A fascinating display of rich memorabilia

The Collectors exhibition being organised for the second time during Dubai Summer Surprises opened on Friday at BurJuman.

HE Abdul Rahman Mohammed Nassir Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, officially inaugurated the exhibition on Saturday evening which was also attended by Saeed Al Nabouda, DSS CEO, Ibrahim Saleh, DSS COO, Laila Suhail, DSS Executive Project Director, Abdullah Daboos, Director General, Emirates Post, Eisa Adam, President of DSMG and General Manager of BurJuman, Mohammed bin Sulayem, President, Automobile and Touring Club (ATCUAE) Bilal Al Bodour, Under-Secretary for Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Information and Culture, Government officials and VIPs. The exhibition runs from 10am to 10pm until July 16.

The exhibition is one of a kind with a rich display of collectibles from the private collections of dedicated collectors. Eighteen collectors from different nationalities based in the UAE have displayed their treasures for public viewing within the shopping mall premises.

The exhibition, sponsored by Emirates Post and organised by DSS Office, presents some rare collectibles from the past as well as the present. The alleyways of the plush BurJuman shopping mall have been turned into a museum of sorts with the display of these collections. The exhibition is being held on the first, second and the third floors of the new extension of BurJuman. Most of the exhibited items are showcased in antique glass cases.

The wooden finish of the display boxes lends an old-world charm to the entire exhibition and compliments the collections perfectly. Each collection is displayed with a brief description about each collector and their invaluable treasures.

On the first floor is the 11 cars display five of which belong to ATCUAE of Mohammed bin Sulayem including Ferrari F50, Jaguar XJ220, Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR AMG, Porsche 911 GT1, Enzo Ferrari, M. Abduljaleel Al Faheem's Mercedes Bens Classic and Morris Oxford 1914 and Suhail Al Zarooni's Bugatti Classic Rolls Royce Porsche GT "Racing Edition" and Mercedes Bens Classic while the second floor has antiques and the third showcases amazing and funky collections. The vintage cars display is surely going to win over the hearts of all automobile buffs.

Collecting objects is not a mere hobby for the participants of this exhibition but it's their passion. For these collectors their collections represent a facet of their personalities that they are extremely proud of. The collections built after years of dedicated work which involves time, labour and money are perhaps the greatest treasures of their life, not just for monetary value but also for their immeasurable emotional value. The Collectors' exhibition brings these precious collections out in the open for public viewing.

An outstanding feature of this exhibition is that it represents a varied mix of items. From vintage cars to dinky cars and from mosaics to sharpeners and gold pendants, all the collectibles are precious in their own right. Irrespective of the collector's background and his or her collection what binds all collectors is their passion for building their collections.

Reshma Chaudhary, a housewife has displayed an impressive collection of sharpeners, cigarette lighters and gold pendants which she has collected over a period of nine years. Her collection contains sharpeners and lighters of different shapes and sizes and of different makes which she has picked up from various places in Dubai and India. Her gold pendants collection which she attributes to her six-year-old daughter has been build over the past three years from Damas.

Mohammed Al Faheem and Suhail Al Zarooni have their private collection of antiques including tiny cars, old cameras watches etc. Abdullah Jaber is the first Emarati to specialise in Mosaic art. He has displayed a unique collection of over 80 hand-made mosaic tiles and paintings which he has worked on over the past two years while Um Sultan has a large collection of mugs and old Arabian Knight books on display.

Yet another collector who brings a huge collection of stamps, envelop openers and the largest chess collection is Jamal Al Barazi. Then there is a truly invaluable collection of Islamic coins and copies of the Holy Quran from the exclusive collection of Shaikha and her father Abdulla Al Mutairi who has been painstakingly putting together the collection for the last 30 years.

Commenting on what his collection means to him Al Mutairi sums up by saying, "This collection is my life. I travel all around the world to pick up collectible coins to add to my collection which has more than 13,000 coins."

The entire display is most certainly a very enlightening and educational experience since each display case also includes a brief history of the person who collected the particular item along with details of the relevant collection.

The exhibition is open to everyone and provides opportunities for those interested in this hobby to exchange notes about their passion. The collections are displayed in a safe and secure environment and the visitors are not allowed to touch any of the items. There is ample security to look after the precious collectibles.

The 10-week long DSS, which opened with the Ice Surprises week on June 21 and marked the Arts Surprises, continues with the weekly themes of International Food Surprises, Adventure Surprises, Cartoon Surprises, Nature Surprises, Knowledge Surprises, Flower Surprises, Heritage Surprises, and concludes with Back-2-School Surprises on September 1.