Emirati artist wins Art At The Top contest

What does the Burj Khalifa mean to you? A useful landmark that helps you figure out where you are when driving into Dubai? Tom Cruise dangling on a rope? A whole lot of world records? Home?

For the Ara Gallery's Art At The Top competition, this question was the theme for the entrants, and yesterday, the Emirati artist Hamad Al Falasi was announced the winner.

Al Falasi's digital photograph, titled Historical Moment ... Historical Monument, has four male figures in local dress standing in front of the Burj Khalifa and the surrounding area, while the real scene itself sits behind.

According to the Dubai-based artist, it "examines the relationship between stillness and mobility attributed to Burj Khalifa", and looks at "the journey for every person around the globe taking a step closer toward this iconic structure".

The photograph, which measures 2.4 by 1.7 metres, will be displayed for the next six months at At The Top, Burj Khalifa's 124th-floor observation deck.

Earlier this year, Al Falasi, who is an environment manager in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, won the first prize in the Close Up category of the Space and Light photography competition organised by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre in Abu Dhabi.

aritman@thenational.ae