Interactive urban art fest hits Deira - Al Ghurair Centre's Street Con

The inner streets of the Al Ghurair Centre in Deira will be brought to life from February 5th to 15th 2014 when Dubai's original shopping mall hosts a brand new urban art fest.

The Al Ghurair Centre's Street Con is a ten-day celebration of local and international urban art talent, right in the heart of Dubai.

The refreshing, new, interactive art extravaganza will see seventeen different artists showcasing their talent through various art installations, creative displays, live exhibits, graffiti, music, street theatre performances, face painting and balloon benders for children.

The cultural and colourful explosion of modern art techniques is an exciting event for urban art fans and all of the family alike, promoting artist – audience interaction in a unique setting.

Al Ghurair Centre continues to invest in art, music and culture to cement its position as the cultural hub and heart of Deira.

Rollan Rodriguez, curator of Street Con says: “The greater population may not know how rich Deira is in terms of culture and diversity – it's a perfect incubator for art.

“Just like the Al Ghurair Centre, it is the original ‘urban' community. Street Con is the Al Ghurair Centre's contribution to the urban art community, exposing urban art to the wider public”.

Shopping Mall Manager, Irina Cooper says; “Since our expansion and renovation in October of last year, we have heavily promoted art, culture and music within the local community with events such as a live graffiti wall at Recon and our hugely successful Battle of the Bands music competition. The Al Ghurair Centre's Street Con will continue this, attracting new visitors to this cultural heart of Dubai whilst providing an interactive opportunity for people of all ages to connect with art and get enthused about it in all its forms”.

Mall visitors will get the chance to get up close and involved in some of the unique art installations including:

TOY JAM – unique customisation event where artists will be decorating 10 toy figures live, depicting life in Deira, to be exhibited outside of the mall

    7thFebruary – 2-10pm

THE WALL – live artistry on a 4 x 5m wall, creating a permanent piece of urban art in the centre of Deira

    5th-8thFebruary – 2-10pm

EXQUISITE CORPSE – collection of paintings collectively assembled by artists without seeing the previous artist's work. A key word will inspire their creativity

See the following artists from 4-10pm:

    Enforce One (Gary Yong) 5-6thFebruary
    Dogboy (Rollan Rodriguez) 7-th February
    Pinkblot (Joseph Manata) 9-10thFebruary
    Darwin Guevarra 11-12thFebruary
    Def (Mark Baretto) 13-14thFebruary

The Al Ghurair Centre's Street Con will be on daily from 1pm to 10pm, February 5thto 15th2014. Located on the inner road between mall entrances 3 and 4 at the Al Ghurair Centre in Deira (near the Dome cafe and Spinney's). Nearest metro stations include Union Station and Salahuddin.