DUBAI

Things are getting arty in the UAE’s most ostentatious Emirate. Painters, sculptors and muralists are being commissioned to fill a new generation of galleries, deck the walls of skyscraper hotels and line the streets with surprisingly edgy public art.

- Sarah Marshall

During her 18-year stint as a curator and gallery owner in Dubai, Mona Hauser has experienced some surprising encounters. One notable incident involved an exhibition by an Iranian artist, which featured abstract female forms.

“We were wary of hanging nudes on the wall,” explains the elegantly dressed American, as we sip coffee in the courtyard of XVA, her boutique hotel, shop and exhibition space. “So, I decided to install them in a separate area with a caution sign.”

Despite Mona’s best intentions, however, an early visitor arrived before any warnings had been put in place. After taking a swift look at the explicit artwork, the woman, “who was very much covered up” demanded to speak to the artist.

“She walked straight up to her and didn’t say hello or anything,” recalls Mona. “But just demanded: ‘Will you paint my portrait?’”

Freedom of expression isn’t a principle you’d expect to find easily exercised in a country associated with strict Sharia laws. But attitudes in the UAE’s most progressive Emirate are rapidly changing, allowing a dynamic creative arts scene to take shape. At the end of 2020, political reforms declared drinking without a licence and cohabiting outside of marriage were no longer illegal. And recently, it was announced censorship of risqué films would be dropped and replaced with a 21+ certification.

When Mona moved to Dubai from Florida in 1993, there were few galleries and no university art courses. But she sensed an energy in the self-made, showy city and wanted to tap into an arty underground she knew must exist. “There’s an underground everywhere, right?” she laughs.