A celebration of light and legacy: Emirati heritage in spotlight at Dhai Dubai

Curator of festival returning to Expo City Dubai explains why it is a realisation of her vision

The Scent of Memories installation by Najat Makki was a highlight at the first Dhai Dubai in 2024. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

In the constellation of light festivals illuminating the region, Dhai Dubai is a unique spark. While other events of its kind feature a mix of international and local artists, the festival at Expo City Dubai exclusively features Emirati artists.

Dhai Dubai celebrates light, with all its alluring and universal symbolisms, yet the works on display are distinctly Emirati, boldly reinterpreting heritage.

The event, a partnership between Expo City Dubai and Dubai Culture, opens today and runs until November 18. It was held for the first time in January and February 2024. For its curator, Amna Abulhoul, the second Dhai Dubai this week represents another step in a vision she has nurtured for years: “To let the voices of the land speak out with light”.

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The executive creative director of entertainment and experiences at Expo City Dubai says she wanted to hold the light festival even when the venue was being built.

“Back in 2018, I got the responsibility of taking care of Al Wasl Plaza,” she says. “It wasn’t built yet. I wanted to put the stories of the UAE, and I travelled to meet different experts because I’d never done something on that scale before.”

The Nomad 2.0 installation by Khalid Alshafar at Dhai Dubai Light Art festival in Expo City, Dubai. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Globetrotting for inspiration, Abulhoul travelled to Australia, visiting Vivid Sydney. The light festival gave her the spark she needed. “I saw how the Aboriginal people created light sculptures and I felt them even before reading about them. I felt our nation needed something like that.”

But her vision had to wait. Preparations for Expo 2020 Dubai were under way. The city was going to host 192 countries and there were too many variables and other initiatives to contend with to think about a light festival. But after some 24 million people came and left and the World Expo concluded in March 2022, Abulhoul returned to the drawing board.

“Expo was about celebrating countries, their cultures and how we embed together,” she says. “The world stage was Dubai, but it was an event for the world. We wanted Dhai Dubai to have its own moment.

“After we finished Expo, I continued to go to the different festivals around the world, but I felt they are all similar in the sense that they advertise international pieces as priorities, as what grabs attention. They place them in locations that aren’t very well known and are designed to drive visitation. It’s basically tourism.”

Abulhoul wanted to focus on the art. Dubai, after all, didn’t have a problem attracting tourists. “I really wanted to do something different,” she says. “The voices of the land speak loud with light, but also the production of these pieces is done by the land itself, everything from the land to the land.”

Dhai Dubai has become a highlight calendar event at Al Wasl dome in Expo City, Dubai. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Abulhoul began meeting Emirati artists to tell them about the festival. One of the first she spoke to was Najat Makki. “I told her that this light festival would be the first light festival in the world done by the people of the land. She had a tear in her eye.

“Najat Makki is a pioneering figure in the country’s contemporary art scene. She is a trailblazer. She took a leap of faith to study, and so, I told myself, ‘if Najat Makki had that tear, then we were reaching that potential'.”

Abulhoul took an active role in developing the works with the artists, talking to them and helping them hone their vision. “I made all the focus the artist,” she says. “When Najat Makki’s piece started, I wanted her to find something I had never seen before.

“I asked her when the first time was that she drew the woman figure. She said, ‘Oh, I remember when I was running as a child in the souq to see my father so I could scribble colours on his takeaway bags. I saw all these women passing. When she said this, I wanted to bring her memory to life'.”

Makki’s piece was a highlight of last year’s Dhai Dubai. The Scent of Memories showed seven stylised female figures to represent the seven emirates. “When the work was done, she had tears in her eyes and said ‘I am seeing my childhood’,” Abulhoul says.

Daraweezna, an installation by Reem Al Ghaith at Dhai Dubai Light Art festival. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Other works showcased at the inaugural event nearly two years ago included Movement of Stillness, a piece by Mattar Bin Lahej that combined calligraphy and the essence of a speeding horse. Mohamed Yousef’s piece, I'm Still a Child, captured the perspective of childhood and elements of domestic life in the UAE.

Abdulla Almulla’s Minaret 2.0, meanwhile, was a geometric piece inspired by the design and function of a mosque’s minaret, while Maitha Hamdan’s cylindrical piece, Afterlife, displayed unique and contemporary elements of graphic design and signage.

Meanwhile, Reem Al Ghaith’s Daraweezna drew inspiration from the old doors of Dubai and Al Shafar’s The Nomad 2.0 was based on the idea of the arish, a traditional large hutlike structure made from panels of palm fronds found in the UAE.

For Abulhoul, Dhai Dubai was a platform to recognise the contributions of Emirati artists, emerging and established. This is also her intent this year. Seven Emirati artists from across three generations will take part, including Fatma Lootah, Mohammed Kazem, Khalid AlBanna, Alia Bin Omair, AlZaina Lootah, Ahmed Al Areef Al Dhaheri and Hessa Alghandi.

“Fatma Lootah is the first Emirati to study performance art,” Abulhoul says. “It was frowned upon back then. She went to Italy and lived and worked there. But this is her land. We really wanted to honour her, so we gave her the dome as her canvas.”

Then there is the question of how to display the light sculptures, especially with a backdrop as architecturally imposing as Expo City Dubai. Abulhoul says considerable thought goes into the placement of the works, making sure neighbouring pieces are in dialogue.

“This is the role of a curator and it is not an easy job,” she says. “The pieces should be in a harmony so that you won’t know who is a pioneer and who just started. We did that in the first edition.

“But all the art pieces complemented each other, and they saw each other. With the second, we want to go bigger. Al Wasl Dome is 67 metres high so matter how many art pieces you put beside it, they seem small. So we had to go bigger.”

Looking ahead, Abulhoul says she is contemplating gradually opening up the light festival to include other artists from around the Gulf.

“There is a potential to expand, especially with Gulf countries,” she says. “But from a manufacturing perspective, the works should always be produced in the UAE. This will give us a good creative economy.”