Emirati twins take UAE back to its roots at Milano Expo

‘The Secret Life of Date Palms’ exhibition aims to engage visitors with a species of tree intrinsic to the UAE and the Gulf.

DUBAI // The resilient date palm will aim to impress visitors in Milan, following such introductions as the ice-cream cone, the first mobile phone, the commercial typewriter, the Ferris Wheel and the Eiffel Tower at world expos.

Emirati twins and entrepreneurs Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib and their team have conceptualised The Secret Life of Date Palms exhibition, aiming to engage visitors with a species of tree intrinsic to the UAE and the Arabian Gulf.

“We have to understand that the expo was a world stage – from the 1889 exposition in Paris that opened the Eiffel Tower, to where the first television was introduced [New York 1939], and where automobiles were launched – they were where innovations were presented,” said Rashid, co-founder of Cultural Engineering, an interdisciplinary practice that curated the exhibition.

“We now live in a world that is advanced. We need to take a step back, to go back to our roots and present something that is closer to who we are as human beings and that is nature. With the date palm, we’re trying to go back to the root and present something that is not forgotten, but that is underestimated.”

The brothers worked with researchers and designers from Case Design, students from American University in Dubai, farmers and scientists, and they organised workshops and visited plantations to source a collection of installations and anecdotal information about the trees that date back at least 7,000 years.

The installations will show how wood from the tree is used to make structures for shade, furniture and paper with tree trunks placed on display.

“The palm tree is a strong symbol for the region,” Rashid said. “We look at the palm tree as a source of material that has so much value and is so unique because the forces of nature have created it against this harsh climatic condition.

“You can make a book out of it, you can make art, you can eat from it, write with it, build a house from it, heal yourself from it. We always look for answers when we talk of sustainability. What we are saying is the solution is here, within nature. The tree is one of the strongest materials and it’s up to us from a design and creative point of view to make it contemporary and forge forward.”

The exhibition will be part of a striking UAE pavilion tackling the global challenges of food, water and land as part of the expo theme, Feeding the Planet – Energy for Life.

“Anyone who visits this exhibition will be impressed and hopefully a few will be inspired to further develop date palm related industries,” said Peter Vine, director of the UAE Pavilion Project in Milan. “It is an under-utilised resource that can help to create indigenous jobs and even support a growing export industry.”

About 50,000 catalogues, in English, Italian and Arabic, detailing the importance of the date palm will be handed out to visitors.

The exhibition also shows the link between the tree and the people.

“Emiratis recognise the tremendous gifts of this tree and they have gone to great lengths to nurture date palms throughout the country,” Mr Vine said. “The date palm has been, and still is, pivotal to human and social development in the UAE. In the past it was a true source of life for people who needed all the help they could get to inhabit one of the most challenging environments on earth.

“Today it is very difficult to imagine the UAE without date palms. This exhibition throws new light on the tree’s importance and its potential. We are finding news ways to use the tree and there are new opportunities to benefit from it.”

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Five years before the World’s Fair comes to Dubai, the UAE pavilion opens at the Expo in Milan on Friday. The pavilion has been designed to echo the UAE’s desert dune landscape. Emirati ambassadors will greet visitors and fill them in about the UAE’s history, tradition and culture. With some 200,000 tickets already purchased by UAE residents, attendees have been promised a fast-track visa procedure by Italy’s ambassador to the UAE.

Read more about the Expo:

■ UAE pavilion to open in style at Expo Milano on Friday

■ Fast-track visas for UAE residents looking to attend Expo Milano