|
Hundred painted Arabian Horses are at the Dubai Convention Centre in time for the Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship. Students from various schools in Dubai have worked on these horses. And it was more than just an experience, they tell RANA FAZAL ...
YOU must have seen them in certain high profile locations across Dubai, but if you had been to Al-Seef Street, you would have seen a whole line of these gorgeous, interesting, whimsical, cute and simply wow! horses prancing majestically down the road. Yes, it is the 'Dubai's Celebration of the Arabian Horse' exhibition we are talking about. And what made the horses on Al-Seef Street so special was that school students have painted them. Yesterday, (March 21) the horses were moved to the Dubai Convention Centre in time for the Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship from 27 to the 30.
The logical successor to last year's immensely popular 'Camel Caravan', the Arabian Horse exhibition once again combines art with commerce to charities. This time, though, as Patricia Palmer, the lady behind the project reveals, school students were involved at the express desire of General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, whose generosity made it all possible (see Box, The lady behind it all).
The organisers planned, as the first step, an art competition open to all public and private schools in Dubai to design the Horse. Ali Akbar Sahiwala, a grade 11 student of Emirates International School, Dubai, remembers it all. "The organisers came to us and told us about the design competition and gave out sheets. It was all quite unexpected, and we had only four days to hand in our designs as our school was closing for the winter holidays. Our teacher, Karamah Aweidah, assigned us consecutive squares, and I decided to sketch buildings, which to me represent Dubai's growth. Our Art teacher then collected the squares, pasted them together and we decided on the name International Quilt as we have over 85 nationalities in our school."
The design must have had quite an impact, because it was one of the winning designs chosen by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum himself.
Ali Akbar notched up 61 solid hours for painting the horse, for the Creativity Art Service (CAS) component of the IB program at school. "Technical problems arose when the two-dimensional design was projected on the three-dimensional figure of the horse," informs Ali Akbar. "And we had to make certain changes."
Another design that made it to the chosen few was the one submitted by the Dubai English Speaking School. Aptly named Celebration of Dubai, the design, executed by Pete Bracey, the Art and Technology Coordinator, not only showcased Dubai, but made sure all the year groups in DESS would be involved. "I split the horse into eight different areas," explains Pete, "with the youngest group doing the simple pattern on the legs. Year 6 students, however, researched and chose buildings to represent Dubai, traced the design while I guided them with the colour scheme."
In order to make the painting fully representative of the school, Pete even held a workshop for teachers after school, which resulted in the Music teacher doing the mane and the Science teacher painting the nostril! "Over a hundred students participated at DESS," says Pete, "and it was really a tough task selecting them."
Similarly, the German School's design called Wustenwind is a great example of cooperative effort. Some of the students whose efforts made it on the winner's list were understandably elated at the news. Sylvia Ghattas, Gareth Dias and Tooba Dilshad are some of the few who had the pride and pleasure of seeing their designs come to life. Once the designs were chosen, the next step was painting the horses. The fiberglass models were given to the selected schools by mid-January, and they had about two weeks to complete the task.
"I've always liked art, it's been a hobby, but now I am thinking of taking it up seriously as winning this competition has given me more confidence," says a delighted Sylvia, who's in her final year at the American School of Dubai.
Sylvia's design underwent quite a big change when painting. Originally titled 'Party Animal' the design had swirl reminiscent of paper decorations, but once they started painting them, Sylvia and her class friends found the swirls getting more gentle, which ended in the horse being named Naseem, meaning 'breeze' in Arabic. "Even the colour scheme changed,"says Sylvia. "We decided on not too many yellows.
Gareth Dias, who's in grade nine at the St Mary's Catholic High School, Dubai, chose a design full of circles and triangles, in shades of blue. "It's blue, because I'm in the Blue House," he explains with a smile. The horse has been named Magnificent Blues. "and I feel so happy and relieved that something good has been accomplished."
"I stayed back after school everyday for almost two weeks," says Gareth. "And with help from teachers, friends and even my cousin, we managed to complete it on time."
For Gareth, the technicality consisted of getting the shades just right. "I used watercolour pencils for the outline, then painted the horse in just 12 shades of blue, from the lightest to complete black." Tooba Dilshad, an eighth grader from English College says she wanted to do something simple. Her design called Island consists of two palm trees on a patch of land amidst serene blue waters. "I'd been thinking of pursuing art," she confides. "But now it is pretty definite I will take it up as a GCSE subject."
In mid February, the horses were taken away to the 'stable' in the Children's City (see box, A good time to visit Children's City), and the students who had so far spent so much time with their 'horses' admit to feeling a sense of emptiness. "It kind of felt sad that the horse wasn't there anymore," says Sylvia, echoing Tooba's words that 'it really felt lonely after school without the horse.
Once the students saw the completed horses, though, the feeling turned to elation. "I honestly felt like screaming," says Tooba of her first sighting. And Gareth reveals that he felt great joy in seeing 'his' horse out at Al-Seef Road.
So how does it feel to be involved in a public art exhibition like this? Everyone concerned agreed that it's a brilliant idea. Sarah Burhan Badi and Aisha Mohammad Al Bandoor, both studying at the Al-Ittihad Private School (Mamzar branch), Dubai, feel very proud to have contributed to this project. They along with their schoolmates and their art teacher Wahiba Suleiman painted in a design called 'Flowers' and Sarah says she loves to see the city being this decorated.
Katrina Zimmerman from USA, Mariel Whelam of Norway and Jacob Cristianson from Denmark study at the American School of Dubai and collaborated with Sylvia on the painting process. Katrina says that 'back home', teachers and professors, not students do most art projects. "In that sense, it was a special event and we really enjoyed the teamwork and fun we had painting the horse" "It's a very clever idea," says Mariel. "And it's great fun when driving down to pick your favourite designs," Jacob says. Jacob's grandparents were here at the time. "We had pictures taken with the horse. They were so excited," he smiles.
Sophia Ishaeva and Salwa Nahouli, both in year 12 at the English College, did the painting along with Tooba. "I got credit for it, and it will look good on my CV," says Salwa, while Sophia feels it's an interesting idea that reveals the multi-cultural nature of the emirate. For all these students belonging to various countries across the globe, working in the Arabian Horse exhibition was more than just a great experience. It was in Sylvia's words, "a significant step in bringing art in our everyday lives instead of confining it to galleries and exclusive shows. People appreciate this kind of community much more."
Jonathan Airey, Head of Art at the English College says that the school will not only put the achievement in the individual record of the students involved, but also give them rewards. Bob Jormsar the High School Art teacher at the American School of Dubai says that the experience has been beyond mere education for his students.
In all, 100 horses, including those being painted by artists from all over the world, will be out on the streets of Dubai in time for the Dubai World Cup on the March 27. In mid-May, these horses will be auctioned, and quite a few students are hoping that their schools will raise funds to 'buy' back their horses. To this, Bob Jormsor says, "who knows what might happen? It's been talked about, we'll have to see if we can have a go at it."
Even if that doesn't happen, the thought that their efforts will help raise money for so many charities (see box; Charities) is the most gratifying to all the students as well as the schools involved. So what's on the agenda for next year? Patricia isn't telling, but Jacob hopes it might be the Arabian leopard. What is certain though, is that this innovative public art exhibition will not only raise awareness of the elegant Arabian horse and showcase Dubai as its natural home but also emphasise the contribution to the city's budding cultural identity.
|
