How UAE residents grow pockets of green in unexpected urban spaces

Al Etihad

26-06-2025

26 June 2025 23:08
MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)In the alleyways behind shops, along the fringes of industrial zones, and beneath the drip of air-conditioning units, small gardens are quietly flourishing across cities in the UAE. Polish photographer Anna Jopp has turned her lens toward these unassuming patches of greenery, often improvised and tended by hands rarely seen. Her latest work, 'On Gardening,' now on display at the 'Cartographies, Revised' exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat, is a visual study of how plants survive and thrive in urban spaces across the Emirates.
'It started with the obvious; the decorative green areas planted along streets. But, very quickly, I became fascinated by what was growing in unexpected places,' Jopp shared with Aletihad in a recent interview. From a few potted flowers placed outside a corner shop to makeshift vegetable gardens tucked between warehouses, Jopp's images document the subtle human impulse to nurture nature.'I wanted to look at how people express a love for gardening out in the open in public, informal, and often unnoticed ways,' she explained. That might mean a cluster of planters on a busy sidewalk, or vines trained up the side of a residential building. In industrial areas, Jopp found fruit trees and vegetables growing in plots tended by workers. In some cases, irrigation systems were ingeniously improvised such as plants positioned to catch water dripping from AC pipes.'What I learned is that even in a very big city, people very often want to be connected to nature, and it can be done for them in the form of parks or little squares with trees,' Jopp noted.'But I found that people have this universal need to take care of something - in this case, plants. People want to be working with their hands, cultivating plants, and taking care of the green areas around them. It's one of the ways you can create a sense of home wherever you are.'The 'On Gardening' series is part of the Photography Studio's four-month residency programme in Abu Dhabi, which hosted seven emerging artists. Jopp says the mentorship she received helped her go beyond aesthetics and think critically about the message behind her work.'At first, I wanted to photograph every plant I saw,' she said. 'But through the fellowship, I began to focus on what story am I trying to tell? What does this add to my larger body of work? How am I growing as an artist?'Now, as she prepares to move to Fujairah, Jopp is already thinking about her next project within the emirate's rich farming heritage and proximity to the mountains.'I want to understand the landscape better; the people, the plants, how gardening happens in that part of the country,' she said. 'And also, how climate change and rising temperatures are changing the way people grow things and care for nature.'
'Cartographies, Revised' runs daily at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, from 10am to 8pm until September 1.