Sheikha Azza Al Qasimi dedicates first solo exhibition exhibition in the UK to her father

UAE artist Sheikha Azza Al Qasimi is staging her first solo exhibition at the University of Oxford in the UK to help promote "cross cultural understanding and awareness".

Sheikha Azza has dedicated the exhibition to her father, His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah - and a lifelong patron of the arts.

Titled Mirage, the exhibition is being staged at Oxford's St Antony's College, where Sheikha Azza is studying.

The exhibition, which began on May 6, will run until May 10. Mirage features 25 paintings in a unique setting unlike anything previously seen at the ancient University.

In keeping with its title, Mirage embodies a Gulf theme - and the entire exhibition room has been transformed by ten tonnes of sand. The authentic atmosphere is further heightened by desert flora and fauna, a central majilis, Bedouin-style seating, Arabic coffee pots, carpets and furnishings.

Arabic music will play throughout the exhibition and visitors will enjoy a touch of native hospitality - with the traditional welcome of Arabic coffee and dates extended to all. It's an atmosphere designed to showcase Sheikha Azza's work to best advantage - and to complement her paintings which denote many traditional Gulf themes.

Largely self-taught, Sheikha Azza has exhibited all over the world - but Mirage is her first solo exhibition and the culmination of her artistic career to date. It also affords a highly-personal glimpse into the mind of the artist.

Sheikha Azza describes Mirage as "a voyage of self-discovery" - and the touching catalogue notes on each painting are testimony to her deep attachment to her homeland. The exhibits include Pearl Seekers, Minarets and Wind Towers.

The wider Middle East also figures prominently - with a number of pieces depicting traditional scenes in Syria, Lebanon and particularly Egypt. "I fell in love with the place," she says, "and it inspired me to continue featuring Egyptian culture and architecture in my work."

Her work is created in a variety of media - predominantly watercolours but also pastels, etching and porcelain painting.

Dating from 1995 to 2001, the paintings on display make up an artistic portfolio which Sheikha Azza admits she often found taxing to do. The subject matter of one work left her "emotionally drained - and I had to shut out the world for a few days to become my old bubbly self again".

Other exhibits draw on childhood and family memories, including a preliminary sketch of one of the ornaments "in the Islamic wing of one of the many museums that my father enjoyed taking us to".

Dedicating Mirage to Dr Sheikh Sultan, Sheikha Azza fondly recalls such visits and writes: "In charting my artistic progress to date, it is impossible to exaggerate the influence of my father who nurtured my fledgling creative efforts and set me on the long road to this, my first solo exhibition.

"From earliest childhood, I seem to have been steeped in art. Indeed, I can hardly remember a time when visiting museums and art galleries with my father was not an intrinsic part of everyday life.

He taught me to appreciate not only the beauty of art - but its potential to free the human spirit and let it soar. His support and encouragement to women artists in general - and to this artist in particular - is only one of the many reasons why this exhibition is dedicated to him."

Sheikha Azza, the Dr Sheikh Sultan's eldest daughter, first arrived at Oxford University as a visiting student to read Modern Middle Eastern Studies.

Already a B.A. in Business Administration, she is currently studying for her Masters Degree in Forced Migration and will be graduating in July.

Despite critical acclaim, Sheikha Azza is remarkably down-to-earth about her work, which she says is "mostly inspired from everyday life - conversations with friends; images on TV; even dreams".

She easily resists the temptation to talk arty. "Pablo Picasso believed that painting is just like keeping a diary - and so do I. I simply record whatever I see and feel at a particular moment in time".