MUSCAT: Malak al Wahaibi won first place in the 'Speak So I Can See You' competition as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth concluded the 2026 Child Culture Award on Sunday at the Ministry of Information Theatre.
The ceremony was held under the auspices of Basil bin Ahmed al Rawas, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for Sports and Youth, with support from OQ.
Al Ghaliya al Abri secured second place, followed by Iyad al Waeli in third, Safiya al Shehhi in fourth and Fawaz al Hatmi in fifth.
The competition, open to Omani children and Arab resident children aged 7 to 12, attracted 300 entries featuring videos on energy, sustainability and innovation. Fifty contestants advanced to the second round, with five reaching the final.
The four-member jury was chaired by Omar al Ansari and included, for the first time, a judge from outside Oman — Egyptian stage actress Doaa Mohammed Hamza. Malak al Zaidi, winner of the 2022 edition, also joined the panel as a trainee judge.
In his address, Ahmed al Rawahi, Assistant Director-General of Knowledge and Cultural Development and Director of the Muscat International Book Fair, said the award, launched in 2021, had evolved into a platform for discovering young talent and encouraging children to engage in writing and creativity.
He noted that the 2025 and 2026 editions attracted participants from Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Yemen and Sudan, “affirming that culture is a language that unites us, and that the Arab child deserves to find in Oman a wide space to dream and create”.
Addressing the winners, he said the award was “not a final destination, but a new threshold on a long road of giving”, adding that the winners carried not only an award but also “a promise of a more creative future for Oman”.
In the 'Oman Tells Stories' competition for children’s writers, five women were honoured without ranking from among 96 entries: Tufool al Sarmi, Khadija al Mufarji, Sara al Farsi, Aisha al Farsi and Wafa al Rashdi.
Their winning stories introduce children to influential figures in Omani culture, including former Oil and Minerals Minister Sheikh Saeed al Shanfari, broadcaster Mona al Mundhari, the first woman to say 'This is Oman' on air in 1971, and Salim al Suri, a pioneer of Gulf music.
The ministry will publish the winning stories in five books, with English translations, to be launched and signed at the 2027 Muscat International Book Fair.
The award has so far published six books and honoured 18 children’s writers across six editions.
The ceremony also featured the opening of the 'Oman Tells Stories' art exhibition and the operetta 'The Word Is the Path to the Summit'.
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