A sense of nostalgia, generated by wandering in the exhibition «Cinema in the UAE» of photographer Ammar Al-Attar, recalling old memories almost disappeared between the folds of memory, in light of the modernity we live in the present time.

The exhibition, organized by the Art Gallery of the University of New York Abu Dhabi, the University's Academic Museum, traces the beginnings and cinemas of cinemas in the UAE through a wide range of photographs, documents and materials in which Attar sought to paint a panoramic picture of the stages of independent cinematography that was built in the early 1970s Al-Attar, in his exhibition, discusses aspects of film culture in the UAE and the Gulf region, from the cultural, artistic, and cultural aspects of the film industry. During the monitoring of several phenomena, including the weekly family ritual of going to the cinemas, or posters used to promote films to a wide variety of the public.

Golden Cinema

The demolition of the Golden Cinema building near his grandfather's home was the first nucleus of the exhibition. "From the beginning, I had an interest in photographing old buildings, including old cinemas," Ammar al-Attar told Emirates Today. "When I heard about the demolition of a building Cinema) in Dubai in 2015, which was called Cinema Plaza at the beginning, and the building was close to my grandfather's house, I went to photograph the building to document the place before it was demolished, and there found a large collection of cinema papers, many of them dating back to the seventies Great value, and when I spoke with the charge of the building told me that they did not mind having that I kept these papers, then thought about the need to present these documents to the public, and from here began the idea of ​​the exhibition ». He pointed out that during the last three years he has been filming the buildings of nearly seven cinemas in the UAE, such as Granada in Umm Al Quwain, Al Hamra in Sharjah, Cinema Plaza in Fujairah, Gulf in Ras Al Khaimah, Dorado in Abu Dhabi and others. Some have been demolished, and others have moved to other economic activity such as shops and miscellaneous. He said that this transformation is normal in view of the spread of modern cinemas and the huge potential of the film, both in terms of the comfort of the viewer and the quality of the films. Most of the old role was for people and not for institutions. Madi in other projects with the decline in the popularity of the old cinemas.

Posters and seats

Almost all the cinema can be seen in front of him, even the wooden seats where the moviegoers used to sit. Ammar al-Attar turned it into a work of art in one of the showrooms. On the opposite wall hung a large group of posters of Indian films "posters" The names of Indian film stars in the 1970s and 1980s, such as the Suraj poster, and films from Egypt, Bangladesh, Hollywood and Pakistan. The exhibition, which runs until November 5, will also include a collection of old documents, which are part of official communications between Cinema Plaza on the one hand and Dubai Municipality or the Ministry of Information and Culture on the other hand, including a letter from Dubai Municipality in February 1977 , According to the approval of the municipality to raise the prices of tickets in the second class in the cinema from three dirhams and a half dirhams to four dirhams, and raise the price of tickets for the third degree from two and a half dirhams to three dirhams and a half dirhams, like other theaters, and another letter from the municipality approving the request «Cinema Plaza» movie screening «Tarzan» children of a school In Dubai for free, "a contribution from cinema to the entertainment of children", which sheds light on the role of the theaters at the time, which was not only the presentation of movies in the halls, but they have contributed to the creation of the movement of artistic and cultural entertainment in society. And another letter dated December 1975, issued by the censorship of films at the Ministry of Information and Culture at that time, and the director of cinema to pay the amount of 300 dirhams instead of fees for films that were observed in November of the same year. Along with a wide range of movie tickets, pictures from inside the movie room and pictures of cinemas from home and abroad, as well as scraps from various newspapers and magazines that include film-related materials such as film ads, articles, news stories, and more.

Technical dialogue

The exhibition "Cinema in the UAE" is part of the conference "Cinema and Visual Media in the Gulf", organized by Alia Younis, in collaboration with Del Hudson at the New York University Institute of Abu Dhabi, from 28 to 30. In conjunction with the conference, a technical dialogue will be held with the artist Ammar Al-Attar in the project area at 6:00 pm on the 29th of this month.

«Reverse Time»

Ammar Al-Attar explained that since 2014 he has been working on an art project entitled "Reverse Time", which traces the stages of the development of photography and studios in the UAE, from the beginning until the present time. It is expected that this project will be published in a book. , With photographers who lived in the UAE in different periods of time.

• A letter issued by the Dubai Municipality in February 1977 stating that the Municipality has agreed to raise the prices of second-class tickets in the cinema, from AED 3.50 to AED 4.

• The wooden seats, on which the filmgoers used to sit, were transformed by Attar into a work of art.