Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, visited the launch event of the Hammour House on Wednesday, expressing his support for the sustainability-themed project.
Sheikh Nahyan took the opportunity to get a feel of the project and painted at an art station set up at the event.
What is the Hammour House?
At the Expo 2020 Dubai’s Hammour House the children play instruments made out of sustainable materials, the art is coral reef themed and the painting mediums are made of recycled material. Inspired by the ‘hammour’ fish found in the UAE’s seawater, also known as the brown spotted grouper, the project is set to spread awareness about the environment by engaging the community.
The Hammour House is an art installation and community project, going with a central theme of sustainability while raising awareness about marine life and oceans. Eventually opening at the Expo 2020 Dubai site, the art house will showcase various exhibitions such as creating a ‘reef’ from recycled and sustainable materials.
“The Expo is about connecting minds and creating the future. We focus on themes and topics that currently concern the world,” said Dr Hayat Shamsuddin, Senior Vice President, Arts and Culture, Expo 2020 Dubai, who spoke at an introductory event held at Al Serkal Avenue.
Speaking about what inspired the project, Shamsuddin added: “We wanted to showcase how [each] one of us can impact the world. It was very important for us to bring together a project that talks about sustainability and about our environment, our future.”
Community project: Young musicians, visitors become artists
From knitting workshops to painting items that resemble coral and seashells made out of recycled materials, the Hammour House will host various activities to engage visitors.
“The Hammour house is all about the community coming together to become more aware about our environment and take steps to make our world a better place,” said Shamsuddin.
Sustainable music
At the launch, youngsters from the Centre for Musical Arts in Dubai performed using sustainable instruments.
Speaking about why it is important to promote sustainability through music, 15-year-old Siddhant Mehrotra, who plays the saxophone, said: “Music is a universal language, everyone understands it. It brings out the true emotions of a person.”
The exhibitors and performers integrate sustainable solutions into every aspect of their displays at the Hammour House.
“My flute for instance is made of nickel metal. It lasts for a very long time and it is sustainable,” said 14-year-old Laila Ragab, who plays the flute as part of the Centre for Musical Arts, which is partnering up with the Hammour House.
Music workshops will be held at the venue. “We are looking forward to running our music workshops that are specially designed for this very project, encompassing well known music performed on sustainable instruments and including a student-created original composition to reflect marine life,” said Tala Badri, founder of Centre for Musical Arts.
The project itself is sustainable because it will have “post Expo life”, according to Ahmed Al Enezi, Senior Manager, Arts and Culture, Expo 2020 Dubai. Plans of how that will be done will be released at a later date once the Expo begins, Ahmed added.
