It was three nights of pure culture and understanding, when Bottega Veneta hosted film screenings, musical performances, storytelling sessions, poetry recitals, and offered cuisines by a number of local talents to its visitors in Dubai.
From April 12 to 14, 'The Square' Dubai hosted its architect Gerges, along with Yemeni-slash-multinational award-winning filmmaker Shaima Al Tamimi, Sudanese-British spoken word poet, and basketball player Asma Al Badawi as well as Mustafa the Poet, the Canadian songwriter who identifies as a Black Muslim artist. And if Gerges seems familiar, it's because apart from being a world-renowned architect, he's also the drummer of the Lebanese group Mashrou' Leila.
In a space all done up in that special Bottega Veneta green, the sohoor meals were catered by French-Syrian chef Solemann Haddad, the co-owner of Moonrise in Dubai, while the evening was emceed by Apple Music MENA Editor-in-Chief Samer Doumet.
The cultural happenings included Al Badawi reading from her book Belongings, a vocal performance by Mustafa the Poet, and a screening of Al Tamimi’s short film Don’t Get Too Comfortable, fresh from her win at the Karama Yemen Human Rights Festival, after world premiering at the Venice Film Festival.
Lately the creative team at Bottega Veneta, under the new direction of Matthieu Blazy, have made it their mission to encourage local and artisanal products -- be it their food, fashion or the arts, as part of their 'Bottega for Bottegas’ initiative.
After its inaugural evenings in Dubai, ‘The Square’ will be traveling next to Tokyo, followed by San Francisco and São Paulo and in each city will feature local talents and creatives in an ongoing conversation about the future of fashion, but also our world in general. To those who attended the evening, the word "spellbinding" was what jumped to mind best way to describe it all, and we couldn't agree more. If creative minds can meet in a setting where everyone is included and able to tell their own story, then the world may just stand a chance after all.
This is what we have come to expect from a brand that is so elegant it doesn't need flashy logos and initials to clutter its perfect creations...
Check out the Bottega Veneta website for more cool initiatives.
