Same Path, New Creativity: Sikka Is Back

by Hala Shah

Same Path, New Creativity: Sikka Is Back

22 Feb 2024

The annual Sikka Art and Design Festival returns to Dubai Art Season, February 23–March 3, for a 12th edition. Presented in a new location, the festival activates the alleyways, or “sikka”, of the Al Shindagha Historic Neighborhood with an assemblage of artworks, installations, live performances, workshops, roundtable discussions, and culinary encounters.

The festival’s theme this year, “Same Path, New Creativity,” captures the convergence of cultural heritage and artistic innovation that defines Dubai’s arts scene. Centrally located to Al Shindagha Museum, the UAE’s largest heritage museum, Sikka Art and Design Festival celebrates traditions carved by the curves of the Dubai Creek, while championing the creative zeal of more than 500 artists from the GCC region and beyond.

To experience the festival is not only to engage in cultural tourism but also to be an active participant in shaping the region’s artistic future. Over the past decade, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sikka Art and Design Festival has expanded from a platform for Emirati and UAE-based artists working in visual arts and design to a multidisciplinary cultural festival fueled by local, regional, and global creatives. Dubai Art Season proves the success of the region’s cultural tourism derives from the continued support and development of “homegrown” arts initiatives.

Instagram: @sikkaplatform

The curatorial team — Hamda Ali Alfalasi, Hind Bin Demaithan, Fatma Al Mahmoud — are visible in Dubai through their leadership and affiliations with Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Dubai Design Week, Dubai Creative Unit, and Hamzat Wasl Studio, among other arts institutions. Under their direction, this year’s festival offers a full agenda of free public arts programming. Highlights include 13 themed “Houses”, Kebarona Photo Walk, Sikka Supper Clubs, and performances by Fontane Di Roma (Italian Youth Orchestra). Expansive murals animate walls, and other live musical performances bathe the pathways of Al Shindagha in diverse soundscapes.

Though the festival announces new events daily, several Houses have revealed exceptional rosters of artists and collectives poised to offer visitors transformative interactions with arts across an array of disciplines and mediums. “Be a part of the conversation. Be a part of the change,” proclaims Studio Thirteen at House 206, which will host a series of roundtables that offer insight into the creative process and erase lines between artists and spectators.

Displaying the works of 16 artists, House 302, “Khaleeji House”, is a visual feat and feast. Two artists of House 314 craft photographic personal narratives. And no less than 25 artists focus on technology, nature, sustainability and design at House 207. These robust lines of visual inquiry are paralleled in the digital realm at House 303, “Digital Khaleeji House”, whose seven artists create an immersive experience through virtual reality, augmented reality, and interactive digital media.

Dubai Culture confirmed that last year’s Sikka Art and Design Festival welcomed more than 120,000 visitors. By the conclusion of #Sikka24 the next generations of artists will be inspired to design the artistic and cultural landscape of Dubai. But first, to kick off the festival with a homage to where it all began — in heritage — the young visitors are invited to join in singing at Al Shindagha Museum for the Emirati tradition of Hag Al Leila.

by Hala Shah