Let's talk about affordable Art!

I need to tell you about my absolute obsession with Disney's Aladdin. I've seen it over a hundred times I'd say. Seriously. I know all the songs and dialogue by heart and can even do the Prince Ali dance on cue. Don't ask, cause I might actually do it.

I watched it on repeat as a child and you can understand why. First of all, being an Arab boy who grew up in the Middle East, my childhood was filled with stories of Aladdin and his daring adventures from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. Other than Peter Pan (which I'm also a huge fan of) Aladdin was the only male lead in a princess obsessed Disney world. So seeing a version of those ancient Aladdin stories come to life on the big screen by the one and only Disney was more than enthralling. This was one of the first universally loved heroes that I could relate to. Even if the place and story was fictional, it wasn't foreign to me. Aladdin looked like me and my friends and Aladdin unlike other male princes and heroes started from nothing and got everything he wanted through sheer intelligence and bravery. He did some pretty stupid and selfish things along the way but he learned from his mistakes and that makes him a real character, pretty perfect with his flaws and everything.

Disney's Aladdin was an absolute hit world wide and it's no wonder why. The film has one of the best musical scores in Disney history and Robin Williams iconic performance as the Genie makes the film what it is. I was pretty obsessed - still am. If you don't believe me, go to my Facebook page and you'll find that my cover photo is of Aladdin with Abu on his shoulder looking over the great city of Agraba. Yes, I make little to no effort to hide my nerdy geeky side. I wonder if that's why I'm still single.

However, as I entered my later teens and twenties the world evolved into a more Islamophobic place. The view of Arabs turned from incredibly ignorant (which in hindsight is preferable) to one that is extremely false and stereotyped. In reaction, I started to research how Arabs were being and have been portrayed through the Western lens. From Edward Said's Orientalism to the documentary Reel Arabs starring Jack Shaheen and his book of the same name and a bunch of other documentaries, all of them pointed to the fact that one of my favorite childhood films had some very negative and damaging stereotypes. It is, some may argue, racist.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place I couldn't figure out whether I still loved that film or whether or not I should hate every part of it. Had it skewed the perception of people, and particularly children, about what Arabs are and how they act?

"Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place where the caravan camels roam. Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face, it's barbaric, but hey, it's home."

That's a lyric from opening song of the film. Think about that for a minute. This is a children's movie. Let me take a moment to vouch for the fact that the home I grew up didn't cut anyone's ear off.

When I really heard that line as a young adult I realized the only thing barbaric was the song itself and everything it was insinuating. It still remains a depressing thought to realize that such a happy memory from my childhood was in fact only one of many narratives describing my whole race as something that was violent, aggressive and void of humanity. Aladdin isn't alone in this. Disney has a history of falsely depicting people in either an overly idealistic light or an incredibly offending one.

Then late last year news broke out that Aladdin was on the list of animated films being transformed into a live action flick with real actors. My first thought was this has to be good - right? A film, a great story about Arabs, heroic Arabs, fun, funny Arabs had to help with the generalized negative view many people have on the Middle East, right? Or will we end up with a completely whitewashed cast? Will these offensive stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims be projected in a way to heighten fear? Is the divisive narrative set to continue?

Whitewashing has been a heated topic of late with studios still opting to cast white actors in roles that don't belong to them. There has been great debate about this most recently around the casting of Scarlett Johansson in the live remake of the famous Japanese Manga comic series Ghost in the Shell. The film will be released on March 31 and I have a feeling that it might do well even if the story, plot, special effects and performances are good. There has been so much online backlash and mocking of this casting that it is for many people a film that they are sick of hearing about and a role that they already know doesn't belong to Johansson.

"Do you trust me?" is one of most memorable lines Aladdin uses twice with princess Jasmine.

The first time when she is disguised as a normal civilian like him and they are running away from the palace guards before they jump off a balcony. The second time is when Aladdin is disguised as a prince trying to win Jasmine's heart as he invites her to join him on a magical carpet ride from her balcony. The theme of trust is extremely prevalent through the film between the characters. Aladdin trusts Jaffar, but Jaffar tricks Aladdin. Aladdin and the Genie make a deal and Aladdin breaks that deal and Genie looses faith in Aladdin as his friend and must obey him as a master instead.

The question of trust, funnily enough, speaks volumes in this context. Can we trust Hollywood? Will they remain the master of these stories of the world that have been seeped in history and connected to the lives of millions, choosing to alter and skew them into vehicles filled with derogatory images and stereotypes and yet disguised with brilliant music and acting? And like the Genie, will we look around a realize that despite our best efforts to speak out, create memes, write articles in the end of the day simply adhere to the way we are represented?

I've reiterated this point so many times in many articles that I've written. Stories matter. Books matter. Movies matter. It's hard for people to fathom how much they matter but they do. A lot.

When Guy Ritchie was hired as the director of the film I was surprised and a little excited. The director of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the Sherlock Holmes franchise, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and Snatch wasn't the obvious choice. His films have always had a type of grittiness, of believability of a genuine dedication to story and realistic plots. Also, in my mind I see him as a no nonsense type of guy who sticks to his guns and can't stand stupidity. This has nothing to do with the fact that he was once married to Madonna. It's just what I think base don his films and the interviews I've seen and read of his.

My point was proven a tad, when a casting call for the film was released specifically looking for Middle Eastern actors. "These characters are Middle Eastern," read the first line of the casting call. Washed over with a sense of relief I was also amazed that that we've learned to be grateful for a lot of things that should be a given.

