By Christopher Joshua Benton
Dubai-based concept store Mahani hosted a low-key evening party, assembling a tight-knit mix that matched the fashion savvy with the art set for a night of performance art, food, and of course, clothes.
Organized in collaboration with forward-thinking art gallery The Mine, the event celebrated the launch of the creative collaboration between the two organizations.
The event marked the Middle East debut of Belgian artist duo Frank&Robert Robert&Frank, whose work combines commercial product design, theatre, sculpture, painting, and film.
Frank&Robert had been commissioned to redesign the store, so the duo art directed the space in real-time, filling every nook with their neat installations of found objects—all sourced from nearby.
“There are construction sites everywhere in Dubai so we poked around near our hotel to look for inspiration to design the space. You can find a lot of interesting things near new buildings,” Frank said.
Frank&Robert also treated the audience to a brief performance art piece involving chocolate guns, a wooden briefcase, and long gazes. It was all a bit a heady, but the audience was rapt in the studied weirdness of it all.
Guests included fashion stylist Pam Nasr, writer Afi Baaqi, The Mine founder Sanaz Askari, gallerist Sybel Vazquez, creative consultant William Belcher, and other young UAE-based creatives.
