Commissioned by Dubai Culture, a surrealist-inspired work by Reem Al Mazrouei and Amna Basheer has been unveiled.
An Emirati girl levitates in space, a tangle of roots emerging from beneath her feet. To her left, a portrait of mathematician Ibn Yunus is seen gazing out into the galaxy. The Arabic word “amal”, meaning hope, is emblazoned on the work in bold colours. Between them is the planet Mars against a black sky dotted with stars.
Commissioned by Dubai Culture, the painting was devised by designer Amna Basheer and artist Reem Al Mazrouei one week before the UAE Mars mission, and the two completed it with the help of the team at art consultancy Art Painting Lab. It is mounted over 5 metres on a wall in Dubai’s Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
The image of the girl, Amal, adorned in traditional jewellery, is a nod to Al Mazrouei’s Emirati background. “I tend to represent my culture in my drawings and characters. Though the mural has a contemporary look, I wanted it to have a traditional feeling” she explains.
“The girl is wearing the type of Emirati jewellery that we still wear today whenever we celebrate great events in our life, Eid and weddings. The Mars mission was such a great achievement, so the girl is wearing valuable gold to reflect that” she says.
Focusing mostly on illustration, Al Mazrouei, studied visual art at Zayed University. The profile of Ibn Yunus was added by Basheer, an Indian designer and illustrator, who has lived in Dubai for the past two years. She says it represents the numerous contributions the Arab world has made to the world of astrology for centuries.
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