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Now in its eighth year, the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival could be the mother of all regional arts festivals. It’s vast spread of art, film and photography has all the ingredients for a weekend of top culture seeking.

This year’s iteration is the first time the festival has chosen a central theme: Connected Communities.

Taking place in the Al-Jazirah Al-Hamra Heritage Village in Ras Al-Khaimah, the festival considers how our increasingly globalised world has redefined communities and how art can be a powerful tool to foster relationships within them. So, it comes as no surprise that more than 100 artists from 33 countries are participating.

This year’s highlights? An exhibition by Emirati jewellery artist Azza Al-Qubaisi, who is known for her cutting-edge pieces handmade out of precious materials from gold to palm branches; Emirati filmmaker Hamad Abdullah Saghran’s ‘And What’s Next?’, a 20-minute documentary film that examines the lives of retired people within the Emirati community; and works by Kiliii Yuyan, an award-winning photographer known for capturing the lives of indigenous people across the Arctic.

  • The Ras Al-Khaimah Fine Arts Festival is set to run until March 31 and is free to attend.

Photos: Instagram and supplied