Dubai: If your interest in painting, sculpting or jewellery design runs deep, turning that passion into a business opportunity is not going to be an easy feat. More so in an environment where art and entrepreneurship have always been viewed as disparate fields.
This explains why in the UAE the main concerns for aspiring art entrepreneurs are to find an audience for their wares, as well as the support to get the business up and running. A difficult sell?
Not really, as there is a growing shift by business incubators to help create infrastructure for a creative community here. Mission impossible is starting to seem more possible.
"All around the world, the creative and cultural economy is talked about as an important and growing part of the global economy," said Michel Bechara, director of projects at the UAE British Council.
"Governments and the creative sectors are increasingly recognising its importance as a generator of jobs, wealth and cultural engagement."
Apart from direct assistance, the many elements that would sustain such a cultural economy appear to be falling into place. High-profile signature events such as the Dubai International Film Festival, the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, Dubai Jazz Festival, Sharjah Biennial, ArtDubai and Abu Dhabi Art Fair do their bit to enliven the creative scene.
Long-term goal
"While the Abu Dhabi Film Council and Emirates Foundation are making a huge difference, they are not small and medium enterprises," said Bechara. "But their strategic long-term goal supports creative initiatives and, as a result, SMEs.
"Government support, art education, copyright laws, and support of loc-ally-produced ‘creative' goods are some of many long-term strategic steps to be taken to make the UAE a more attractive place for SMEs in the creative business."
There are also the privately sponsored projects such as MahMovies of Veritas Films by Mahmoud Kabour, The Scene Club of D-Seven Motion Pictures by Nayla Al Khaja, and Picture House by Front Row with Nassim Khoury. Bechara believes these play their part in driving creativity in the right direction.
"What's missing are local individuals' initiatives which would keep the scene continuous and vibrant throughout the year, and not necessarily around those major activities focusing on one or the other sector," Bechara added.
Indeed the right setting that would give putative entrepreneurs the space and hardware for their creative energies to flower is limited. But what's available is receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from the local artist community.
Tashkeel is one such place. For a membership fee, artists can use the venue, its equipment and library to work on their different disciplines, which could range from textiles to photography to painting. The site was founded after Shaikha Latifa Al Maktoum graduated from university and found she could not find a strong support system for other young artists to meet, talk or carry on their practice.
"There's a big need for facilities like this — it would be great to see Tashkeel in every emirate," said Jill Hoyle, manager at Tashkeel. "But we have a long way to go.
Discussion groups
"I don't think you can compare it to cities in the west where art has been an integral part of their social being for centuries and expect within the space of 30 years for this country to have the same thing."
Along with the space and facilities, Tashkeel also offers a forum for classes and discussion groups. "There's so much value in the artist being able to react," Jill added.
"One of the things our own members have started is a little group related to exhibitions in the gallery. We have peer critique sessions, so artists can gain from the feedback," said Hoyle.
Another business incubator — which has become so popular it has expanded into two outlets and is looking at a possible third — is Shelter. Founded by Ahmad and Rashid Bin Shabib, the concept was a response to the lack of office space for creative businesses in Dubai.
They converted a 40,000 square foot warehouse in Al Quoz to provide office space and support materials needed by budding entrepreneurs including freelance writers, architects, and bloggers. "Whether we succeeded or failed was not our core mission, it was to develop something that was truly unique," Bin Shabib said.
The offices — which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week — are available to rent at a much lower price than regular office space. Members can avail themselves of lectures, classes, networking events and exhibitions offering artists a chance to display and publicise their pieces.
Event bookings
For musicians, The Fridge is an artist booking agency which focuses on promoting local talent for event bookings. It also showcases these musicians at weekly concerts.
Because of the popularity of international brands, local fashion entrepreneurs can find it particularly hard to break into the market in the UAE.
Sian Tichar, author of Shop Beirut, said: "They have a very small chance to compete given the strong presence and dominance of the big international brands, occupying all the strategic and massive spaces in all the malls, leaving very little, if any, chance for start-ups and SMEs in fashion to exist."
Yet small, home-grown entities such as Boutique 1 and Su*ce have come to the fore to promote local designers. S*uce offers a mix of international brands and local designers and collaborates every year with artists in design competitions.
"S*uce opened in 2004," said the entity's marketing executive Melina Mitri. "The concept was always to encourage local talent at a time when larger retailers weren't willing to take that risk. It was very difficult at the beginning. A lot of people didn't believe in the concept of promoting local talent.
"But recently I've seen the consumer attitude has changed and people are more open to local designers."
Other entities are also getting involved in promoting talent. The British Council has launched workshops and programmes under its Cultural Leadership International programme to encourage budding entrepreneurs, and show them how to break into the industry.
Significant contribution
The Council also launched the Young Creative Entrepreneur awards to recognise those making a significant contribution in the creative sectors.
The British Council's Bechara said: "The awareness-raising programme means to build understanding of entrepreneurship in the creative sector and interest in the concept and an engagement with creative entrepreneurs locally."
Bechara said the next step in developing this was to create a climate where talent stayed in the country. To do this, a strong cultural scene needed to be established here. That could only come with time.
"There is a lot happening in the UAE with everyone becoming more and more aware of the importance of the creative industries at the governmental and policy-making level," he added.
"The market is surely ready, if not eager, to consume more of what the creative industries could offer to a more established cultural scene here for the public, locals and expatriates."
