Artists depict love for UAE through unique installations
abu dhabi — Eleven artists of different nationalities, residing in various emirates, have come together to celebrate the tradition of Arab and Islamic Art through unique calligraphic installations at an art exhibition curated show ‘Ameen - When all prayers are being heard’. Taking place at Al Ain Mall, the show’s curator Shabir Mir said the exhibition that started in Ramadan aims to show to the world the unity of a healthy art community in the UAE. The exhibition will continue until June 30.
Mir has brought to the show his unique installation of Arabic calligraphy along with various pieces of selected artists that include some fine traditional calligraphy, abstract calligraphy, modern calligraphy, cubism, sufism and portraiture.
“Each and every Arabic letter is a complete art form in itself and that is why I chose Arabic calligraphy as the main theme of my exhibition,” Mir said.
Garnering much attention was Mir’s unique gold-coloured installation titled ‘Human’. The installation shows Arabic alphabets written in calligraphy and made up of Titanium, copper, brass and aluminium lined up randomly. “I have taken Arabic alphabets written in a calligraphic style and composed them in a random fashion. Even if they don’t mean anything, they look extremely beautiful. That is
Each and every Arabic letter is a complete art form in itself and that is why I chose Arabic calligraphy as the main theme of my exhibition.” Shabir Mir, curator
the beauty of the Arabic script.
“We have around 200 nationalities, all are living happily in harmony and respecting religion, culture and rules of the country. This is what I aimed to show by bringing artists from different religions and ethnicity, united at one platform for their love for this country, its culture, religion and peace,” said Mir, a Pakistani national residing in the UAE since 2000.
The group of artists displaying their artwork included two Emiratis, one each from Poland, India and Mauritius and the others from different parts of Pakistan.
Indian artist Ria Sharma’s bright acrylic painting The Search Within 17, portrayed a ‘Dervish’ in trance with controlled cubist lines and a soulful spirit that seeks to burst out from the constraints of the cubist
Cubism for me is fusing my internal and external worlds and hence works best to describe subjects that have personally much deeper values.” Ria Sharma, Indian artist
shapes. “The dervish in trance shows that he is at a higher level of consciousness which can be achieved either through prayers, meditations or fasting where one is truly connected to God.
“Cubism for me is fusing my internal and external worlds and hence works best to describe subjects that have personally much deeper values. It is influenced by common threads between the movements and simplification of geometric forms,” she added.
UAE artist Ahmed Rukni, who was displaying portraits of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, father of the nation, said: “The word Kareem in Arabic means generous, and Zayed, the founder and the first ruler of the UAE, was the most generous man of his times.”
The word Kareem in Arabic means generous, and Zayed, the founder and the first president of the UAE, was the most generous man of his times.” Ahmed Rukni, UAE artist