Sharjah: A new art in a park initiative was launched yesterday in Sharjah courtesy of the Maraya Art Centre at Al Majaz Waterfront. The initiative aims to give visitors an opportunity to experience art outdoors, away from the walls of a typical art gallery.

Al Maraya Art Park, which was inaugurated by Shaikha Budoor Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), will be limited to two venues at the Majaz Waterfront for now but there are plans to branch out to major Sharjah focal points.

The initiative aims to provide local and international artists with a platform to share their outdoor art projects while giving people from all walks of life an opportunity to enjoy contemporary art.

The first artist to showcase his work at the Maraya Art Park was New York-based Iraqi-American artist and New York University professor Wafaa Bilal whose sculpture ‘The Hierarchy of Being’ was showcased at the inauguration and is now open to visitors.

Bilal’s artwork is a mobile dome-like sculpture inspired by two Muslim scientists from the Golden Age of Islam. The sculpture allows visitors to get inside it and take in the visual experience of a pinhole video camera that reflect the images outside into the dome.

“I combined the teachings of two Muslim Arab scientists, Ibn Al Haytham who invented the Camera Obscura and Al Jazari who introduced to us [the concept] that motion can be transferred. So when visitors enter inside the sculpture they will see a Camera Obscura. If you sit still for 10 to 15 minutes, which is what I want my audience to do, they can see a full cycle where the 15 windows that act like irises open slowly and make the images race.”

Following Bilal’s project, Maraya Art Park will host a series of other open air events, manager Giuseppe Moscatello told Gulf News. He said that Bilal’s project will move in 2014 to another location to celebrate Sharjah’s emergence as the Islamic Capital of Culture.

“We will have an open call for submission where we can invite local and international artists based in the UAE and Gulf region. Artists interested in participating can visit www.maraya.ae to obtain the application form,” Moscatello added.

— Noor Nazzal is a trainee at Gulf News