Expo 2020 Dubai has unveiled its one-of-a-kind community art project, known as Hammour House.

The location was unveiled during an exclusive preview attended by sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, commissioner general of the event.

Hammour House will bring together fishermen, scientists, artists, school students and a number of institutions at Expo 2020 Dubai to showcase a selection of visually striking and emotionally inspiring installations on-site.

Inviting communities around the world to connect with the issues of sustainability, Hammour House examines the coral reefs of the UAE and its inhabitants, particularly the orange-spotted grouper, commonly known locally as hammour.

Al Nahayan said: “Hammour House embodies Expo 2020’s theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, which links creativity and engagement, and aims to bring the whole community together to build awareness, and enable action towards addressing our biggest challenges from the viewpoint of the arts.”

During the six-month mega-event, the project will showcase a vibrant tapestry depicting marine life, created by school students using batik technique and sustainable dyes. It will also feature Hammour Fish, a sculpture made from ghost nets (fishing nets lost and/or abandoned at sea), by Australian artist Sue Ryan.

In an exciting creative programme that includes daily knitting experiences and innovative UAE-based artist- and art teacher-led workshops, visitors will have the opportunity to contribute to an ‘ever-growing’ coral reef sculpture, made from recycled materials, which will be showcased on-site at Expo 2020.

The programme also presents musical evenings in collaboration with the Centre for Musical Arts (CMA), where students will compose and perform an exclusive soundtrack, especially for Hammour House.

Bringing together diverse segments of the community and organisations, Hammour House tells crucial stories that respond to Expo 2020’s subtheme of Sustainability (one of three subthemes, alongside Opportunity and Mobility), celebrating the underwater world.

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One of the first global mega-events to take place since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Expo 2020 runs from October 1st to March next year, inviting visitors from around the world to join the making of a new world and experience a six-month celebration of human creativity, innovation, progress and culture.