Bhubaneswar: Mona Biswarupa Mohanty, an artist from Odisha’s Baripada, has become the first Odia to receive UAE’s coveted 10-year ‘golden visa’, an official statement said.
Mona has been living in Dubai since 2007 and engaged in the academics and design industry for the past 8 years. She has a diploma in fine arts from the School of Art and Crafts, Baripada. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, and did Masters Research Study in Fashion and Textile Design, Instituto Europeo di Design at Milan in Italy.
In 2016, she left her design job to pursue her true calling, art. In her artistic journey, she has made a constant endeavour to depict the feminine energy of nature. She is a self-employed art practitioner registered with the Dubai Economic Department.
The long-term residence visa, granted to talents in the fields of arts, creative industries, literature and culture, heritage history and cognitive studies, will allow her to live, work and study in the country for 10 years without the need of a national sponsor. She will have 100 per cent ownership of her business in the UAE.
“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,” she added.
