Executive Council of Dubai approves ‘Dubai Orchestra' project
This initiative aims to enhance the presence of Emirati arts and culture on the global stage; reinforce Dubai's position as a global centre for culture, an incubator for creativity, and a thriving hub for talent; elevate the efficiency of Dubai's arts sector; and support promising local talent.
H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed affirmed that, through its diverse projects and initiatives, Dubai continues to provide an inspiring model for cultural development, guided by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
H.H. Sheikh Hamdan said, 'Art is a universal language that connects people and Dubai is a hub for initiatives that build bridges between cultures and celebrate creativity. We continue to support and empower the cultural and artistic sectors by establishing an integrated and sustainable infrastructure that promotes the growth and prosperity of cultural and creative industries, and enriches the global cultural movement. With new initiatives, Dubai is poised to further grow in status as a destination for major international events, innovative ideas and pioneering projects.'
H.H. Sheikh Hamdan noted that Dubai is distinguished by its dynamism and ability to attract exceptional talent within a thriving creative environment, emphasising that the 'Dubai Orchestra' project reflects the spirit of the emirate, embodies the uniqueness of its cultural identity, and reinforces the values of creativity and innovation.
He added, 'We have approved the 'Dubai Orchestra' project as a key avenue for expanding international cultural collaboration. It contributes to developing the cultural and arts sectors, further highlighting Dubai's rich and diverse cultural landscape and heritage.'
H.H. Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, affirmed that the approval of the 'Dubai Orchestra' project marks a meaningful step in reinforcing Dubai's growing presence on the global cultural stage. It reflects the emirate's long-term vision to become a leading centre for the creative economy and lays the foundation for nurturing future generations capable of expressing the universal language of human creativity.
She said, 'Dubai's position on the global cultural map results from the clear and inspiring vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, whose efforts have transformed our city into a vibrant home for creativity and artistic innovation. The 'Dubai Orchestra' will enhance our community's exceptional talent and drive music's powerful role in celebrating our cultural diversity.'
She highlighted that the project represents a unique opportunity to strengthen Dubai's creative scene, foster its distinct musical identity, and advance its global competitiveness in the cultural and artistic sectors.
She added, ' 'Dubai Orchestra' will be a catalyst for growth, reflecting our ongoing commitment to elevating the music sector, enabling creative talent, and deepening the role of the arts as a bridge between cultures. Music remains one of humanity's most enduring forms of connection – a powerful expression of identity, emotion, and shared experience. Through this initiative, we continue to champion it as a vital part of Dubai's future driven by knowledge and innovation.'
The 'Dubai Orchestra' project seeks to nurture a vibrant creative environment that advances the local music sector, attracts exceptional talent, and empowers homegrown creatives to pursue their passion while enriching Dubai's musical landscape. It aligns with the objectives of Dubai's Creative Economy Strategy and the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, which aims to position the emirate among the world's top three urban economies; it also supports Dubai Culture's mandate and sectoral priorities to strengthen the city's cultural and creative industries.
Moreover, the project supports the goals of the 'Dubai Social Agenda 33' and its ambitious targets, particularly the objective of making Dubai the best city in terms of living experience and cultural vibrancy over the next decade.
The project, which marks a significant new chapter in Dubai's creative landscape, is set to stimulate the arts sector and drive economic growth through its cultural, social, and economic impact. By embedding culture and the arts into everyday life, it not only deepens public appreciation of their value but also enriches Dubai's cultural fabric.
The 'Dubai Orchestra' aims to have Emirati talent make up 50% of its members by 2033. In the coming phase, the orchestra will roll out impactful initiatives to deepen community engagement, including youth-focused programmes, strategic partnerships with community organisations, and educational opportunities that nurture artistic talent. These efforts will empower emerging musicians, elevate their skills, and position them to deliver compelling musical experiences while preserving and promoting the region's living musical heritage.
