UAE hotel lobbies: the perfect place to show off local art

With a plethora of hotels set to open across the UAE, the increase in artwork displays will not only encourage emerging artists and benefit the economy, but offer visitors an insight into the country.

The Four Seasons Hotel lobby on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi is home to seven bronze sculptures by Ashwaq Abdulla. Delores Johnson / The National

In every hotel across the UAE, the first pieces of art that any visitor usually sees are the mandatory portraits of the nation’s rulers. Traditional and often mounted in gold-tinted frames, the images are so ubiquitous they might not even register with those who see them.

However, in the Rove City Centre, a new hotel in Dubai’s Deira district, due to open in November, the three portraits of Sheikh Khalifa, the President, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, are a conversation starter.

They are made with layers of laser-cut monochromatic sheets of acrylic that give them a three-dimensional appearance, and accentuate the light and shadows on the leader’s faces. Made by a British-Bahraini artist called Tariq Sharif, the portraits are also noteworthy because this is the first time the artist has had his work displayed in a public building in the UAE.

Sharif, 37, who lives in Abu Dhabi, has been making art since 2013, and is among the handful of local, emerging artists selected to have their work included in the design of the hotel.

“This is a massive opportunity for me,” he says. “It is such an honour – it is amazing that the hotel has taken the time to go off the beaten track to promote the new generation of artists.”

Rove, a mid-range hotel chain aimed at the urban traveller, is a Dubai-born brand and a joint venture between Emaar Properties and Meraas.

Anne-Cecile de Chaumont, design manager for Rove Hotels, says she has made it a priority to involve artists based in the UAE as much as possible.

“Installing a sense of place for our guests is very important,” she says. “There is much more to see beyond the surface in Dubai and so many things that surprise us as visitors and as residents. We want to share that in our hotels and the artworks are a key way to do that. They allow the guests to start experiencing Dubai as soon they enter the property rather than as soon as they leave it.”

As well as the notable portraits, an installation by Stephen Chambers of several dome-shaped fishing cages (or garagir as they are locally known), have been placed on the wall in the lobby – a nod to the bustling fish market and nearby port. Across the foyer, phrases in Emirati dialect Arabic have been painted on the walls, while upstairs in the corridors, bright wall murals by Dina Sami depict local landmarks such as the Clock Tower roundabout.

Dubai-based art consultants Capsule Arts sourced the artists and oversaw all the artworks produced. Founded in 2012, the company has commissioned over 100 artists from the region for projects in public buildings.

Rachael Brown, one of the co-founders, says this is important for the growth of the grass-roots art scene. “While there are many places for local artists to display their work, it is not so easy for artists to sell their work and become self-sufficient. This is where these hotels and other public projects are vital – for artists’ careers and for the local economy,” she says.

It is also beneficial to guests to stay in a hotel filled with art made locally. “If they can see the work of an Emirati or a UAE-based artist during their visit, that is a really powerful message to communicate.”

With hotels in the UAE functioning as communal places of gathering, places where people gather for dinner or coffee, where parties are held and business deals are made, their responsibility towards society is arguably more so than in other cities.

Also with no art museums in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, having permanent art in public places such as hotels is important. Perhaps this is one reason why Rove is among the many hotels prioritising the use of art.

Most brands source artists from around the world to furnish their rooms, suites and entranceways. Many have in-house galleries such as Dubai’s Noon Hotel Apartments and the Four Points by Sheraton, along with Abu Dhabi’s Rosewood and Millennium Corniche hotels – the latter of which has held an exhibition monthly for the past 10 years.

“We take pride in holding such exhibitions,” says Nevine Albert, director of public relations and marketing at Millennium Corniche. “We also encourage artists just starting their career, that is why we hope the hotel is becoming a cultural hub for the city.”

In the capital, hotels have become a convenient and effective go-to place for artists in the city.

“We are very limited in terms of suitable spaces to display art,” says Julia Ibbini, one of the founders of No White Walls, an art collective that started in 2013 with the goal of raising their profile through public events. Every year, No White Walls hosts an exhibition at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr hotel, close to the Maqta Bridge. The light-bathed corridor that runs down on one side of the hotel overlooking the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque acts as an ideal setting for art.

“They are an extremely busy hotel so the audience we have is so much wider than it would be if we were in a gallery. It is a win-win for us to be there,” adds Ibbini.

While luxury hotels such as the Fairmont have the space and resources to be able to support artists like Ibbini and her group, there have been very few mid-range hotels that placed a special emphasis on art until recently.

“They are targeting a different clientele,” says Brown. “People who want to explore and feel embedded in the vibe of the city, and for that, the art offers a window to view the UAE through [an] artist’s eyes.”

Janie Stanfield is the owner Soho Myriad, one of the world’s leading art consultant firms based in Atlanta, in the United States. She has been working on projects in the Middle East for more than a decade, and most recently, was the lead consultant behind The Address Boulevard, a new luxury hotel in Downtown Dubai set to open later this year.

There are to be 250 pieces of art in the new property – including a 3-D map of Dubai made by prominent American artist Matthew Picton – and an intricate ceramic installation above the reception desk by Petr Weigl, an English artist of Czech descent, who handmade thousands of pieces of porcelain to create the impressive piece.

There is only one UAE-based artist included – Nasr Warour, a Syrian who lives in Dubai. Stanfield says she finds very few local artists who fit the bill for artworks in top-of-the-range hotels.

“Most of the artists that I have met and worked with [in the UAE] are too edgy or they don’t have the skill level yet,” she says.

“One role of art is to challenge you and to perhaps change your perspective on a certain subject, but the other role is the exquisite beauty of it. It is not a hotel’s role to challenge visitors with art – their role is to excite them, entice them and to provide an experience that maybe they wouldn’t get anywhere else.”

But is the bar really too high for regional artists? Ashwaq Abdulla, a young Emirati who was commissioned to make seven bronze sculptures – one representing each of the emirates – for the new Four Seasons Hotel on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi, says she had to push beyond her limits as she had not worked with bronze before. But now, as the sculptures sit in the lobby, she is intensely proud.

“There are not many pieces of art by Emiratis on display in hotels, so I am representing my country, and I hope people feel encouraged to learn about our culture.”

Until the museums open on Saadiyat Island, hotels in Abu Dhabi may be some of the only places where people can see a piece of art on a regular and permanent basis, and in that sense, they are perhaps becoming pseudo-institutions.

Whether the artists here are talented or numerous enough to fill these institutions is still an open question, but with so many new hotels set to open across the country in the lead up to Expo 2020, there are many avenues of possibility for artists to explore, and several new places to discover if you’re an enthusiast.