Tamir Ali

In 2006, what was meant to be Tamir’s two-week vacation in the UAE, instead turned into the beginning of a dedicated artistic career at the center of Dubai’s emerging music, dance, and skater subcultures. As a British-Egyptian creative, Ali had always felt a sense of belonging in the UAE, where the hyphenation in his identity acts more as a bridge than a fissure. And perhaps he could sense, well before taking up his role as a community organizer, that Dubai was open to newness, collages of ideas, and remixes.   

Tamir describes his work as, “Authentically and genuinely connecting with subcultures that are growing and establishing themselves in the UAE.” As a professional in the events field, Tamir began creating small gatherings across Dubai’s creative subcultures—bringing together music makers and dancers, visual artists and extreme sports fanatics. “We did streetball games, jam sessions, skate events, b-boy events,” he explains.

Tamir believes in the importance of connecting and bringing people together, viewing street culture as a robust, if unrecognized ecosystem. When skaters get together in Satwa and learn moves from b-boys in Deira who break dance to beats created in Karama, the mixing and remixing in and of itself adds a unique Dubai-kid spin to these global creative cultures.

In his free time, he continues trying to find gems in unexpected places. “There’s something about going through racks that just relaxes me. Sometimes I go to a store—and there’s a lot of places to thrift in Satwa by the way—and I just start going through the racks, and then bam! You find that one piece that just gives you a rush, and it's unbelievable that you managed to find it.” 

As a multi-faceted creative, this city gives Tamir free reign to be his most authentic self, find the people who inspire him, and incorporate the larger parts of Dubai—the beaches, the desert, the food, and the energy—into his artistic process.

“Personally, Dubai opened a lot of opportunities for me. I was able to come here, I had a vision, I had a dream, and I was able to just make it happen. And I think that’s the magic of Dubai. It’s a city that’s establishing itself, it’s developing, it's innovating, it has a growth mindset —and when people come here, they also start to get influenced by that energy and it encourages a similar attitude in them. A lot of people come here and pursue their passion and they’re getting noticed for it.”