Located in the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, I Dreamt of a City Everyone Calls Home is a large-scale interactive sculptural playground inviting visitors of all ages to engage in playful exploration and creative reverie. Inspired by the vibrant essence of the Jaddaf area, it blends vernacular architectural patterns, fauna, and local plants with contemporary design elements and unusual installations reminiscent of rain showers, fog, and light dances. By highlighting the significant historical role the Jaddaf area played in enabling trade and cultural exchange, the innovative playground celebrates the communities that have contributed to Dubai’s cultural tapestry. One will be able to explore it until 31 May 2027.
I Dreamt of a City Everyone Calls Home is designed by the Theories of Imagination (TOFI), an Emirati design collective that became the recipient of the inaugural Jaddaf Playscape Commission. The commission conceived and curated by Art Jameel is part of the Dubai Public Art Initiative. The Commission represents a unique opportunity for artists, architects, artists, and designers in the Emirates to propose and realise interactive and playful public artworks within the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park (the UAE’s first open-air art and sculpture park) next to Jameel Arts Centre.
TOFI’s proposed project has been selected through a rigorous evaluation process overseen by an esteemed international jury, following an Open Call launched in February 2023. It received about 100 applications from artists and designers across the Emirates. Among the panel of jurors were renowned art professionals, architects, and curators, including Cecilia Alemani, Wael Awar, Amal Khalaf, and Nora Razian.
About Theories of Imagination
TOFI comprises artist-architect Noor Alwan and artist-designer Abdulla Buhijji who specialise in producing fantasised artworks and creative spatial perspectives based on cultural insights and research. In their collaborative work, Alwan and Buhijji delve into such themes as the link between the self and the other, people and their environments, place of belonging, and identity and memories across time. With their practice lying at the intersection of technology and art, they create interactive experiences, providing fun ways to perceive the present and future landscapes. With a portfolio that spans commissions from such esteemed institutions as the Misk Art Institute (Riyadh, KSA), Misk Art Institute (Riyadh, KSA), Bahrain International Airport and Bahrain Pavilion (Dubai Expo 2020), and Riyadh Art for the Noor Riyadh festival, TOFI’s impact resonates far beyond the Emirates. As independent artists, Alwan and Buhijji displayed their work across diverse locales which include England (the UK), Egypt, Bahrain, France, KSA, and the UAE.
To get more information about I Dreamt of a City Everyone Calls Home, please go to the official web page of the project.
You might also be interested in looking at Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum designed by theOtherDada and Formation III: The Dappled Light of the Sun (a sculpture by Conrad Shawcross). Additionally, those with children may like Picturing the Cosmos, an exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
