CARAVAN’s "Kahlil Gibran Award" for 2025 presented to Egyptian Artist Mohamed Abla

CAIRO - CARAVAN was privileged to present its Kahlil Gibran Award for 2025 to the celebrated Egyptian artist Mohamed Abla on October 29, 2025 in the desert oasis village of Tunis Fayoum in Egypt. The presentation took place during CARAVAN’s first Egypt Tour.

CARAVAN’s mission is to use the arts to build bridges between diverse cultures, peoples and spiritual traditions, toward fostering a more harmonious future, both with each other and with the earth. Our mission is based on the belief that the arts can be one of the most effective mediums to heal our world and to creatively foster peace and harmony, by enhancing understanding, bringing about respect, enabling sharing, and deepening relationships between those of different backgrounds and worldviews. This has resulted in CARAVAN partnering with renowned and emerging artists from all over the globe. 

CARAVAN’s Kahlil Gibran Award goes to an individual of artistic, literary, academic, spiritual or philanthropic distinction who has used the arts in exceptional ways for 

transformational purposes. The award is named after Kahlil Gibran, the early 20th century Lebanese-American poet, artist and mystic, and author of the bestselling book The Prophet. As a supreme East-West figure, Gibran's life and work embodies CARAVAN’s vision and mission, as he artistically focused on peace, harmony, care for the environment, spirituality and the building of bridges between diverse peoples, creeds and cultures.

Mohamed Abla, the 2025 recipient of the Kahlil Gibran Award, is not only one of the most noted and respected artists in the Middle East, but his life and work profoundly embodies "using the arts for transformational purposes” in numerous ways, including employing the arts to build bridges between those of different backgrounds – cultural, political, religious and economic. Abla is also known for investing in and mentoring emerging artists. Additionally, he was instrumental in the establishment of CARAVAN's early local initiatives in Cairo.

Abla demonstrates the transformational power of art both through his own artistic work, as well as through his vision in founding the Fayoum Art Center which hosts artists from around the world, the Caricature Museum dedicated to the art of satire, and more recently the Abla Art Foundation which was established for the purpose of expanding understanding, cultural exchange, and human connection. There are also plans to open a contemporary art museum in Tunis Fayoum, Egypt.

Abla has said, “I believe God created us to learn and connect with others. Islam teaches us to know and respect others. I think that’s essential. . . .The more we get to know others, the more our humanity grows. . . Art brings you closer to yourself and your soul. I believe art brings peace - to the self and to life.”

In a recent interview with CARAVAN, while reflecting on his work and life, Abla said, “My message is that each of us must deepen our sense of humanity - that we think of ourselves as human beings, not just physically standing on earth. Broaden your vision, see yourself as equal to others, recognize that every human deserves life, happiness, and safety. My message to the world is: let us open our hearts and minds to one another.”

It is an honor for CARAVAN’s Board of Directors to present the Kahlil Gibran Award for 2025 to Mohamed Abla.

Biography

Egyptian multimedia artist Mohamed Abla is one of the Middle East’s most celebrated artists. He was born in 1953 in Belqas in the Egyptian Nile Delta. After graduating from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria (1973), Abla embarked upon a seven-year journey around Europe, where he visited museums in Spain, France, Belgium and Germany, eventually studying sculpture and graphics in Vienna and Zurich. His first solo exhibition ran at the Hohmann Gallery, Hamburg, Germany (1979), followed by shows at Gallery Ewat, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands (1989); Art Hall, Örebro, Sweden (1991) and the Egyptian Academy of Rome, Italy (1991), amongst others. In 1994 he won the First Prize at the Kuwait Biennale, followed by the Grand Prix at the Alexandria Biennale, Egypt in 1997. He has also participated in international art events such as the Havana Biennale in Cuba, and his work has been part of prestigious group exhibitions such as at the British Museum in London and the Kunstmuseum Bonn. Abla’s central motivation is to familiarize a national and international audience with every facet of Egyptian society while addressing social and political topics through its complex layers. Teaching at various international institutions led him to found the Fayoum Art Center in 2006, a place where young artists from all over the world live and work together. In 2009, he established the first caricature museum in the Middle East and North Africa. After the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Mohamed Abla was elected as part of the “Committee of 50” that wrote Egypt’s new constitution. In 2022, Abla was awarded the prestigious Goethe Medal from Germany for his life’s artistic achievements, the first Arab artist to be awarded the prize. He returned the award in 2024, protesting Germany’s complicity in Gaza.