Round Table Statement
The Nomadic Dolls was an initiative by the College of Art & Creative Enterprises (CACE), Zayed University graduates, Arwa Bukhash and Hind Bin Demaithan in 2009. The concept was to unite artists for a fundraising project through the Doll as a blank ‘canvas’, of sorts.
CACE’s Student Council, as a means of promoting the college and engaging the wider community, picked the idea up again earlier this year at Zayed University’s Carnival. The Nomadic Doll has become a mascot for CACE activities, as the Council became renown through the customization, and enabling individual creativity to thrive. The Nomadic Doll allowed non-art students to showcase their creativity.
We at CACE are pleased to explore the possibilities of the Nomadic Doll initiative. ISEA2014 has presented CACE with an ideal opportunity to share the Nomadic Dolls with the wider community, incorporating the Nomadic Doll into a collaborative student exhibition that spans the Middle East region. The exhibition will be a part of ISEA2014, Oct 30-Nov 8.
The exhibition has gained interest from professional artists, art & design students and non- art students alike. This has begun to prove the playfulness of the Initiative.
The participants will explore idea generation, limitations and possibilities. Some have spent time exploring the character created into a narrative, character interaction and narrative options were investigated by the participants – from photography to stop motion, animation, and traditional video approaches.
The Nomadic Doll project has proven that it is a wonderful bridge between designers & artists and the wider community, as a means of creative play with the goal of fun and whimsy at its heart. It demonstrates the reason we begin to create and reminds us of our ability to surprise ourselves.
- Hamda Al Ansari, Zayed University, AE
- Alanood Saeed Al Mehairi, Zayed University, AE
- Amna Mohammed Al Tunaiji , Zayed University, AE
- Stefan K. Messam, Zayed University, AE
Text and Images (PDF) p. 27-28