New marine-inspired mural appears at Dubai beach – in pictures

The 56-metre painting marks the opening of a new Blue Flag-accredited shoreline

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The workout park in Jumeirah 2, near La Mer, is now home to a piece of public art and a new beach area. Dubai Municipality wanted a marine-inspired mural to mark the occasion, as the open beach area has just received Blue Flag accreditation, an international environmental certification for public shorelines.

It seems local art collective Art4You was up for the task.

The group of seven artists, led by founder Jesno Jackson, volunteered to complete the 56-metre-long mural in only five days, working 12 hours each day, to make sure it was finished on time for the opening on Tuesday.

The team included fellow artists Sristi Raj, Boze Krishna, Rajeev Nalukettil, Megha Manjarekar, Tina Khetarpal and Nazish Qureshi.

They put the final flourishes on their work on Sunday.

Flick through our photo gallery above to see more.

"It was pretty tough," Jackson said. But the group is very happy with its work, which depicts marine life, the Dubai skyline and traditional scenes of UAE fishermen.

"The project aims to bring more beauty to the beach," she said. "This work gives awareness of marine life. We have shown the beautiful marine environment to people so that they can take steps to preserve it."

It will be a permanent installation, Jackson said.

The Art4You artistic community was launched in 2015 by Jackson, who is also an art teacher and curator. It's a multicultural, non-profit platform that connects artists, art activists and volunteers and creates community-based events. It also supports and promotes local talent, sells artwork, hosts exhibitions, mentors students and offers private tutoring and workshops.

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