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Dubai Culture Launches 1st Edition of 'Talent Atelier' Program for Emirati Designers

The program aligns with Dubai Culture's efforts to strengthen the cultural and creative industries. WAM
The program aligns with Dubai Culture's efforts to strengthen the cultural and creative industries. WAM
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Dubai Culture Launches 1st Edition of 'Talent Atelier' Program for Emirati Designers

The program aligns with Dubai Culture's efforts to strengthen the cultural and creative industries. WAM
The program aligns with Dubai Culture's efforts to strengthen the cultural and creative industries. WAM

Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has announced the launch of the 1st edition of 'Talent Atelier' program, organized in collaboration with L’ÉCOLE Middle East, School of Jewelry Arts supported by Van Cleef & Arpels.

The program aligns with Dubai Culture's efforts to strengthen the cultural and creative industries, reinforcing the emirate's position as a global center for culture, an incubator for creativity, and a thriving hub for talent. It aims to expand the horizons of creatives and talented individuals, refining their expertise in jewelry making and enriching their knowledge in this field.

The program, which will be held from 2nd September to 30th November 2024, focuses on three main pillars: the history of jewelry, the world of gemstones and the savoir-faire of jewelry-making techniques. Dubai Culture aims to develop the skills of 12 Emirati designers who will participate in a series of jewelry arts courses and workshops at the L’ÉCOLE Middle East campus in Dubai Design District.

The top six designers will be awarded the opportunity to visit Paris for five days in November to participate in an educational program organized at L’ÉCOLE France & Europe’s new campus, Hôtel de Mercy-Argenteau on the Grands Boulevards. These designers will be selected based on creativity, material exploration, and application of learning.

Dr. Saeed Mubarak bin Kharbash, CEO of the Arts and Literature Sector at Dubai Culture, affirmed that Dubai has succeeded in establishing itself as a leading destination for design, attracting distinguished emerging talents in this field. “The Talent Atelier program embodies the Authority's cultural commitments and responsibilities aimed at supporting and empowering Emirati designers and entrepreneurs, encouraging them to unleash their talents and contribute to enriching the creative scene in the emirate," he said.

"This initiative is about building bridges between cultures, dialogues between different arts disciplines, fostering creativity, and supporting the next generation of Emirati Talents,” said Sophie Claudel, Director of L’ÉCOLE Middle East, School of Jewelry Arts.

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Family Keeps up Beirut Dessert Tradition

Samir Makari holds a tray of mufataka, a traditional Beiruti sweet, at his shop in the Lebanese capital on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
Samir Makari holds a tray of mufataka, a traditional Beiruti sweet, at his shop in the Lebanese capital on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Family Keeps up Beirut Dessert Tradition

Samir Makari holds a tray of mufataka, a traditional Beiruti sweet, at his shop in the Lebanese capital on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
Samir Makari holds a tray of mufataka, a traditional Beiruti sweet, at his shop in the Lebanese capital on August 29, 2024. (AFP)

At a shop nestled in a busy, crowded Beirut district, Hasan El-Makary is weighing out containers of warm, fragrant mufataka, a traditional sweet in the Lebanese capital that is rarely found in stores.

"I've been in this shop for 50 years, but we started specializing in mufataka 30 years ago," Makary said from the humble shop with its ageing decor and low ceiling.

A kind of rice pudding made with turmeric, tahini sesame paste, sugar and pine nuts, mufataka is traditional in Beirut but less known even outside the city.

"At the beginning you add turmeric, that's the main thing, then tahini, sugar and rice... we cook it slowly on fire," he said.

The rice must be soaked overnight, and Makary said he comes to the shop at 5:00 am to make the dish, which takes around four hours and requires regular stirring.

He said his father started making mufataka despite initially believing people would not pay money for a dish that is normally prepared at home.

Plastic containers of the pudding, which is eaten with a spoon, dotted trays and tables across the shop, waiting for customers who peered through a window to place their order from the busy street outside.

Customer Iman Chehab, 55, was picking up mufataka for her mother, who used to make it herself.

"She is elderly now and she can't stir... it takes a lot of work," said Chehab, who works in human resources management.

The dish is "something traditional for us who are from Beirut", she told AFP.

Places like Makary's shop "are the old face of Beirut that we love and always want to remember", she added.

- 'Heritage' -

A few bustling neighborhoods away, Samir Makari, 35, is carrying on the family tradition.

At a gleaming shop also selling Arabic sweets like baklava, Makari attends to a huge copper pot of mufataka behind the counter, stirring it with a long, wooden-handled implement.

He weighs out and mixes the sugar, tahini paste and pine nuts in a second pot, later combining it all.

Mufataka used to be made just once a year on the last Wednesday in April, with families gathering by the sea at Beirut's public beach, father and son said.

The occasion was "Job's Wednesday", a reference to the biblical figure also mentioned in the holy Quran and who is renowned for his patience, the younger Makari said, noting the virtue is also required for making mufataka.

On the wall of his shop, which he runs with his brother, were photos of his father and his grandfather at work.

He said he sometimes makes mufataka twice a day depending on demand, with some customers taking it outside Beirut to introduce it to those who do not know the dish.

At the original store, the elder Makary said he was happy his children had kept up the tradition.

Mufataka is part of "my heritage", he said, and the family has "taken it from generation to generation".