(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Rehlatna the two-day event is an attempt to enter the Guinness Records for longest graffiti scroll.
The graffiti representing the history of the UAE being painted on the 2-km wall near Jumeirah Beach Park on Saturday. — KT photos by Dhes Handumon
Eagles camels scenes from Dubai life the Metro sand dunes silhouettes of the Burj Arabic lettering and even scorpions — all in various colours were seen sprayed and being sprayed — on the 2.180km-long wall stretch of graffiti near Jumeirah Beach Park on Saturday.
A parade of records — for cars selfie
Staff Reporter
On a day of unbridled motoring passion Dubai a city synonymous with world records set two new Guinness World Records at the Dubai Grand Parade. The stunning cavalcade took the second edition of the Dubai Motor Festival to glorious heights at the Motor Village in Meydan on Friday.
More than 10000 people mostly families thronged the region’s first Motor Village to watch participants create the records and also avail of an array of auto-themed events and activities.
A Guinness World Record was set for the largest number of car brands in a single motorcade as a convoy comprising 58 of the world’s leading automotive marques completed a 3.2-kilometre tour around the Motor Village. The convoy comprised supercars classic automobiles and exotic cars belonging to participants of the Dubai Grand Parade with all vehicles maintaining an average bumper-to-bumper distance of 1.5 metres.
A second world record was established for the longest selfie relay when 289 participants joined hands to generate sheer excitement at the Motor Village.
With the new Guinness World Record events setting the tempo for the rest of the day the Dubai Grand Parade captured the spirit of the festival theme “Passion on Wheels” as it brought together over 600 of the most awe-inspiring cars for a citywide motoring extravaganza. —newskhaleejtimes.com
A two-day event Saturday and Sunday the graffiti scroll is an attempt to enter the Guinness Records for longest graffiti scroll. The Guinness jury members will be at the venue all day on Sunday deciding whether or not the record is created.
The length of the graffiti scroll called ‘Our Journey’ intended to represent the history of the UAE is called ‘Rehlatna’ and is an art plan commissioned specially by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council. To create the scroll nearly 150 international artists will have used over 7000 cans of eco-friendly spray paint of different colours by Sunday evening 5pm to create a work of art fit for the upcoming 43rd National Day.
Last week a workshop was conducted for around 30 local artists said Hasan Al Mazroie manager of the event. Local artists he said “don’t have experience in Graffiti because it’s not much done here in UAE”.
Graffiti artists are usually known by their ‘tags’ or their artist names. One such artist who goes by the name Asylum said he’s been in Dubai for three days. Asylum is part of a group of six artists from LA who had come down for the event. “We’re called ICU” he said. “There’s six of us two from San Francisco four from LA.” Asylum’s most frequent use of colour was a spray can called ‘transparent black’. He had worked long hours on the portraiture of an Arab lady in black hijab with very well defined eyes and long tapering fingers with nails. Asylum was taking a break while his colleagues (named Dcypher Swank Taz and Vogue) etched some more.
Asylum said while the sun hit hardest in the morning it was the light between 3pm and 5pm that he needed for filling in the “shadow detail”.
It was a day for photography enthusiasts. Many visitors were seen brandishing heavy zoom lens cameras capturing the width of the images on the long wall rather than just a camera phone click.
On the other side of the wall many orange-uniformed cleaners were hard at work with their prongs tweezing up the trash left behind by visitors. A cleaner from Chittagong Bangladesh Sunderlal had been on duty since 8am. He pointed to a large black and gold bird painted on the wall the detail of which he had seen the artist fill in earlier in the day. He told Khaleej Times he appreciated the rendering of the bird’s image the most more than any other bit of art on the over 2-km wall.
As for hospitality all visitors were offered Arabic tea Chebab (Emirati pancakes) and the local delicacy luqaimats - dumplings of butter milk sugar flour saffron and cardamom deep fried and drizzled with sugar syrup and sesame made by Emirati ladies in tents.
Al Khalid Ibrahim one of the servers of the luqaimats said since morning at least 10kg of luqaimat must have gotten over. Visitors came in droves.
A group of teenagers — friends between the ages of 18 and 21 — were having a ball serving coffee to visitors. Taif Mohamad Arif Mesa Mire Ali Jaan and Ehsan Ullah — they each had their favourite graffitis. But what seemed most popular was the eagle the UAE bird the same one pointed out by Sunderlal.
nivritikhaleejtimes.com