Out and About in Abu Dhabi: Magical mirrors

An unusual exhibition of mirrors will have people guessing, 'which is the fairest of them all?'

Mirror, mirror on the wall ... starts the famous entreaty to the magic mirror in the children's fairy tale, Snow White. It is also the name of an unusual exhibition being held in the Eclectic gallery in Abu Dhabi.

The most well known version of the rhyme continues, Who is the fairest of them all? Perhaps this is a question best not put to the wall hung with mirrors in the gallery, as the answer might well be the mirror itself. From simple classic lines to elaborate Arabesque work, all the mirrors are as much a thing of beauty as the things they may reflect.

The wall on which the mirrors hang is normally reserved for art work by gallery manager, Dina Khan, who along with her husband, searches furniture, antiques and collectibles to grace the gallery.

Why a mirror exhibition? "We normally display the work of artists," she explained. "But we wanted to do something different to celebrate the first anniversary of the gallery's opening. It's not easy to find beautiful mirrors at a reasonable price in Abu Dhabi, so we thought these would make an interesting display."

With a background in fashion, Dina is adept at selecting elegant designs: oval shapes with patiné gold frames; modern Islamic designs with gold finish and bevelled glass and pairs of mirrors which also double as shelving.

The display has a mixture of styles. There is a colonial style mirror, which for Dina, brings back memories of her childhood in Iraq, where her grandmother had a similar design in her house.

Some mirrors have elaborate geometric patterns, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ivory, brass, bone and sometimes marquetry veneers. Others are elaborately worked woods showing the influence of the Arabesque.

Dina explained how, "Arabesque furniture and furnishings were originally used to cover the window space. This gave shading from sunlight while still allowing air to flow. These panels often extended outside structures allowing residents to view the outside world, while providing indoor privacy." Arabesque work is time consuming and thus can be very expensive.

The finer the design, the greater the workmanship required and thus the more expensive it is. This can be as much as $1000 for a square metre of the finest work when purchased separately. As well as mirrors, Arabesque work extends to seating arrangements, tables, panels, corner pieces, chests and trunks.

Situated in the Mashreq Bank/ Paatchi building on Khalidiya street, the gallery's exhibition runs until the end of October.