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Local artists deplore lack of support
Who is better to represent the culture and artistic heritage of any country than its own children? Whenever you walk into a major public building, an airport, a town hall, or a national theatre, the art works on show should reflect the heart, soul and passion of the people and their nation.
Among UAE national artists, many have been internationally recognised for their superlative works and contribution to the arts. Their individual art works today command a small fortune and yet these artists find difficulty in marketing their work locally and winning the really big contracts, the bulk of which sadly still goes to foreign artists.
Abdel Raheem Salem, a prominent artist and President of the Emirates Fine Arts Society (EFAS), stressed that a lot of local art is being purchased by foreigners and is being shipped abroad, while on the local art scene, UAE artists find difficulty selling their work that lies gathering dust in warehouses.
"The Dubai Government over-sees many large projects. If they set aside 30 per cent of the art budgets of public projects to purchasing works by local artists, this would go a long way towards supporting the local artist," Mr Salem said.
He said that the EFAS sends letters and catalogues of local artists' works to government departments for selection in major projects, pointing to the fact that there are some excellent abstract artists in the UAE.
For one project, the EFAS presented 45 works by 14 artists for consideration. In spite of these efforts, local departments and establishments still tend to select works by foreign artists for which they pay hefty sums of money, rather than commission an art work from a local artist.
"What is happening is that there is a lack of trust in the local artist, people still seem to prefer foreign artists. From among 50 top local artists, some of them senior artists, many have their works gathering dust in warehouses. How are local artists expected to develop and improve their skills this way?" Mr. Salem said.
Abdel Qader Al Rais, one of the senior-most local artists, sells prints of his paintings for over Dh700, many of which are eagerly snapped up as soon as they become available, while his original paintings fetch tens of thousands of dirhams.
"Some officials unfortunately have a lack of awareness of the need to support local artists. They choose mediocre art works by foreign artists rather than superior art works by local artists. One would say nothing if the works they select are better or of the same standard as that of the local artists," Mr Al Rais said.
He said that his art works speak for themselves and that it would be difficult for him to approach an official to ask him why his work was passed up for another: "It is my personal belief that even if an official does not know about art himself, then someone capable of making a fare judgement needs to be appointed to make that decision."
Professor John Dishman, a renowned American artist and Fulbright Scholar, is a good friend of Mr Al Rais and he believes in the depth and strength of Arab art which he has been collecting during the many years he has lived in Dubai.
Recently returned from a long stay in Pakistan, Professor Dishman is very passionate about the idea of introducing a law that would force authorities to set aside one per cent of any public project budget for the procurement of art work. Out of that, he believes a percentage of the art budget for each public project should be spent on local art by local artists.
Moosa Al Halyan, another prominent local artist, blamed the situation that local artists find themselves in on the lack of professionalism as many of them still act more like hobbyists than professionals and said they have to decide either to make art their main source of income or not. As a result, he said the western artists tend to show a more professional face.
"It is the local artists' fault, they are not serious enough about their art. The foreign artist is a professional, while the local artist fluctuates between professional and hobbyist. Why should we expect the government to assist us? Was Picasso assisted by his government?
"I do not blame the government, artists should first prove themselves. They must be honest in their work and communicate truth through their art, through their art they should be able to communicate with their audience," Mr Halyan said.
He lamented the lack of artistic advisors in the government departments that select art works for public projects, adding that even those who design stamps for the UAE at the postal authority are not UAE citizens. He said that in the United States one per cent of public project budgets is dedicated to visual art work.
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