Expo 2020 Dubai has unveiled its community art project, known as Hammour House, at a preview attended by UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Commissioner General of Expo 2020 Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan.

 

Hammour House will bring together fishermen, scientists, artists, students and a number of institutions to showcase a selection of visually striking and emotionally inspiring installations on-site.

 

Inviting communities around the world to connect with the issues of sustainability, Hammour House examines the coral reefs of the UAE and its inhabitants, particularly the orange-spotted grouper, known locally as hammour.

 

Sheikh Nahyan said: “Hammour House embodies Expo 2020’s theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, which links creativity and engagement, and aims to bring the whole community together to build awareness, and enable action towards addressing our biggest challenges from the viewpoint of the arts.”

 

During the six-month mega-event - from October 1-March 31, 2022, the project will showcase a tapestry depicting marine life, created by school students using batik technique and sustainable dyes. It will also feature Hammour Fish, a sculpture made from ghost nets (fishing nets lost and/or abandoned at sea), by Australian artist Sue Ryan.

 

In a programme that includes daily knitting experiences and UAE-based artist- and art teacher-led workshops, visitors will have the opportunity to contribute to an ‘ever-growing’ coral reef sculpture, made from recycled materials 

 

The programme also presents musical evenings in collaboration with the Centre for Musical Arts (CMA), where students will compose and perform soundtracks, especially for Hammour House.

 

Bringing together diverse segments of the community and organisations, Hammour House tells stories that respond to the expo’s subtheme of Sustainability (one of three subthemes, alongside Opportunity and Mobility), celebrating the underwater world.

 

One of Hammour House’s inspirations is the One Thousand and One Nights story of Abdullah the Fisherman and Abdullah the Merman, particularly the introduction of the story where the fisherman develops a friendship with the merman and learns about underwater life and begins to appreciate that fish are not only a source of food, but also organisms subject to complex systems and hierarchies similar to those found on land.

 

Expo 2020 Dubai Arts & Culture Senior Vice President Dr Hayat Shamsuddin said: “We are highlighting connections between seemingly disconnected narratives and community members. By bridging arts with science, we aim to engage with serious topics to develop a deeper understanding of sustainability issues; and by facilitating connections between fishermen, scientists, artists, schoolchildren, and institutions, we aim to address the future of our oceans.

 

"We also want visitors to consider that whatever happens in any body of the ocean, affects the entire state of the environment on a global scale.”-TradeArabia News Service