Dubai's special needs artists

Gulf News

Dubai's special needs artists. Mawaheb, an Arabic word that means talented, serves as a haven for artistic expression among Dubai's artists with special needs. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

Transcript

00:00Mawaaheb is an art studio for young adults with special needs.

00:10We are here for those young adults who don't have another place to go to, another school,

00:15who are sitting home.

00:16The students are here to work on their artistic talents, but other than that, they work on

00:21their life skills as well.

00:23Through art, they develop themselves, how to deal with your emotions.

00:27It's really important for them.

00:28They've got the heat.

00:29They get frustrated with their artwork.

00:31It's really important for them to learn how to deal with it.

00:33We have seen them growing, and if you ask the students, some of them, they will tell

00:37you as well that they have grown in confidence.

00:39A blank canvas can be really daunting for anybody.

00:42When they are given the canvas, they're not afraid of it, because they don't have inhibitions.

00:49They don't care about what people say.

00:51It doesn't matter to them.

00:52For them, it's just to finish the art piece, and they should like it.

00:56That's an amazing lesson to learn from artists.

01:00If everybody was like that in this world, it would really make a big difference.

01:04When I come here, it's like you forget about all your troubles that you have at home, and

01:09I come in here, and it's such a good energy.

01:12Working with them, it's fulfilling my life.

01:14There's so much of energy, doing mosaics, doing painting, talking with them, and sometimes

01:20we dance with them, the whole group, all the volunteers, and the students.

01:24We have a really good understanding.

01:26It's like a big family.

01:27It feels really good to help people, especially special needs people, and it's my first-hand

01:32experience with special needs people.

01:34Honestly, before I used to be kind of scared, and I didn't know what to expect.

01:37Now, working with them has shown me that they're just like normal people.

01:40Most of the time, they're even nicer, they're more understanding, more loving than normal

01:43people.

01:44So it's a lot of fun for me.

01:45I'm learning new things every day.

01:46It feels good, and it makes me feel happy.

01:50Basakia, and this place, has good things in the future, thanks to Sheikh Mohammed for

01:55making us happy.

01:56I love Mubarak.

01:57I am happy.

01:58I feel I am with my family, my sister, brother.

02:03I'm the first artist that Mubarak had.

02:05I would like to be a famous artist.

02:08I want to be like the Tintin artist.

02:10I'm very happy.

02:12I'm proud of myself.

02:14I have a lot of friends here.

02:16What we've done here in Basakia is that we've done millions of drawings, paintings, canvases.

02:22People are proud of us when they look at us.

02:24I feel proud that I can do something like this, because I had never dreamt that I would

02:30go into art.

02:31For me, it's a dream come true.

02:32I just want to enjoy my life through art.

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