Dubai Orchestra's launch supports the emirate's goal of enhancing the quality of cultural life through artistic and musical events, fostering a vibrant atmosphere, strengthening social cohesion, and providing a creative outlet for the next generation, particularly through collaborations with internationally renowned orchestras.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
What's On
35 minutes ago
- What's On
Swim in style with these must-have online swimwear brands
As we dive into the height of summer, night swims and late dips in the sea are officially in. But let's be real, plenty of us are still braving the heat for a midday swim too. Whether you're cooling off after dark or catching rays under the sun, one thing's for sure: you've got to do it in style. From bold bikinis to sleek one-pieces, we've rounded up exclusively online swimwear brands worth adding to your wardrobe for your next splash. Alda On Skin Founded by Beatriz Nagarian-Perez, Alda on Skin is a Dubai based swimwear label inspired by the founder's island roots in the Seychelles and her deep love for the sea, sand, and everything beachy. Born out of a personal journey toward self-acceptance, the brand is all about helping women feel confident and comfortable in their own skin. Beatriz designs each piece herself, testing every style to ensure it not only looks beautiful but feels effortless to wear. With a focus on soft, sustainable fabrics and limited-edition collections, Alda on Skin recently rebranded is where timeless design meets body-positive purpose. Discover swimwear that celebrates you, shop online at @aldaonskin Chic Le Frique A Dubai-based fashion label created by Sara Rahbari in 2018 with a bold vision to design pieces that speak to the confident, classy woman who doesn't just wear fashion, she wears her feelings. While the brand curates high-street pieces from international labels, its in-house line stands out for its timeless cuts, statement silhouettes, and distinctive flair. 'Crafted for the bold, designed to be timeless' Chic Le Frique continues to celebrate individuality with fashion that empowers. Explore the collection at @chiclefrique_official Beach City Beach City founded in Dubai by Daisy Raffan is a trend-led swimwear and resortwear brand made for sunseekers who love to stand out. Known for bold colours, crinkle textures, and flattering cuts, the brand offers everything from sleek one-pieces to statement bikinis. Each collection is designed to make you feel confident whether you're at a beach club or poolside on holiday. Turn up the heat and shop at @shopbeachcity Ya Omri Founded in 2021 by Helen A, Ya Omri is a Dubai based label rooted in culture, confidence, and self-expression. Inspired by the vibrant spirit of the Middle East, the brand celebrates women through meaningful designs that honour individuality and authenticity. The name 'Ya Omri' Arabic for 'my life, my love' reflects this purpose at its core. Blending thoughtful craftsmanship with sustainable materials, each piece is created to last and empower. With East African, London, and Middle Eastern influences, Ya Omri brings a global, soulful perspective to modern swimwear for every woman and every body. Discover more at @ya_omri_swimwear New swimwear, who this? Here's where to flaunt it this summer as we've rounded up 15 spots to enjoy night swims in Dubai Images: Instagram and Brand Websites > Sign up for FREE to get exclusive updates that you are interested in
Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
Can a change in favourite colour signal inner transformation?
