- Drinking fountains celebrate innovation, creativity and sustainability at Expo
- Sabeel Fountains shed light on UAE culture and highlight importance of water
- Health and safety measures incorporated for well-being of millions of visitors
DUBAI:– The Sabeel Fountains, a series of almost 40 aesthetically eye-catching drinking fountains designed to both refresh and wow visitors to the world’s biggest cultural gathering, can be found across the public spaces of the Expo 2020 site.
From one fountain designed to resemble a beautiful letterbox, complete with an embossed letter by its artist, to another that features a mini ‘natural world’, the innovative Sabeel Fountains are contemporary artistic interpretations of the traditional Emirati drinking fountain – sabeel. They reflect the country’s heritage and its spirit of hospitality, tolerance and generosity.
The initiative is a collaboration between Expo 2020 and Art Jameel that began in September 2019, with the Sabeel 2020 open call. The design contest, which received more than 100 proposals, was overseen by an internationally renowned jury, who selected and awarded two design collaboratives – UAE-based creative studio Architecture + Other Things and design team Faissal El-Malak and Alia Bin Omair.
Their designs, Water in the Green and Nahel respectively, collectively known as Signature Fountains, have been reproduced, with a total of 37 fountains throughout the public spaces of Expo 2020. Water in the Green combines robust materials with plants that highlight Expo 2020’s aim to be the most sustainable World Expo in history, while Nahel features motifs of humankind, nature and technology connecting in harmony, illustrating Expo’s subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.
Expo 2020 also invited two contemporary artists, Nasir Nasrallah and Dana Awartani, to create iconic larger drinking fountains, known as Artistic Fountains. Nasrallah’s Letter to Water can be seen as a love letter to water, while Awartani’s The Well resembles a stone well.
Marjan Faraidooni, Chief Experience Officer at Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “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. The Sabeel Fountains also offer an unmissable opportunity for the public to discover UAE and regional design talent.”
The Sabeel Fountains invite millions of visitors to discover the centuries-old tradition of how, through public drinking fountains, Emiratis share their water with people in need. The fountains will leave a lasting impact as part of the next World Expo’s legacy, living on after Expo’s doors close as part of the human-centric future city of District 2020.
Antonia Carver, Director, Art Jameel, said: “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 (and soon at Hayy Jameel, Jeddah), Art Jameel has a commitment to supporting artists and creative communities through collaborative projects. Water – and water and food futures – are embedded within our curatorial threads, shaped by a number of long-term, multi-year themes that manifest in commissions, among many other initiatives.”
The Sabeel Fountains are operating with enhanced health and safety measures, including the integration of hands-free sensor taps into all of the designs instead of push buttons, and the incorporation of bottle filler taps in lieu of bubblers.
Running until 31 March 2022, Expo 2020 is inviting visitors from across the planet to join the making of a new world during a six-month celebration of human ingenuity, innovation, progress and culture.
-Ends-
About Expo 2020 Dubai
How to cover Expo 2020 Dubai in person at event time or report on the event remotely
To attend Expo 2020 or cover Expo 2020 remotely using content and assets generated by Expo, you must be accredited.
To kick off your journey with Expo 2020, please ensure that you:
1. Register to access our Media Information System, Tawassul at https://media.expo2020dubai.com.
Tawassul is regularly updated, providing the latest content assets, including press releases, photographs, audio and video, the electronic media kit, and information on broadcast and photography operations. It also provides you with important information and updates on facilities and services such as media accreditation, visa information for international accredited media, and permits. Access to other media-related systems (Media Asset Management System and Media Bookings System), which will be launched in Q2 2021, will only be permitted to accredited media (see below). Information about these systems can be found on Tawassul.
2. Once registered, submit an Expo 2020 Media Accreditation expression of interest.
Within this expression of interest, please appoint an Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) from within your organisation who will act as the single point of contact with Expo 2020 for media accreditation. Following this, approved media organisations will be provided login details and instructions for the accreditation system to enable them to submit applications.
For support, contact Expo 2020 Dubai’s Media Services team at media.services@expo2020.ae or +971 (0)56 689 2101.
Visit: www.expo2020dubai.com
About World Expos
In 1851 the Crystal Palace was the centrepiece of London’s Great Exhibition – the first World Expo. It celebrated the man-made industrial wonders of a rapidly changing world. Architecture, contents and a theme, ‘Industry of All Nations’, were combined to create a big idea of nations meeting nations in shared technological and commercial progress. In more recent years, participants in World Expos, including governments, international organisations and companies, have gathered to find solutions to universal challenges and to promote their achievements, products, ideas, innovations, their national brand, and their nations as destinations for tourism, trade and investment.
World Expos are held under the auspices of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the intergovernmental organisation responsible for overseeing and regulating international exhibitions (‘Expos’) and for fostering their core values of Education, Innovation and Cooperation. Today, four types of Expos are organised under the BIE’s auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano.
About Art Jameel
Art Jameel supports artists and creative communities. Founded and supported by the Jameel family philanthropies, the independent organisation is headquartered in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and works globally. Art Jameel's programmes – across exhibitions, commissions, research, learning and community-building – are grounded in a dynamic understanding of the arts as fundamental to life and accessible to all.
Art Jameel's two institutions – the forthcoming Hayy Jameel, a dedicated complex for the arts and creativity in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Jameel Arts Centre, an innovative contemporary institution in Dubai, UAE – are complemented by digital initiatives plus collaborations with major institutional partners and a network of practitioners across the world.
Art Jameel and the Jameel family are currently celebrating three quarters of a century of philanthropy; this journey is marked through the 75 Years / 75 Voices / 75 Stories project, which engages key figures from the worlds of business, arts, academia and philanthropy, including HE Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Youth; Tristram Hunt, Director, V&A; HRH The Prince of Wales; Max Hollein, Director at the Metropolitan Museum New York; and L. Rafael Reif, President, MIT.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Press Office
On call contact
Email: press.office@expo2020.ae
Tel: +971 56 688 9509
P.O. Box 2020, Dubai, UAE
© Press Release 2021
Disclaimer: The contents of this press release was provided from an external third party provider. This website is not responsible for, and does not control, such external content. This content is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither this website nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this press release.
The press release is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Neither this website nor our affiliates shall be liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the content, or for any actions taken by you in reliance thereon. You expressly agree that your use of the information within this article is at your sole risk.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, this website, its parent company, its subsidiaries, its affiliates and the respective shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents, advertisers, content providers and licensors will not be liable (jointly or severally) to you for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, incidental, punitive or exemplary damages, including without limitation, lost profits, lost savings and lost revenues, whether in negligence, tort, contract or any other theory of liability, even if the parties have been advised of the possibility or could have foreseen any such damages.
