger, better.
Double delight on Amar Habeeb’s face as Winner & Runner Up in 2 categories
Pinu Rahman, esteemed jury panel member in conversation with Ajas Sheikh, Runner up in the Sports & Entertainment Category
Mr Khalil Abdul Wahid doing the honours
Across our roster of concepts and IPs be it BrandKnew, a dedicated media asset offering actionable intelligence to the branding, marketing, advertising & design community, Weeklileaks, a content platform that is curated to bring a smile to people’s faces through both videos and text, Phewturecast, our trends and insights forecasting platform that helps organisations and brands to plan a future back strategy, Hackcellence Fest, a virtual Davos for the student community designing solutions to solve real life problems, the BrandKnew Influencer Marketing Awards and many more, our endeavour at ISD Global always is to bring together communities, offer them food for torque, engage them and inspire them in meaningful ways “concluded Suresh Dinakaran, ISD Global.
Santosh Varghese & Joey of Toshiba immersed in admiring some of the images on
Khalil Abdul Wahid, Faisal, Anas Al Halabi, Mrs Anas & Marco striking a conversation before the awards
Santosh Varghese, Vice President Toshiba Gulf FZE handing over the trophy to Syeda Ruksana, Technology Category
The Kioxia ExceLENS Awards after having the first two editions at the glorious Etihad Museum in Jumeirah, Dubai, switched to the very avant garde TODA( Theatre of Digital Art, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai) for this year’s edition.
Something to be proud of for both- Syed Ruksana, Runner Up, Technology Category with her daughter
Special guests including Akansha Goel(2nd row) and from left to right in front row Dr Ashok Iyer, Devraj Ghosh, Santosh Varghese, Sunjeh Raja and Sreedhar Bevara
Tammy Tusek presenting the Videography category award to Abhishek
” It was great to host the 3rd edition of Kioxia ExceLENS Awards at TODA. Being a multi-sensory, multimedia immersive art ecosystem, we are the first art initiative in the UAE that combines multiple forms of digital art including multimedia exhibitions, contemporary immersive installations, and art in virtual reality. ToDA also aims to educate using art, and eventually become an entertainment hub in the middle of Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. So, the synergies with the vision of the ExceLENS Awards was immense and we are proud to be an enabler and facilitator for initiatives like these and look forward to partnering with ISD Global and Kioxia in the future as well “, mentioned Daria Prodaevich, Director of TODA.
Maya Mohan, winner, Automobile category, admiring the works of art
Dr Ashok Iyer presenting the Architecture category Winner award to Riyas Muhammed
Mr Khalil Adbul Wahid, Mr Faisal and Mr Raj Nambiar of the University of Bolton in conversation before the Awards
Multiple mainstream media and content partners who collaborated in this Kioxia ExceLENS Awards initiative included The Daily Hunt | Dubai Media | UBL HD TV | B4U+ | B4U Aflam | Whistling Woods International |Mathrubhumi Group | Filipino Times | Republic TV | Hallatec | AFC Holidays among others.
Where the Art Works, the Heart Works
Food For Torque. Admiring Art is in Good Taste
Striking a pose and carrying it off well. A guest at the ExceLENS Awards
The Kioxia ExceLENS Awards is going upstream with another initiative branded the Wall of Frame, which will be a series of Exhibits | Gallery displays for the shortlisted participants. The first of the Wall of Frame series will be held in Dubai at the end of October. More details will be on the awards website by the end of April.
Mr Bastian James, Regional Product Manager, Toshiba Gulf FZE, offering the Vote of Thanks at the ExceLENS Awards
Famous Bangladeshi Photographer Sharmin Ahsan Bithi presenting the Runner Up award to Sharda Dubey
Moving forward, the Kioxia ExceLENS Awards is committed to making the initiative better, modern, more inclusive and futuristic. Watch this space for more.
…
This article first appeared in https://www.brandknewmag.com
Seeking to build and grow your brand using the force of consumer insight, strategic foresight, creative disruption and technology prowess? Talk to us at +971 50 6254340 or engage@groupisd.com or visit www.groupisd.com/story
