Curtains raised to view The Sleeping Muse; one of the world’s largest collaborative art installations built by 7500 visitors at the recently concluded Expo 2020
Dubai International Financial Centre’s luxurious retail hub, Index Mall, a portfolio property of Emirates REIT (CEIC) PLC (“Emirates REIT”), managed by Equitativa (Dubai) Limited (“Equitativa”), has officially unveiled the city’s first “One Wall” Art Gallery.
The wall will shine light on remarkable artworks and artists from across the globe and will serve as a platform to connect upcoming artists and the community.
The first artwork presented is a stunning piece inspired by Romanian artist Constantin Brâncuși’s iconic The Sleeping Muse. The collaborative artwork, sharing the same name, is the brainchild of designer Florin Cobuz and his Nod Design Lab team, who hosted a one-month interactive workshop at the Romanian Pavilion at Expo 2020, bringing together thousands of people from all over the world to create one of the world’s largest collaborative art projects. The installation will be on display at Index Mall for 30 days and is currently up for sale.
This artifact was created through a unique experiment that combined a variety of design and crafting techniques, including 3D modelling, working with modern tools, traditional manufacturing, and programming using a custom software. Each participant was asked to create a code that indicated the dimension and position of each piece, this was followed by manually or electrically cutting one or more wooden sticks and then attaching them to the 2.5×1.5m honeycomb structure. The three-dimensional creation, which comprises of 40 modules of 26×26 sticks, over 5km of wood, and 27.040 pieces, has truly fused art and technology in the most captivating way.
During the last month of Expo 2020, the fascinating artwork was jointly created by 7,500 people visiting the Romanian Pavilion, including a number of prominent UAE figures – His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr. Saeed Mubarak bin Kharbash Al Marri, Chief Executive Officer, Arts & Literature at Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Reem Al Hashimi, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Managing Director of Expo2020.
Commenting on the day of launch, Executive Director of Equitativa, Magali Mouquet, said, “We are excited to exhibit the beautiful Sleeping Muse collaborative artwork at Index Mall. It speaks to our values of bringing people together to achieve something greater than themselves. Every stick is someone’s’ story, their contribution forever framed in a moment. It’s the definition of building communities and we are happy to share it with everyone visiting the One Wall Gallery at Index Mall. We are committed to celebrate artists and provide a stage to show their incredible, innovative pieces.”
This initiative is a part of Index Mall’s ongoing efforts to connect with the community; providing them with opportunities and allowing them to tell their stories. In March 2022, Index Mall hosted an art event aptly titled ART in the Park, the successful event generated strong interests and thus, further cemented Emirates REIT’s confidence in hosting and supporting similar events.
Legacy art, managed by Sonia Ghai, is exclusively representing The Sleeping Muse Collaborative Artwork and artist Florin Cobuz in the sale process of the artwork. ART in the Park was also a joint effort between Index Mall and Legacy Art.
Everyone is invited to view it during the month-long exhibit at Index Mall and we invite patrons to share their story and images if they were part of the artwork creation.
