Why United Arab Emirates are a great place for graffiti ?

It seems like we are actually living a very interesting for graffiti and Street Art. There are more and more talented artists everyday and a lot of exhibitions / cultural events and meetings all around the world. For example, we have observed that the South of America is particularly qualitative and productive since the last ten years. Same for China zone (even if it is a little bit less spectacular than countries as Brazil for example). But what about UAE ? And Why ?

The perfect timing for a new culture

Graffiti in United Arab Emirates started a few years ago and we are starting to see personalities and local artists growing very quickly. Why Now ? We think that it would be explained like this : « a New Art in a New City ». Graffiti Art is a form of expression quite recent opened to all the people and energies who want to be a part of it. Just like Dubai ! Indeed, Dubai is a very very young city (around 1933) compared to all the others great capitals of the world where graffiti exists since many years. And its fast development with its futurist towers and buildings attracts people from everywhere. So we can say that it’s quit logical to find this new form of art out there. One more point : Dubai is a city where luxury is very important so a lot of rich people are living there or are coming for shopping. Those people (a part of them is young and very open to the world and all the forms of arts and expression) are obviously looking for the most popular art : graffiti art.

Dubai needs colors and cultures

Here is a very important point and maybe the most important point in our opinion. We talked a lot about it with local artists because we were all convinced about this : Everything in Dubai is « cold » or synthetic. Towers are growing faster than the local culture. Of course there is an history and if you come to visit Dubai, you will be able to visit the « old Dubai ».  But as the bigger part is too recent, there is no soul, no history. No artistic culture to observe ( except the mosques fortunately) when you are looking to the streets. No statues, no colors. The good news is that it is changing, for example with places as the Dubai Design District etc… We are really convinced that graffiti can offer to Dubai a very quick and strong scene with talented artists with many influences.

Calligraffiti paradise

The success of artists like El Seed prove also that Dubai and the UAE in general are a great place for local artist to use arabic lettering in their productions. It is a beautiful way to mix tradition and contemporary form of art ! If you are interested in arabic graffiti, you can also read our post about this subject.