Between early middle age and the onset of old age, people who I knew called me the 'Man in Black' because I loved to flaunt all things black that could be pulled out of my wardrobe. It was a hangover from my days in Singapore where both men and women considered the colour a symbol of class. Office meetings or night parties, the rich on the island republic turned up in black, arriving in equally dark luxury cars. I had noticed the same colour scheme in Moscow where the nouveau riche moved around in the best automobiles. The bleeding red of the erstwhile CCCP flag was not a fad the last time I was there. The colour black had such an overbearing influence in my life that I even touched upon the topic in the early days of Life is Like That. 'What I enjoy most in black is the mystery associated with the colour. People in black expect an inconspicuous feeling, but end up being the centre of attention, eliciting comments and queries. While black is an elegant, prestigious, and authoritative colour, it can evoke strong emotions, which could be one of the reasons mourners wear it at funerals,' I wrote once. Then, one day, I moved on. Maintaining a cupboard full of classy blacks was as expensive as maintaining a Maybach. Contributing to that radical change in my couture culture were the mushrooming budget outlets, as big as some of the shopping malls in the UAE. Their huge collections of trousers, tees, casuals and jackets were so addictive I began to spend my weekends scouring such places, trying casuals as vibrant as Indonesian batik designs. My sisters frowned, wifey rolled her eyes, children called the look 'funny', and those who liked it swallowed their compliments out of jealousy when I sported clothes as crazy as Rainbow Bertha Tie-Dye T-shirts. It was during this sartorial switch she dropped into my little space out of the blue. 'Are you sure you want to carry on with black forever?' she asked soon after we touched base on Messenger. 'Like humans, colours need some breathing space to rejuvenate themselves, so give them a break to love you back,' she said. She sounded amply authoritative. Coming back after a painstaking passage through all my social media accounts, some as old as 15 years, she left a message: 'Oiii, try out blue and let me know how you feel.' 'The sky is where you can learn better about colour schemes,' she said. 'The sky isn't blue every day. It's black when it rains; pale when it snows, blue when it blossoms, russet during the sunrise or sunset,' she continued to educate me. 'Thank you, but who are you?' I was keen to know more about my new visiting professor. 'A designer, fashion designer,' she said, and disappeared into oblivion. Over the weekend that followed, I rummaged through the wardrobe for blue tees before spending money on new ones. And there it was. A heavily creased and crumpled casual pulled out of a bag destined for the recycle bin. 'There you are, no more the old block in black,' she wrote after seeing my latest selfie on FB. I too felt the colour blue had changed my persona. 'You look sprightly and brimming with confidence. Blue brings out the best in you. Blue accentuates the buoyancy of the human spirit,' she wrote. The rest of what she talked about was typical of any diligent designer. I loved the beauty of obscurity that pervades a designer's perceptions about life and its small things. But was it really my first brush with blue? I had romanced the colour in the early years of my writing carrier, especially in a piece about the Indian sari. Here's a throwback: 'I felt wifey's goodbye kiss in the morning. The smell of a new dress lifted the iron curtain of hangover. A blue sari with a touch of jerry at the hem. I lay down watching the blue gradually spread into my eyes.' 'Blue is more versatile in terms of colour, design, and even linguistically. While back typically has a doomsday reference, blue has more than a dozen phrases made out of it — blue-eyed, feel blue, out of the blue, blue blooded, black and blue, blue-collar, feeling blue, blue in the face, blue devils, blue room, go blue, blue films, baby blues — to mention some,' she kept messaging. Moving beyond blue, she occasionally touched on the aesthetics of dressing. 'Do not tuck in your tees, buddy. Let it flow but keep it short, especially when you wear blazers. Scavenging through nearby fashion outlets on the following weekends, I found out that there are different shades of blue that suit different budgets and moods. As I made a big splash in the sea of blue, painting social media blue, wifey asked pointedly: 'Why this change out of the blue, darling? You seem to be shamelessly letting yourself go down a blue hill.' Wriggling out of the black magic of blue one day, I gathered up the courage to counter my design professor on Messenger: 'Listen lady, why are you painting me blue? I am not a pushover.' 'Because I have designs on you. And mind you, there's blue in my name too,' she messaged, with three blue hearts and a bunch of blueberries.
