Expo 2020: Public Art Program greets new works

Four Emirati artists from different generations are completing the installation of their permanent public artworks on the site as Expo 2020 Dubai prepares to open its doors to the world on Friday.

Afra Al Dhaheri, Abdallah Al Saadi, Asma Belhamar, and Shaikha Al Mazrou, all Emirati artists, will have their work displayed alongside those of other notable colleagues from the region and around the world.

They intend to create a creative area throughout the Expo site, not just for the six months of one of the world’s most anticipated events, but for many years to come.

Tarek Abou El Fetouh curated the Public Art Program, which was created in accordance with the ambitious urban designs that would turn the Expo 2020 site into the future city of District 2020.

With 11 permanent large public artworks interlaced within its urban fabric and the potential for many more artworks in the future, the program is designed as a platform for contemporary art in the neighborhood.

Terhal, a permanent public sculpture in a seating area, is the outcome of Al Saadi’s immersion in the unique natural settings of Wadi Tayyibah in the emirate of Fujairah.

The artist’s map-like paintings in this work are inspired by various orientations on stones found in the Wadi Tayyibah region.

The stones are arranged in his own symbolic code, inviting the viewer to decipher a lyrical archaeological language.

Shaikha Al Mazrou’s Plinth represents her artistic language, which diverts materiality and generates dynamic forms with a tension-balance interaction, displaying the artist’s instinctive, intensely felt awareness of materials and their physical attributes.

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