The Waterfront Market, known for its fresh food, collaborated with Dubai Culture and Arts Authority to host the third edition of the Murals and Art Competition.
The theme for this year's competition was to honour front-line workers who have helped the UAE in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, with prize money of Dhs 15,000.
The winner for this year's Murals and Art Competition is Kristian Barba Olidana, for his work on ‘Mute’, which is a stylised mural of what we all experienced during lockdown – video conferencing.
The winner, Kristian Barba Olidana said, “The artwork was simple yet has a deep and clear meaning, it tells a story. The mural was stylised like a Zoom software interface to remind us of one of the new normal to meet in 2020, through video conference. There are 12 participants, 11 representing each type of front-liner, and 1 representing the whole world. Each front-liners were faceless, symbolising the group sectors they represent. Also, each front-liner has a "Mute" icon, that symbolises their choice to just do their duties as a front-liner and never complain. They were at high risk of being infected by the virus and they were separated from their loved ones, but we did not hear any complaints from them, they are just there, doing their duties and keeping us safe from the virus. The "Whole World" shows an open mic, that symbolises comfort, freedom, and peace of mind that we don't need to battle Covid-19 on our own since we have our front liners to do it. With this, I just want to use my "Mic" and my voice to at least say "Thank You!" to our heroes. I want to show to every front-liner (from cleaner to scientist), that they were represented in this art, and the whole world recognises their job as heroic deeds forever.”
