Dubai: Dubai has made a huge leap in opening the city to graffiti artists and street art as part of its celebration of its 43rd National Day. But officials maintain that this has to be organised.
More than 150 artists from all over the world converged in Jumeirah near the Beach Park on Saturday to complete the record bid for the world’s longest graffiti scroll. Graffiti is a writing or drawing, or a combination of both, on a wall or a surface using spray paint.
Dubai aims to tell the UAE’s story, its rise from sand to skyscrapers and its promising future through ‘Our Journey’, a collection of graffiti on a 2,180-metre-long canvas.
The canvas — almost three times the height of the Burj Khalifa — was placed in an open space near Jumeirah Beach on Saturday, resembling the UAE map. Political activists in the US primarily used graffiti to make statements and street gangs to mark territory. But it was only in the 1960s that the scribbles, drawings and writings gained identity as graffiti. Artists then became known for their signatures or ‘tags’.
Graffiti is illegal in the UAE. But this new venture into the world of street art is a significant step, organisers said.
“As you know, as with other countries around the world, graffiti is not legal in the UAE. But it is, at the end of the day, an amazing art. But we need to guide artists not to just paint anywhere in Dubai,” Hassan Al Mazroui, event director, told Gulf News.
“We invited 150 artists specialising in graffiti from around the world in addition to the local artists that we have because, as you know, graffiti is not so popular in our country. That is why we brought all the expertise in this field,” he added.
Bahraini artist Mahmoud, known by his tag ‘Huvil’, said Dubai has done a great job in bringing all the artists together.
“By bringing hundreds of graffiti artists in one place, Dubai took a big jump among all the GCC countries where graffiti as an art is concerned,” Huvil told Gulf News.
“Hopefully, after this, Dubai will continue the process of taking this street art to the next level because, to me, it’s like sending a message not only to specific people but to everyone to see the beautiful colours on the walls. All we have here in Dubai is white, beige, yellow. With these colours [for graffiti], the city will look brighter and colourful and positive.”
Saudi artist Deyaa One said the event was a step in the right direction.
“I thought they [Dubai] only support the old or traditional kind of art. It’s good that the government is supporting this huge event for more than 150 artists; it’s something very new to us.”
Al Mazroui said that for Dubai to break the world record currently held by Cencosud in Argentina, every square inch of the canvas has to be used for the graffiti.
“One of the rules is to use that [spray paint cans] specifically and nothing else, no brushes, in graffiti style. The whole wall has to be painted using it.”
