Dubai Based Odia Artist gets Golden Visa of UAE

Bhubaneswar: Mona Biswarupa Mohanty, an artist from the Mayurbhanj district, Odisha has become the first Odia artist to receive UAE’s coveted Golden Visa.

She has been bestowed upon the coveted 10-year Golden Visa by the UAE Government.

A native of Baripada, Mayurbhanj, Mona has been living in UAE since 2007 and practicing her artworks. She is the daughter of famous poet and lyricist Sangram Keshri Mohanty, known for the popular songs like EI Jhuma jhuma Golapi belare, kahana E phula kahana among others.

The long-term cultural visa is granted to talented people in the fields of arts, creative industries, literature and culture, heritage history and cognitive studies. This enables foreigners to live, work and study in the country without the need of a national sponsor and with 100 per cent ownership of their business on the UAE’s mainland.

Sharing her happiness, she said, “Receiving the Golden visa has strengthened my belief in myself and if this can inspire other young artists, I would consider that my biggest benefit. A  long term residency would give me an opportunity for a more meaningful cultural exchange and  possibilities of working on collaborative projects with other artists. I see this as an opportunity to represent my country and culture and mingle with other cultures to contribute to the ever growing global cultural heritage.” 

A self employed art practitioner, Mona is registered with the Dubai Economic Department. She regularly posts her artworks on popular photo sharing app Instagram as @Monnerisms.  

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated Mona. Taking to his Twitter handle the he said, “Congratulate Mona Biswarupa Mohanty, an artist from Mayurbhanj, on becoming the first Odia artist to receive UAE’s coveted #GoldenVisa, a long-term residence visa for 10 years. Her remarkable achievement will inspire others to excel in various fields globally.”