01 Nov 2006
Dubai: The cultural scene has been given a boost with the opening of a theatre and arts centre.
Plays, musicals, lectures, classes and art exhibitions will be on offer at Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre in Mall of the Emirates.
Organisers have described the project as the realisation of a long-held dream to provide a focus for the arts for all nationalities.
Brian Wilkie, deputy chairman, said: "It started six years ago with a group of amateur theatre enthusiasts who were complaining about the lack of cultural facilities in Dubai.
"They decided to do something about it and the small project grew to what we see today. It's the Gulf's first non-profit creative centre built by the people for the people.
"Dubai is a big jigsaw but there was a piece missing culture. We want to be that missing piece."
So far about Dh16 million of the Dh27 million needed to fit out the theatre has been generated through fundraising.
The construction costs, also about Dh27 million, have been covered by Majid Al Futtaim Group, which is renting the building to the theatre and arts centre for a nominal fee.
Wilkie added: "We hope parents will be able to, for example, drop off their son for a piano lesson and their daughter for a painting class, buy a ticket for one of the performances here and then go and do their shopping.
"If we can become a part of people's lives in this way then we will have fulfilled our dream."
Both local and international artists and dramatists will get the chance to show off their work at the centre. Wilkie said he wanted it to become "a regional hub for the arts".
The building has two theatres, the larger of which has capacity for 543 people and space for a live orchestra.
The centre also includes the Manu Chhabria Arts Centre, which includes the Centre for Musical Arts, The Old Library and 16 classrooms or studios that will be used for everything from crafts to painting, sculpture, ceramics and pottery.
A membership scheme has been launched with the hope of recruiting 10,000 people within two years.
By Daniel Bardsley
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
