Dubai: Christmas images in summer, Indian mythology in an American context, a mathematician balancing canvases ... the art is quirky and young. All that is new and interesting is making inroads into a growing art community in Dubai.
Expect the unexpected and that is encouraging new talent to present, to capture and captivate.
Gulf News took an amble down this light dappled art lane to get a glimpse of a group of people who are creating fresh perspectives.
Art cafes like Jamjar and Indulgence offer new artists opportunities to create and display their work.
Muskan Ohri, co-owner of Indulgence, located in International City, initially wanted to open a café but coming from an artistic background decided to add some artwork to the interiors.
"The response was overwhelming, as people appreciated the paintings and started bringing in their own for show and trade. This [is symbolic of] the growing art culture in the country," she said.
"The UAE is a young country full of talent, thus we provide a platform for anyone and everyone to bring out their artistic abilities ... from singing and playing instruments to displaying all genres of art."
Rachael Brown, head of special projects at Jamjar, said: "In the recent past I have seen a development in this [sector] and noticed that many people are now taking art more seriously [rather] than just as a hobby."
She believes that artists in this part of the world are comparatively more active and over the years the number of painters is increasing.
As per the cafe, in 2007 they had an average number of 10 artists per week, while now it is about 30 a week.
Ali Koaik, a Lebanese painter from Dubai who is a regular at Indulgence, said: "For me painting was the last thing I would do, but Dubai has more opportunities and this encourages people. When I painted three tables at Indulgence I discovered people liked my work. I just feel that if someone has a talent then they should display their talent and let people see it."
Even for the established painters and art lovers there are many places to display and buy all kinds of art like photography, calligraphy, sculpture, ceramic, film or sketches. For example, Bastakiya, a traditional historical area of Dubai and Al Quoz has a number of galleries.
Isabella Ellaheh Hughes, director of the XVA Gallery in the area, said: "We are an artist-centred gallery that entertains all forms of art from experienced and new national or international artists including university students."
Mona Hauser, the owner of the gallery said: "The only requirement is that their art should be good."
Rich ideas
Hughes explained the diversity of their artists.
"The variety of artists include Sameer Reddy, an Indian journalist for the Newsweek and The New York Times who is displaying his art that combines Indian religion and myths with American culture and Mahmoud Hamadani, an Iranian mathematician who specialises in freehand lines and ink," she said. Eugene Gaddia, in charge of the art gallery Heritage House, said: "We promote the undiscovered artists as they have rich ideas that promise a good future."
Heritage House, which is in the Bastakiya area, is now building a library and a room where people can come in and paint in the gallery itself.
In order to promote art, galleries usually change their exhibitions every month so that more people can participate and organises activities like making a movie in 48 hours, live sketching and still life painting.
Avani Soni, a student artist from Dubai added: "Earlier it was hard to get into the art industry, but now Dubai has many opportunities like The Shelter, Ceramic Café, Indulgence and galleries."
Were you aware of Dubai's growing art scene? Will you be using these cafes and galleries now that you are aware of them? Or do you feel that the art community is still lacking something?
