Metronome takes community’s pulse

Blank Canvas set up a community art wall which inspired people’s creativity. Tributes to Prince, who died on Thursday, and images and slogans for Earth Day took precedence. Photo by Amanda Dale

A communal art wall and poem united people from across the Emirates at Metronome’s closing party of the season.

The free event, at The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa on Saturday, buzzed with activity, from local musical talent to yoga on the lawn, to games of Life Size Jenga to conversations on life, the universe and everything.

The centrepiece however, was a community art wall launch by Blank Canvas. Using paints and coloured pens, those attending enjoyed expressing themselves, their thoughts, hopes and dreams onto two large double-sided pieces of canvas.

From doodles about Earth Day and environmental slogans, to splashes of purple and the ‘Love Symbol’ in tribute to music legend Prince, who died on Thursday, the walls soon became a kaleidoscope of creativity and colour.

Tanya Awad, co-founder of the communal art group, said the Metronome indie-music showcase marked the launch of their project in the UAE. Ms Awad and her sister Christina, who are Palestinian-Lebanese, started their concept while living in Melbourne, Australia, and want to introduce it to the Emirates.

“We want to create a space for people to express themselves,” said Miss Awad. “In Australia we had a mix of professional artists and people who didn’t tend to draw and so drew stick figures instead. It was very humbling for professional artists and very encouraging for non-professional artists, as we got people to continue one another’s lines. It was a beautiful experience.

“By getting creative together, it creates its own narrative and is about sharing. What we try to do is build community through art.

“People have really enjoyed getting creative today,” she said. “This is a beautiful emotive form of expression; people really get ‘in the zone’; it’s a very intimate space so people have been a bit vulnerable. We’re definitely planning on doing more events.

“What we plan to do now is to cut the canvases up into small pieces to sell, and to give the money to charity.”

The last Metronome event before the summer also featured deep discourse with End Small Talk, yoga sessions by Dina Ghandour of YApparel and Jivamukti Yoga, and a “Butterfly Wall” by consultancy and empowerment coaching organisation Be You International, on which people could express change they wanted to see in the world.

The eclectic collective of musicians on Saturday included: GAA Percussion Performance Ensemble directed by DeVeor Rainey; Cookies; Sree; Adam Kadabra; John Slinger; We Speak in Colors (Andrew Armstrong); As Per Casper; Elias Sabella; Jaye and Foe; Evergreen with Fadi Zahar; Raisa; Physical Graffiti; Swing Revue; and Kenda Rae, who performed a tribute to Prince dressed in purple and flamboyant feathers.

There was also a performance by the Espada Dance Crew and music from DJ Saif and Sound (Radio 1). Event volunteer Hassan Hussein gave out free hugs and attendees also contributed to a community poem by Backyard Poetry, which runs the open mic event Art House Speaks.

Qutouf Yahia, co-founder, said: “The community poem was made up of one-liners written by the audience. Each person was allowed to view the line right above theirs, and go from there. We walked around with a clipboard until we covered almost everyone.

“We were really happy to take part; we had a wonderful time. The show had the best vibes and a great turnout.”

Metronome Meets Blank Canvas was organised by White Cube Studios and Blank Canvas.

• For more information on Blank Canvas Communal Art, see the group's Facebook and Instagram pages. For more on Metronome, visit www.whitecubestudios.ae. For the Backyard Poetry schedule, see www.facebook.com/arthousespeaks