K.art Group’s Latest Addition to the Design District

The Designers at K.art are renowned for its impressive art installations. They meticulously blend historical Emirati and other Middle Eastern cultural elements with modern finishes with fervour. They recognise the importance of the environment and the necessity to merge organic principles into the culture and attitude of the subject. The most recent art installation, ‘Al Yowlah’, is a celebratory nod to the United Arab Emirates’ traditional weapon dance performed at weddings and other commemorative occasions. Fishermen also performed the dance upon their return from successful pearl diving trips.

The impressive four-metre installation in d3 in the heart of Dubai’s design district and features eight Emirati Al Yowlah men performing the dance and highlighting the stick movement. It’s forms part of the annual Dubai Design Week entries. The eight panels are made from precision-cut powder-coated black metal. Drummers and poets accompany the dance that was originally a Bedouin war dance celebrating victory. Historically the dance would simulate a battle scene, and two rows of men would face each other, carrying sticks of bamboo. The musicians play the drums, tambourines, brass cymbals, flutes, and bagpipes between the rows. The men move their heads and sticks in sync with the beat of the drums.

Al Yowlah was placed on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage Items of Humanity in November 2014. K.art Group hopes that the art installation will contribute to reviving and promoting Al Yowlah as part of the region’s national identity and the heritage of humanity across the Emirate. It’s thought that the dance was also a way of communicating knowledge, skills and values through poetry from one generation to the next.

Launched at Dubai Design Week, 8- 13 November 2022