The Mural

This part of the mural shows how the artist has used the unusual shape of the wall to best effect by placing a dhow with its tall mast on the higher right hand side.

Patricia al Fakhri was commissioned to paint the mural in the Local Studies Room.  She worked with some Advanced Level art students to create the design.  The intention was to show traditional and modern Dubai - linked by the Maktoum Bridge.

The girls studied photographs of old and new Dubai and used them to inspire their creativity.  In particular they were fascinated by the range of plaster decoration used on the old windtower houses.  They concentrated on doing the designs for these on the mural and cleverly signed in Arabic so that their names looks like natural fissures in the walls!

The central focus of the mural is the watch tower with the red and white flag of the Emirate of Dubai.  You can see from the painting how the Creek was becoming silted up in the 1950s.  This posed a threat to Dubai's trade.  Sheikh Rashid al Maktoum decided to dredge the Creek thus ensuring Dubai's prosperity.  With the sand that was dredged he created new land at the mouth of the Creek - that was then sold to finance further investment in his vision of Dubai's future.

The left hand side of the mural shows part of the modern cityscape of Dubai with some examples of the stunning architecture situated on the Deira side of the Creek.  (However, it must be remembered that the mural was painted in 1993 and Dubai's skyline is changing all the time!)

In this photograph it is just possible to see the Maktoum Bridge in the distance acting as a symbolic link between the present and the past.  We wanted to show that although Dubai is a modern and forward looking city it does not forget its past or its heritage.

R. Stirzaker 2002

This is a close-up of the traditional buildings that the students researched and painted.

This part of the mural shows traditional fishermen working hard on their nets.  The old ways continue till this day and the fish traps placed in front of the painting are modern.