Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 21 January 2026: The Mohammed Bin Rashid Library kicked off its 2026 program by celebrating World Flower Day through a rich cultural and artistic event that brought together visual arts, intellectual dialogue, poetry, and music, in an evening that embodied flowers as a universal aesthetic and human symbol transcending cultures and civilisations.
The event opened with a live painting performance titled Petals and a Brush, featuring local and resident artists of diverse nationalities in the UAE, who created flower-inspired artworks in an interactive setting, allowing the audience to witness the creative process in real time.
The program continued with a discussion session titled Flowers in World Literature, featuring Dr. Samar Al Dayyoub and moderated by Maria Tormoush. The session explored the presence of flowers in human memory throughout history and their symbolic meanings in global literature and mythology.
The discussion then moved to flowers in world literature, from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, to Baudelaire, where flowers coexist with existential anxiety, and to Andalusian civilisation, which made gardens and orchards integral to its urban design and aesthetic consciousness—reflected in the poetry of Ibn Zaydun, Ibn Khafaja, and others.
The session also examined contemporary Arabic literature, where flowers symbolise love in Nizar Qabbani's poetry, life and resistance in Mahmoud Darwish's work, and quiet wisdom in the writings of Gibran Khalil Gibran.
Following the discussion, a poetry evening titled Flower Poems was held. The evening featured poets Ahmed Al-Akhras, Yasser Abdulqader, and Ola Khadaro. The readings presented a selection of poems marked by tenderness and nostalgia, making flowers witnesses to love, loss, and memory.
The celebration concluded with the musical evening Ya Bade‘ Al-Ward by Mirna Mallouhi, accompanied by musicians and the Dubai National Theatre Choir, reviving classic flower-themed songs in a festive atmosphere with strong audience engagement.
With a strong turnout and a diverse program, the event celebrated flowers as a shared human language. It reflected the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library's commitment to enriching the cultural landscape through events that connect knowledge, creativity, and dialogue between the arts and literature.
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