The National
5 hours ago
- The National
Ten cool art exhibitions to breeze through the UAE summer heat
The reputation of UAE summer as a time when life comes to a sweltering standstill, is a thing of the past – particularly on the arts scene. Galleries have begun embracing the season, with some new exhibitions rolling out and others being extended well into the hottest months. From photography as a medium of reckoning to an exhibition that brings streets into a gallery setting and another that champions farmers, there is a lot to see across the UAE. Here are 10 to get you started. No Trespassing at Ishara Art Foundation Curated by Priyanka Mehra, No Trespassing is Ishara Art Foundation 's first summer exhibition. The show brings street aesthetics into the gallery, with six artists engaging with urban materials as both subject and medium. Works by Fatspatrol (Fathima Mohiuddin), H11235 (Kiran Maharjan), Khaled Esguerra, Rami Farook, Salma Dib and Sara Alahbabi turn building materials, pavements, signage and surfaces into acts of mark-making. Rather than define what the street is, the exhibition reflects how it's used, as a space that's chaotic, curated, lived-in and constantly rewritten. Monday to Saturday, 10am-7pm; until August 30, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai Cartographies, Revised at Manarat Al Saadiyat This exhibition is the culmination of a four-month residency at The Photography Studio at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Seven emerging artists from across the world take a cartographer's approach to image-making, using it to chart personal histories and narratives. Aman Ali's photographs, for instance, trace maternal love through worn hands. Reem Hamid projects shifting rhythms of stillness and movement via sand and performance. Fares Al Kaabi mourns demolished homes and a bygone time through windows and doorways. Monday to Sunday, 10am-8pm; until September 1; Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi Upside Down, by Morteza Khazaie at Leila Heller Gallery In Upside Down, Morteza Khazaie uses wood to make tall, curved forms inspired by trees bending to wind and storms. The sculptures show how trees endure without breaking by adapting to the elements. The works evoke a powerful metaphor for individual and societal change, transforming under pressure but nonetheless enduring. The use of wood in this context is also interesting. The material carries a sense of growth and history, while underscoring the resilience found in nature. It embodies the juxtaposition between pliability and strength. As curator Farshad Mahoutforoush said: 'Through these works, I wanted to explore how softness can be strength, and how being 'upside down' might simply mean seeing things differently.' Monday to Friday, 10am-7pm; Saturday, 11am- 7pm; until September 15, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai Architectures of the In-Between at Aisha Alabbar Gallery The three artists featured in this exhibition all identify architecture as a bedrock to their practice. Yet, they have gone on to reinterpret the discipline in new and diverse ways. Atefeh Majidi Nezhad hangs lace like memory in her Zero-G series. Nevine Hamza gives form to nebulous metaphysical ideas through photography, digital art, collage and painting. Finally, Layla Juma renders social structures into minimalist geometries, revealing coded systems through drawing, installation and sculpture. Monday to Saturday, 10am-6pm; until August 23; Aisha Alabbar Gallery, Dubai Between Sunrise and Sunset, by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim at Maraya Art Centre A seminal work by important Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Between Sunrise and Sunset was commissioned by the National Pavilion UAE and featured at the 2022 Venice Biennale. The work is now on display at Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah. The exhibition, which is in its final month, has been organised with the support of Lawrie Shabibi and the National Pavilion UAE. The exhibition features three paintings by Ibrahim, but the titular installation is the centrepiece, taking the entirety of the second-floor gallery space. The installation features 128 sculptural forms, each unique in shape, size and colour. The sculptures are arranged in a gradient, ranging from more vivid hues to the dulled and monochrome palettes that allude to nighttime. For Ibrahim, the work is meant to reflect the diversity of the UAE, both environmentally and culturally, while also evoking the metaphorical breadth of night and day. Saturday to Thursday, 10am-7pm; Friday, 4pm-7pm; until August 1; Al Qasba, Sharjah New acquisitions and a VR experience at Louvre Abu Dhabi While Louvre Abu Dhabi is not holding a special exhibition this summer, there are plenty of new attractions to make it a worthwhile visit – no matter how many times you've gone before. The museum has introduced a new rotation of loans