Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) organizes the picture exhibition “Dubai in the Year 1962” in collaboration with the Japanese Consulate General in Dubai. From January 30 to March 17, this photo exhibition will be presented at the Al Safa Art and Design Library to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between the UAE and Japan.
In addition to Dr. Saeed Mubarak bin Kharbash, CEO of the Arts & Literature Sector in Dubai Culture, and Noboru Sekiguchi, Consul-General of Japan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, Hala Badri, Director-General of Dubai Culture, officially opened the exhibition. The Sankei Shimbun Newspaper and Kimi Makishima-Akai are sponsors of the exhibition, which features 25 photographs documenting life in Dubai in 1962 taken by Yoshio Kawashima, a Japanese photojournalist for the newspaper, during a trip to the Middle East with his colleague, journalist Hiroshi Kato.
Hala Badri affirmed that Dubai Culture is keen to strengthen the UAE’s cultural friendship with other countries, which falls within the framework of the Authority’s commitment to activate cultural and creative community exchange. “We are proud of our relationship with other cultures, as it brings forth the UAE’s soft power and positive reputation on the international scene, and hosting the ‘Dubai in the Year 1962’ exhibition expresses the depth of Emirati-Japanese relations, by celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding. The exhibition provides a special insight into Dubai’s history, heritage, and the customs and traditions of its society as well as its leading global position, and includes a collection of exceptional photographs documenting various scenes in the emirate.”
Badri stressed that the exhibition demonstrates the creativity of a Japanese photographer, Yoshio Kawashima, and the realism of his images, adding, “Such exhibitions represent important platforms through which we look at the achievements of talent that work to explore aspects of human creativity, and contribute to enriching the thought and culture of society, which was embodied by a Japanese photographer, Yoshio Kawashima, in his photos that document important moments of Dubai’s history. Our hosting of the exhibition in Al Safa Art & Design Library cements the emirate’s position on the global cultural map as an attractive destination for creative talent in various disciplines.”
The collection of black-and-white photos shows Dubai’s history and daily life before the discovery of oil, as well as the close bond between His Highness, the belated Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum and the residents of Dubai and their daily meetings at his majlis. It also shows the population in and around Al Fahidi Fort, which now serves as home to the Dubai Museum, as well as the creek banks and the dynamism of trade in the city’s well-known markets.
The Kawashima’s photographs first surfaced in 2008 when Kimi Makishima- Akai, who had met Kawashima and Kato, gave one of them to H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.
The exhibition serves as a symbol of the success and dynamism of diplomatic and commercial ties between Dubai and Japan as well as the qualitative advancements made by the emirate over the years.