Sabeel Fountains: a creative collection of drinking spouts at Expo 2020 Dubai


Farah Andrews
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Wandering around the Expo 2020 Dubai site, a collection of water fountains will catch your eye. The Sabeel Fountains, a series of striking drinking fountains, have been designed to both refresh and impress visitors at the world's fair.

One design resembles a letterbox, complete with an embossed letter by its artist, and another incorporates natural elements to represent a mini "natural world". The fountains are contemporary artistic interpretations of the traditional Emirati drinking fountain, the sabeel.

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“Through these beautiful and innovatively designed drinking fountains, we invite visitors to take a moment to pause as they quench their thirst and consider their own connection to this most precious resource,” says Marjan Faraidooni, chief experience officer at Expo 2020 Dubai.

A collaboration between Expo 2020 and Art Jameel, the initiative began in September 2019, with the Sabeel 2020 open call. The design contest received more than 100 proposals and was overseen by an internationally renowned jury, who selected and awarded two design collaboratives – UAE creative studio Architecture + Other Things and design team Faissal El-Malak and Alia Bin Omair. The designers created Water in the Green and Nahel, respectively, collectively known as Signature Fountains.

Nasir Nasrallah's 'Letter to Water' Sabeel Fountain at Expo 2020 Dubai. Photo: Expo 2020 Dubai
Nasir Nasrallah's 'Letter to Water' Sabeel Fountain at Expo 2020 Dubai. Photo: Expo 2020 Dubai

The Signature Fountains have been reproduced, with a total of 37 fountains scattered around public spaces at Expo 2020.

Water in the Green combines robust materials with plants, highlighting sustainability efforts at Expo 2020. Nahel features motifs of humankind, nature and technology connecting in harmony, illustrating Expo 2020’s subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.

Expo 2020 also invited two contemporary artists, Nasir Nasrallah and Dana Awartani, to create larger drinking fountains, known as Artistic Fountains. Nasrallah’s Letter to Water is a love letter to the precious resource, while Awartani’s The Well resembles a stone well.

“It is exciting to see our collaboration with Expo 2020 Dubai come to fruition. Alongside our exhibitions and learning programmes at Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, Art Jameel has a commitment to supporting artists and creative communities through collaborative projects," says Antonia Carver the Art Jameel director.

"Water – and water and food futures – are embedded within our curatorial threads, shaped by a number of long-term, multiyear themes that manifest in commissions, among many other initiatives."

The Sabeel Fountains operate using hands-free sensor taps and have incorporated bottle filler taps in lieu of bubblers.

The specs

Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo

Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed

Power: 271 and 409 horsepower

Torque: 385 and 650Nm

Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000

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Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Wicked: For Good

Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater

Rating: 4/5

THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

Normcore explained

Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.

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The biog

Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents

Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University

As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families

Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too

New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

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Tuesday's fixtures
Group A
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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Updated: November 05, 2021, 12:14 PM