and acquisitions across its permanent galleries. The additions range from Roman portraiture and South Asian courtly art to modernist works. Highlights include a finely carved Roman cameo thought to depict Agrippa Postumus, mounted in an 18th-century British setting; a luminous ivory-and-gold casket from 16th-century Sri Lanka; Juan Luna's enigmatic Una Bulaquena (1895), on loan from the National Museum of the Philippines; and Kandinsky 's White Oval (1921), which marks a moment of transition for the legendary artist. Louvre Abu Dhabi has also launched a virtual reality experience. The Quantum Dome Project is a VR installation that unfolds over 25 minutes. It immerses participants in digitally reconstructed environments from three disparate and historic corners of the globe: ancient Rome, medieval Baghdad and Mughal-era India. Tuesday to Thursday, 10am-6.30pm; Friday to Sunday, 10am-8.30pm; Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi Everyman's Mountain, by Omar Al Gurg at Lawrie Shabibi Emirati photographer and designer Omar Al Gurg is presenting his first solo show with Everyman's Mountain. The exhibition at Lawrie Shabibi features 24 archival prints from a six-day trek up Kilimanjaro in 2021. From misty forests and regenerating moorlands to the fragile icy summit, Al Gurg's work shows the mountain as a shifting ecosystem, shaped by nature and human activity. The exhibition is as much a personal odyssey as it is a broader environmental mediation, a tribute to nature's quiet transformations and our collective duty to preserve them. Monday to Saturday, 10am-6pm; until September 12; Alserkal Avenue, Dubai The Peasant, the Scholar and the Engineer, by Asuncion Molinos Gordo at Jameel Arts Centre Spanish artist-researcher Asuncion Molinos Gordo's first major retrospective in West Asia surveys 15 years of her work on rural knowledge, land use and food systems. Gordo's work draws on anthropology and cultural studies. It reframes farmers as not only food producers, but also intellectuals and engineers. Their vernacular practices, she points out, may hold keys to sustainability. Works that are being featured in the exhibition include her famous World Agriculture Museum, which was first staged in Cairo in 2010 and won the Sharjah Biennial Prize in 2015. Another highlight is Como Soliamos, a 2020 rammed-earth installation echoing Andalusian and falaj irrigation techniques. Saturday to Monday, Wednesday to Thursday, 10am-8pm; Friday; noon-8pm; until September 28; Jaddaf Waterfront, Dubai Unstable Grounds at 421 Arts Campus Unstable Grounds, the MFA graduate exhibition from NYU Abu Dhabi at 421, is a layered constellation of practices that reveal not just what is shown, but also what resists visibility. The exhibition features the works of eight artists, exploring themes of environment, displacement, memory and human connection, through installation, performance, video, sculpture and print. Highlights include Consequences of Circumstance by Hala El Abora, where images of birds, neither definitely dead nor alive, are carved on slabs of stone, disrupting the historical trope of the bird as a symbol of beauty and freedom. In The Sea is a Body which Moves, Adele Bea Cipste explores her evolving relationship to Abu Dhabi's shoreline across several works. In Gridlines, Jude Maharmeh presents hand-cut and incised clay-tiles that draw from the capital's urban aspect. Other installations question the limitations of materials, form and meaning. Danute Vaitekunaite, Mowen Li and Bao all examine their personal histories while experimenting with materials. Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-8pm; until September 7; Zayed Port, Abu Dhabi Time Heals, Just Not Quick Enough… at Efie Gallery Time Heals, Just Not Quick Enough… is a group exhibition curated by Ose Ekore. It features works by five contemporary artists: Samuel Fosso, Aida Muluneh, Kelani Abass, Abeer Sultan and Sumayah Fallatah. The artists come from different generations and use film and photography to reflect upon themes of growth and healing, while also showing how the mediums are barometers of change. Fallatah, for instance, reflects on experiences of the African diaspora in the Arab world by examining personal and family narratives. Sultan uses imagery of marine life to re-examine her family's migration from West Africa to Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. Abass, inspired by his father's letterpress printing company, layers images, texts and found objects to explore the passage of time. Fosso's self-portraits challenge identity and representation by embodying stylised personas. These are inspired by African-American fashion and West African pop culture, and draw on the magazine images that were brought to the Central African Republic by Peace Corps volunteers. Finally, Muluneh's surreal photographs show face paint, masks and Ethiopian motifs to subvert stereotypical representations of African women.
