Arabian Centre and RAK Hamra Mall, here we come! Plus all things wood

Since ARTE said goodbye to the long term location at Dubai Festival Centre, we have now found new homes in other locations – such as RAK Hamra Mall as well as Arabian Centre in Mirdif, in addition to the two markets at Times Square. Well into our ninth year, the ARTE family have truly expanded throughout the Emirates and beyond.  You just have to look at the highly interactive facebook page standing at 16K followers and our social media is full of videos, instagrammed photos and tweets and an ever growing list of subscribers and fans that support handmade in the UAE. Thank you all.

So don’t forget to pop down there to see us.

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In the meantime, we are dedicating this space to some amazing wood crafts by our artisans. Enjoy the gallery!

 

 

Follow these artisans on facebook.

Kariba Arts

Miss Green Tea

The Joinery Shop

Wael Hamadeh    – read more about his work here.

Prerna Unlimited – read more about her work here.

Lilly’s Floral Decoration– read more about her work here

 

All photos used as owned by the artisans unless otherwise indicated.

Wael Hamadeh and his upcycled work

It is amazing how a well travelled member of human kind finds his journey back into the arms of his homeland, Lebanon. Where ‘the history of stone merges with the beauty of nature, where olive trees dance with the breeze of the valley’ (Reference, Wael Hamadeh’s biography.

Dance on, live on, paint on....Lebanon calling as seen through Wael's eyes.

Dance on, live on, paint on….Lebanon calling as seen through Wael’s eyes.

The biography is as poetic and heavy with ‘dancing’ metaphors, just as Wael’s beautiful paintings are.  The characters in his paintings are filled with nature’s way of expressive arts, whether that is the picking of apples or the gathering of fruits and herbes, whether it is the sweat of his father and forefathers, or the brightness of the sun wiggling its way through the harvest season.

When you see Wael at ARTE, you will notice that he is always painting. There is movement, liveliness, mermerism at its best. Wael believes in social consciousness, so he uses materials such as wood and even throw-a-away tin cans to paint on a make some great pieces of upcycled art. The rust from the cans is quickly covered with luscious dips of acrylic paint and with a flick of lacquer, the painting is sealed for good, never to corrode through the course of time.

Wael demonstrates his painting technique at ARTE

Wael demonstrates his painting technique at ARTE

Like Wael Hamadeh’s facebook page.

His website is worth looking at too. From exhibitions to commissioned work, from coffee sketches to sculptures, the website is replete with the creativity at its best.