Corniche

The 2019 edition of FOCAL POINT presented a spotlight on zines and comics. To complement this thematic direction, several zine and comic workshops and meet-ups were organised with UAE-based artists. The workshop Comic Makers, led by Nasir Nasrullah, brought together 15 artists who went on to create new content that was compiled into a book and launched at the fair.

Corniche, designed by Mouza Al Hamrani, is a unique entry into the minds of artists living in the UAE and the first anthology of comics in the country. It includes the work of artists Ruba Al Araji, Azim Al Ghussein, Alya Al Hammadi, Aysha AlHamrani, Mouza AlHamrani, Manar Laham, Reem Al Marri, Khawla AlMarzooqi, Khalid Mezaina, Mohammed Al Mohanna, Shihabaldeen Al Musharaf, Issa AlNoaimi, Mohammed Al Shaibani, Ibrahim Swaid, and Ayesha Thani.

The cover, designed by Nasrullah, pays homage to the Sharjah corniche by which SAF is located and that served as the main view through the windows of Bait Obaid Al Shamsi, where the collaborators sat together to produce the content. In another personal touch, the cover art features the International Space Station, a nod to the journey of the first Emirati astronaut, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, to space—a milestone event that the corniche collaborators watched together on a laptop from the workshop space.

Languages: Arabic and English
Softcover
202 pages
Dimensions: height 29.7 x width 21.0 cm
ISBN: 9789948368120
Publisher: Sharjah Art Foundation
Published in 2019
Country of publication: United Arab Emirates