AIBC Eurasia delegates rally to raise over €100K at Dubai auction night
Awards season is upon us, and where better to start than in Dubai. Now in its sixth edition, the Eurasia event has become a staple in our events calendar, a highly anticipated opening to each new year, and home to a growing crowd of 15,000 delegates annually.
Setting the tone for the days to come, the Eurasia Awards took place this evening at the InterContinental hotel in Dubai’s Festival City. An elegant networking evening welcomed guests before they headed into the Al Baraha Ballroom for a sit down dinner, ceremony and auction.
SoftConstruct leads the charge for charity
As with every Awards evening, the SiGMA Foundation hosts a high-impact charity auction, which along with a percentage from sold tickets to the event, supports a number of projects being championed by the charity.
This year, education and healthcare were key focus points, with several initiatives – such as the building of new classrooms at the Women’s Empowerment Centre, water tanks for the Wush Wush kindergarten in Bonga, the refurbishment of a school in Jimma, Ethiopia, and a kindergarten and primary school in Kasese, Uganda all set to be inaugurated over the next few weeks.
In Peru, efforts were diverted to the rebuilding of the Casa Betania night shelter and river dormitory for patients awaiting urgent health care.
A well known face at Foundation events, auctioneer Rick Goddard was back once more to host, delivering a passionate plea on behalf of the charity before plunging into a rousing and enthusiastic round of bidding on the artworks. Generosity was the theme of the night, with SoftConstruct amongst the standout bidders at the Eurasia Auction pledging support for projects designed to create lasting and meaningful impact.
Auction 1: Sold for €22,000 to SoftConstruct
Starry night in Dubai by Rada Kalenchyk
Inspired by Dubai’s nightscape, this artwork reimagines Van Gogh’s Starry Night in a modern city setting. The Impressionist movement meets contemporary realism, uniting heritage and innovation, and was showcased at Rada K.’s solo exhibition at Zaha Hadid’s sculptural masterpiece – ME by Meliá.Rada K. is a Dubai-based artist trained at the Belarusian College of Arts. Based in Dubai since 2012, she collaborates with luxury brands worldwide, creates emotionally resonant, experimental works, and exhibits in prominent private and corporate collections globally today internationally.
Auction 2: Sold for €25,000 to SoftConstruct
Rider on the storm by EDO
This artwork captures the intersection of control and chaos through a figure advancing into turbulence. The horse and rider symbolize leadership, risk, and momentum, while expressive brushwork and a golden palette evoke movement, volatility, and decisive authority. Edo is a contemporary Mediterranean artist exploring power, movement, and human will through expressive figurative abstraction. His bold, textured works reference myth and ambition, exhibited internationally and collected by leaders through high-profile charity auctions and private commissions.
Auction 3: Sold for €8,000 to Exclusive Gaming UAE
John Lennon by Tommy Zegan
Carved from luminous Carrara marble, this bust honors John Lennon. Blending classical craftsmanship with contemporary restraint, it captures his introspection and timeless presence. Subtle details and marble’s historic prestige elevate the portrait into enduring cultural art. A Tommy Zegan Original. Tommy Zegan is an American fine-art sculpture designer, whose work spans marble, bronze, stainless steel and mixed media. He gained attention for his provocative golden statue Trump and His Magic Wand, and for his marble sculpture – the Spirit of Ecstasy, which set a world record as the most expensive marble sculpture in the world by a living artist, auctioned at the John Caudwell Butterfly Ball in London last year.
Auction 4: Sold for €2,000 to Quantum
The height of belief, where earth touches heaven by Anna Bukhareva
This artwork explores how conviction becomes architecture. Rising in gold, the vertical form transforms belief into matter — a monument not to wealth itself, but to the faith required to create it. Where earth touches heaven, ambition becomes destiny. Anna Bukhareva is a Los Angeles-based artist whose practice explores the relationship between inner states and external reality, examining how belief, desire, vulnerability, and power take visual form. Her work focuses on transformation, expansion, and self-authorisation. The artist’s work has been presented at major international exhibitions and art fairs, including the Florence Biennale and Zona Maco, and is held in private collections worldwide.
Auction 5: Sold for €7,000 to Haddzy
When I fall in love by Lucienne Spiteri
“When I Fall in Love,” part of the Music to My Ears collection, features a vintage 20″ ride cymbal. Its first two bars, played on the saxophone, offer a simplified, musical interpretation of Victor Young’s iconic composition. Lucienne Spiteri, inspired by her self-taught artist father, creates vibrant, bold, and energetic works. Her painting and photography reflect mood, surroundings, and experimentation, capturing the world with sensitivity, creativity, and a dynamic, ever-evolving expressive energy.
Auction 6: Sold for €45,000 to SoftConstruct
Market Beast by Ilya Spich
“Market Beast” shows a calm, powerful tiger holding Bitcoin, symbolizing the volatile modern financial world. Layered with meaning, it reflects contemporary complexity and the artist’s passion, standing as a statement on the forces shaping today’s reality. SPICH is a raw, unapologetic artist spanning street art, painting, graphic arts, and sculpture. From city walls to digital collaborations, including 0xProcessing, his evolving work challenges perspectives and invites visceral engagement through bold experimentation and boundary-pushing creativity today.
For more about AIBC Eurasia, the Awards, and how the Foundation is making change, visit the website.
