Al Qattara Arts Centre

For a while now, we’ve suspected that the people of Al Ain regard Abu Dhabi’s arts scene with the same envious gaze we here in Dhabi often point at Dubai. Try as they might, the slightly flashier neighbour up the road keeps pulling off the bigger events, attracting better-known stars and grabbing the lion’s share of the press.

But now, the garden city is finally making progress in its bid to scale the UAE’s creative food chain. Opened at the end of March, Al Qattara Arts Centre is a first of its kind in Al Ain, providing the city’s 400,000 residents a long-overdue opportunity to explore a variety of artistic avenues.

Based in a renovated fort, the centre provides lessons in Arabic calligraphy, drawing, painting, photography and pottery, with more disciplines planned for later in the year. Lessons are Dhs300 for packages of eight sessions, with tuition handled by the region’s foremost experts. Calligraphy classes for example, are held by Mohammed Mandi; the ink and quill master responsible for the decorative designs on the bank notes sitting in your wallet, as well as the 99 names of Allah adorning the Qibla inside Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Painting classes, meanwhile, are handled by widely exhibited Pakistani artist Ali Hammad, a staunch realist with a flair for detail.

As centre operations manage Natalia Bets explains, in the two months Al Qattara has been open, courses have been phenomenally popular. ‘At first, a lot of people came just for the painting,’ she says. ‘But then, the same people came back for the calligraphy, then again for photography. I think a lot of people in Al Ain are hungry for art. People want to register for everything!’

As well as being a space to get your hands dirty, Al Qattara can also lay claim to being Al Ain’s first fully fledged art gallery, with a good-sized space set aside for hosting regular exhibitions. The first, which ran for a month after the centre’s opening, was Four Decades – a retrospective show chronicling the UAE’s major creative achievements since the nation was born in 1971. Next up, Al Qattara is set to play host to the winning works from this year’s Emirates Photography competition, after a successful month-long run at Abu Dhabi’s National Theatre, which finished earlier this week.

So is Al Qattara simply a spot for hobbyists with an art gallery bolted on for inspiration, or is this a genuine attempt at breeding a generation of credible Al Ain artists? While it’s still early days, Natalia thinks that fostering a bona fide art scene is on the cards. ‘At the moment, most of the students are still beginners – they’re not ready to exhibit,’ she told us. ‘I’m thinking maybe October or November we can have this type of exhibition. It takes time to make good artwork.’ It certainly does, but Al Ain has certainly taken a step in the right direction. Watch your back, Abu Dhabi…
Al Qattara Arts Centre is open 9am-8pm. All courses cost Dhs300 for a month of lessons. Call 03 761 8080 for info and bookings.