In any case, I believe that this is the right step forward. Here is a real opportunity to do more than try and realign the negative and false representations of Arabs in the western media. It is also a chance to showcase a film that can be a critical and commercial success without having a white lead in a non white role. This casting call gives the impression that Guy Ritchie and the people behind the film are taking the right step towards making a movie, that instead of offending us will be genuine and hopefully timeless.

There is an attitude that exists, quite a common on in fact, that art is simply for the elite. We don't only mean those who can afford art, but those who have the understanding of what "real" art is. It's common for many of you reading this who might be interested in the world of painting, sculpture, photography, to feel overwhelmed, confused or intimidated when you walk into an art gallery. The prices can be mind boggling and the art, you're sure in theory must be good (why else would it be in this gallery and why else would it be so expensive?) but when you look at the canvas, read the artist statement, it's hard to understand what it is you're looking at. Don't worry, you're not alone.

One of the first rules in buying any piece of art is to find what you like. More important than buying what's on trend or most expensive, you need to buy what speaks to you, what you'd want to hang in your home. Without breaking the bank. This might seem a logistically impractical task given the preconceived notions we all have of art and galleries here in Dubai. But fear not. As the art community grows in Dubai, the infrastructure of the industry is getting stronger with more options and opportunities to buy a range of different art.

So instead of having the option to either spend money you don't have on a piece you might not understand or buy an over expensive print which twenty other people might also own, there is a mid range of art that's emerging.

Our recommendation is to head over to AnYahh!! on al Wasl road. There you'll see for yourself a collection of over 500 pieces of modern Indian art. The styles are diverse, the artists talented and the price affordable. This is your gateway into starting an art collection that will grow in value and look good in your home.

Owner Pervez Ansari decided to open AnYahh!! two months ago when he saw a real gap in the art market here in Dubai.

"I don't have any background in art, I just like art that's all," he told City Times when we visited AnYahh!! as he took us through each of the rooms filled with more canvases than we could count.

We spoke to Pervez on what makes AnYahh!! unique in Dubai, the intimidation people feel when it comes to purchasing art and about the artists he exhibts.

Why did you decide to open AnYahh!! in Dubai?

I just see that there is an opportunity here when it comes to art. There's definitely a gap in the market. You have the "art art" which is expensive and then you've got the other end which is IKEA and Home Centre which is just, you know, very ordinary prints. But that's what you call art here. And then you have slightly better prints being sold by Gallery One but they are prints being sold at 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 or even 5,000 dirhams. And some people think that's art. Then I saw this gallery in Delhi. It's actually owned by a friend of mine they have beautiful art. There are paintings and the prices are about the same as a print that's sold in Dubai.

Can you tell us more about what kind of art you're exhibiting here?

It's modern Indian art that we have and artists from all parts of India. These artists have really been nurtured by AnYahh!! and AnYahh!! in Delhi has a collection of over 5,000 paintings. Here in Dubai we have just recently opened and we have a collection of 500 paintings and 60 more paintings arriving tomorrow. Every second week we have 50, 60, 70 paintings coming in and anything that doesn't work after six to eight months we are sending back. So the collection here is fresh and new.

What about the artists themselves?

AnYahh!! has been open for 10 years in India. These artists have grown with AnYahh!! and AnYahh!! picks up virtually everything that they produce, so in a way they are exclusively working with AnYahh!! because no other Gallery in India our outside can have a collection of 5,000 paintings in stock. These are good artists and their work is in demand. And as time goes by these artists are going to grow in value. You aren't going to buy something that is going to go down in value. When nurturing these artists they are producing a lot of work, they are feeling comfortable now. You know an artist produces work and he has to hold an exhibition then try and sell it and they are not good sales people. If that selling part is cut out, then the artist is just comfortably painting. So these artists are gradually growing in value.

Do you see this art as an investment opportunity or more of a decorative investment for the home?

I think it's both. Art is an asset, its an investment and it's something nice for your home. A lot of people look at stuff that masters have done and they can't understand and if you can't understand it, you don't like it so why do you have it? It's got this assumed value and you might not even like it. We've got a lot of paintings here, individual pieces. You come in, you look around, a piece grows on you.you'll notice that every painting has a tag on it - everything is price marked it's all there. It's clear what the pricing is. You an see that our pricing is affordable which is what we want. It's really affordable art.

You've decided to open the gallery away from the art hubs of Dubai. Why is that?

I don't initially think that we are going to be displayed in a place, which is art or pure art. We are something for your home. So I would rather be in a place which is next to an interior design company or a home furnishing outlet because we are something for your home. We are not something that collectors would come to. We wanted a top class area, nothing better than this, we wanted a stand alone store.

A lot of people feel intimated going into art galleries because there is this assumption that the art is too sophisticated for them to understand.

This is why we didn't want to align ourselves with "galleries" as opposed to shops. We have art which is just as good but we want people to know that they can take it home and enjoy it on their own walls as opposed to it being so astronomically out of their reach. We wanted to take the intimidation out of art and art buying.

Do you have a lot of art in your home?

Some. I was like everybody else here. Buying what I thought was art, thinking that "real art" was something I could never afford. And even if I could afford it I wouldn't buy it. I don't think I would want to spend 15 to 20 thousand on a piece of art. I want things that I like and I want things that I'm going to put up on my wall. We want people to come in, pick something put it up on their wall and enjoy it.

• City Times