Shadi Al Matroushi and Haytham Shaheen: Meet Abu Dhabi’s self-taught sandmen

Abu Dhabi: Emirati Shadi Al Matroushi and Egyptian Haytham Shaheen have become the talk of the town because of their penchant for creating masterpieces from sand.

Onlookers are amazed when they see sand take surreal shapes and forms in their deft fingers.

Their latest work is a life-size statue of a man engrossed in reading, with books scattered around him and a reading lens placed next to him. It has been designed for the Abu Dhabi Reads campaign and is on display in front of Marina Mall.

Matroushi said it took three days and a container load of sand to finish the sculptures.

“This is a unique form of art. It is special because we are a sand country and our lives are in many ways identified with endless expanses of sand scattered around us,” said 32-year-old Matroushi who works for a government company in Abu Dhabi.

Shaadi is a self-taught artist who took up sand sculpting because of his sheer passion. “I used to make small shapes with sand ever since I was 10 years old. As my interest grew, I learned the techniques of the art from books and through YouTube videos,” said the mass communication professional.

Haytham, 29, is a caricature artist and took up sand-sculpting as a hobby. “It is a passion for me. The most amazing thing about sand is there is no limit to the size and shapes you can make out of it.”

Sand-sculpting is a challenging art. The most painstakingly made statues can cascade down in the blink of an eye — hours of toil going down the drain. Shaadi said he sprays the finished artworks with a special glue mix so that they could last for a week.

“Halfway through, a sculpture will break and we have to start all over again. Often, people don’t understand it is made of sand and they destroy it accidentally. But the trick is not to give up. We keep building and rebuilding.”

The artists have made sand creations for events like Traffic Week, UAE National Day, Mother’s Day and Earth Hour.

Al Matroushi and Haytham say they do not charge for their work as it is their hobby, and they are more than happy to keep the tradition alive. But sand sculpting can fetch them anything between Dh10,000 and Dh50,000 depending on the size and shape of the sculptures.

The artist-duo offer courses in sand sculpting. Those interested may contact them at: almatroushy@hotmail.com