Emirati Comics Exhibition puts spotlight on UAE illustrators

Three-week event at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi also features free workshops for budding creatives

The Emirati Comics Exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat displays different styles and sets of influences. Pawan Singh / The National

Some of the UAE’s most talented comic artists are being celebrated at Emirati Comics Exhibition. The three-week event, which began last Saturday at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi is curated by Sarah Nesti Willard, a lecturer at UAE University in Al Ain.

“Comics speak to everybody, but what these artists do is put attributes from their local culture to make it globally known,” says Willard, who came up the idea for the exhibition three years ago. “That’s basically the idea behind the project.”

In addition to being an art lecturer, Willard is also a children’s author and illustrator. She was fascinated by the UAE’s comic artists after visiting multiple comic cons in the country. The chosen artworks at this exhibition are unique, she explains, in that each displays a different style and set of influences as well as narrative choices. Shining a light on them, she hopes, will attract more attention to the artists and bring them bigger opportunities.

She also wants to make a case for comic art being displayed and appreciated in the same way that fine art is. “An illustrator is always seen as inferior to a fine artist,” she says. “In my opinion, as an illustrator, they should have the same leverage as fine artists. Illustrators are often associated with getting a job done or filling a brief, and for that they don’t get called artists. I argue against this.”

The 21 artists chosen to display their pieces vary in experience and exposure. Some are professionals while others illustrate as a hobby. But they all represent the UAE and its culture in an increasingly global world.

Ashjan Abdulwahad AlSinnani, 36, is an example. Her artwork represents the pursuit of fortune and wealth during the country’s pearl diving era. In six panels, the comic shows a pearl diver, relying on the grace of God, attempting to finding a rare black pearl and becoming a noukhada, or a ship captain in Emirati nomenclature.

AlSinnani wants her comic to be “a lesson for younger generations to remember where we came from and always accept God’s destiny for us”. The focal point of the comic is a large dhow boat, which pearl divers used to sail on to search for the undersea treasures.

Artist Maryah Al-Rashed is a bank employee by day. Her comic, which is about turning 30, is a message to all the other women that age who “haven’t married or birthed a child, or feel that they haven’t done anything of note in life, that it is not too late.”

She says: “Each stage has its own spark, so keep going. Motivate yourself to find your own spark.” Al-Rashed's work shows a young girl standing on top of a pile of stars, each with a number on it, and reaching up to the star with the number 30. It’s a piece that addresses the difficulty of ageing while also communicating that each passing year should push people forward.

Artist Mohammed Alshaibani is one of the more experienced names at the event. As a section lead at Sandstorm Comics, he has been a mainstay of comic cons in the UAE over the years and now represents the Abu Dhabi comic book studio in their efforts to grow the country’s burgeoning scene.

“Sarah approached me with an idea of making a comic in a particular size,” Alshaibani says of his work on display. “She said her theme is to write about the UAE’s comics culture and that reflected back into what I wanted to do.”

The exhibition makes him optimistic about the country’s comics scene. He adds: “I've seen so many people come together and do a comic in a variety of different styles. Whatever it is, no matter what you think of it, it shows interest, and it shows development from the community.”

But Emirati Comics Exhibition is not just about displaying the country’s talents. There are also a range of free workshops on offer for those who want to sharpen their skills and learn from the best. Alshaibani himself will be hosting a 90-minute workshop titled Comics 101, which will take place at 5pm on October 5.

Emirati Comics Exhibition is running until October 12 at Manarat Al Saadiyat