Look: UAE expats create local plant-based leather, stunning mural of Emirati chants

Khaleej Times

31-05-2025

In two quiet corners of Sharjah - one a white cube dedicated to contemporary design, the other an open-air amphitheatre bathed in wind and light - two women are creating spaces for cultural memory to breathe anew.
Architect and material designer Nuhyar Zein, and muralist Fathima Mohiuddin (known as Fatspatrol), each bring a contemplative yet confident hand to the stories they choose to tell. Their works, realised respectively at 1971-Design Space and Flag Island Amphitheatre, are not merely aesthetic gestures. They are considered tributes to place, ecology, and identity -rooted in memory, but reaching forward.
At 1971-Design Space, Zein's Leukeather installation presents not only a refined design practice, but a material innovation born of observation, patience, and deep care for the land. Leukeather - a plant-based, biodegradable alternative to exotic leathers - is crafted entirely in the UAE using discarded pods from a fast-growing native tree.
"The idea came, to be honest, as a coincidence," Zein, an Egyptian artist born and raised in UAE, told Khaleej Times. "I took these pods and put them against the sun… they had the most beautiful translucent effect. I instantly grabbed them and wanted to create something out of them."
From that moment, Leukeather began as an experiment and unfolded into a sustainable, scalable material with regional roots and global potential.
Her contribution is not simply artistic - it is infrastructural. At a time when the UAE continues to declare bold ambitions around environmental stewardship, Zein's leather alternative becomes part of a national narrative - one where sustainable design is no longer imported, but locally conceived, produced, and celebrated.
She explained, "The tree we use grows here in the UAE… It fixes nitrogen in the soil, and doesn't need much water. All of our materials are sourced here. The carbon footprint is minimal."
Inside the exhibition, visitors are invited into a sensorial journey: reflective surfaces give way to soft textures and intricate joinery. "Sara'ir", a central cabinet, part-sculpture and part-story, anchors the installation. "The lower part represents the UAE - brass pins, Mandoos craftsmanship - while the upper part references Egypt with carved motifs and symbolic marks," she noted. Even the gazelle-shaped legs are deliberate, "They represent harmony, beauty, and strength... symbolic in both Emirati and Egyptian cultures."
On naming the exhibition 'Niche', Noor Suhail, curator of the exhibition and of 1971–Design Space, explained, "I believe Nuhyar truly found her niche - both in the personal sense and in the physical form of the cabinet. The title Niche plays on the Egyptian word 'neesh', used for traditional display cabinets, which in this show becomes a vessel of memory and material - bridging heritage with contemporary design."
Tribute to Emirati traditions
Meanwhile, across the water at Flag Island Amphitheatre, Canadian artist Fathima Mohiuddin paints a different kind of tribute - this one sprawling across a public wall, rendered in stark black and white. Her mural Ahazeej (Chants) is a love letter to the rhythmic traditions of the Emirates: the dances, the verses, the fire-lit recitations that echo across generations. "I didn't know there were so many different kinds of poetry," she said, adding, "Poetry recited around fires, poetry in call and response, poetry chanted in unison..."
She spent months learning the names and histories of these oral traditions: Al-Ayala, Al-Razfa, Al-Azi, Al-Tarruda, and Al-Nashat. Each movement, each chant, carries echoes of desert nights and community rituals. A figure in the mural - a woman with flowing hair - pays homage to Al-Na'ashat, where hair becomes the very instrument of dance. Around her, motifs of oud, drum, and Tribulus Omanis - the resilient national flower - compose a visual symphony of heritage.
The mural is a study in discipline, not only in theme but in medium. She told Khaleej Times,"Painting black next to white in the wind is something you don't expect until you're on-site. The black blows into the white, and then the white into the black... you sort of learn to dance with the elements."
For Mohiuddin, the mural becomes more than a static artwork - it is an invocation. "So many of these poetic practices happened around campfires," she explained. "This amphitheatre becomes that fire - it becomes the place of gathering and exchange."
Shaikha AlBusmait, events coordinator at 1971-Design Space and the project manager of the latest Jedariya project under which Ahazeej was commissioned, reflects on the power of this transformation, "The amphitheatre is an ideal landmark to transform into a remarkable spot, considering it is located at The Flag Island. Fathima's work in itself is poetic, which aligned with our vision that aims to embrace UAE culture and traditional performances through her mural."
To preserve and reimagine
Together, the works of Zein and Mohiuddin remind us that to design or paint with intention is to preserve - and to preserve is to reimagine. Whether through the reinvention of material from Emirati trees or the revival of poetry once sung around desert fires, both artists create more than art. They craft spaces for cultural continuity and invite us to walk through them - curious, rooted, and awake.
Niche: Leukeather Goods by Nuhayr Zein opened on May 18 and runs until October 23, 2025. It is presented at 1971-Design Space on Flag Island, an initiative by Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq). The Jedariya project is another Shurooq initiative led by Maraya Art Centre that supports public art and emerging creative practices across the UAE.