Spotlight on tradition

UAE national artist uses handmade materials

Chunky, silver jewellery in a giant, glass bowl double as the base of a coffee table. Vibrant carpet squares hang on walls, studded with bits of painted clay pots. Decorated wooden window frames border silver khanjars lying on canvases. Colourful beads create a calligraphy.

Almost everything Hala Kazim uses in her art is traditional and handmade. "We have such a rich past. We have beautiful traditional pieces around us. That is why I use traditional material," says the artist, a UAE national of 38 years.

Why does she insist on her material being handmade? "There is a special feeling in things that are made by hand. I could have used a bit of carpet made by a machine. It would have been far cheaper. It would also have been far less beautiful," she says.

Hala is exhibiting in Building 2 of the Dubai Media City. She has gathered most of her exhibits under a canopy that she has designed and created. She has hand-painted the wooden posts and worked the canopy out of sacks. "I wanted to create a stall. First, I thought maybe a tent.

Then I felt everyone makes a tent. So I made a canopy. I used sacks because they are a traditional material and have a lovely texture," she says. Hala had used the idea first to showcase her work at the International Furniture and Interiors Exhibition (Index) held last month in Dubai.

The artist calls her exhibition "My Private Collection". "It is, literally, my private collection. It is my own because I have made everything that is on show. It is also private because the things I have used - the ancient coins, pots, jewellery, window frames, beads - are special to me," she explains.

Her favourite material is the carpet, traditional, handmade, warm, colourful. "There are so many feelings in a carpet. It is so rich," Hala says. "My Private Collection" runs until Wednesday.