As regional conflict continues to unfold across the Middle East, artists and cultural figures in the UAE say the it has strengthened the country's sense of community.
Emirati filmmaker Ali F Mostafa says he has seen people from across the country’s diverse population rally around the place they call home.
“Dubai has always been a city where people from all over the world live side by side, but not always interacting,” he says. “What I’ve seen over the past few days is the opposite – people from every background coming together to express their gratitude for a place they all care about.”
That sense of connection is also visible across the UAE’s cultural networks. Emirati writer, researcher, and founder of Barjeel Art Foundation Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi points to communities that have continued to meet despite the wider situation.
One example is Dubai’s 1833 Club, headed by Sultan Al Darmaki, which has remained a gathering point for members of the creative sector.
“There are certainly numerous expressions of solidarity towards each other,” Al Qassemi says. “I also know of conversations that involve financial support for upcoming exhibitions and events.”
Physical cultural spaces are playing a role as well. At Cinema Akil in Alserkal Avenue, founder Butheina Kazim has introduced pay-what-you-can seats for some screenings, allowing audiences to attend regardless of their circumstances during the current period.
Kazim says the cinema has continued to function as a meeting point for members of the creative community.
“In moments like this, what matters most is knowing you can reach out to your community,” she says. “Sometimes that’s asking how someone’s coping, sometimes it’s collaborating or sharing resources. When we opened last weekend, people came to watch a Jim Jarmusch film – they simply wanted to be around each other.”
The connections extend beyond the UAE. With the conflict extending across the region, it has highlighted the networks that already link creative communities across borders.
“Artists have been checking in with each other,” says UAE-based Egyptian illustrator Nora Zeid. “We’re all in different places affected in different ways, but the instinct is to stay connected. Tonight I’m doing a sketch-along call with a Lebanese friend. Sometimes it’s not about solving anything – it’s simply about getting together and keeping our hands busy.”
Emirati filmmaker Nayla Al Khaja also pointed to the support the UAE has long offered its creative sector, from scholarships to platforms that allow young artists to develop their work.
That environment has allowed many filmmakers to pursue careers they might not otherwise have imagined – and it comes with a responsibility to reflect the country’s spirit, especially during difficult times.
“The past weeks have been deeply testing, but they have also reinforced a profound sense of pride in my country and in the way events were managed with resilience and unity,” she says. “Moments like these inevitably shape artists, and I’m certain the experiences we’re living through will inspire new stories and films with greater depth and perspective.”
The response from the region’s creative community has taken many forms. What unites them is a simple instinct: to reach out, to gather – virtually or physically – and to continuously support one another.
In the UAE’s arts world, just as across the country itself, this moment is strengthening the bonds between artists and audiences, reminding them how much they rely on one another – and how much stronger they can emerge together.
