Today's Edition
ASILA AL BADI (ABU DHABI)
For Dr Muna Balfaqeeh, art begins long before paint touches a canvas. It starts with one important question that has shaped her entire practice: How do we preserve the story before it is forgotten?
An artist and curator, Balfaqeeh has built a body of work rooted in documentation, archival research, and the memory of the UAE – particularly the pre-Union period.
Her artistic journey, she explains, began with a deep interest in human memory and identity, gradually evolving into a sense of responsibility towards preserving the nation’s early historical record.
Focus on Pre-Union Period
The pre-Union period, she notes, contains “rare and pivotal founding moments”, and engaging with this era is not only an artistic choice but a cultural duty. Rather than revisiting history as a distant past, Balfaqeeh seeks to revive it as a living memory – one that continues to speak to audiences.
Over time, her focus has shifted increasingly towards the original source material itself. The document, she says, is not a symbol but a direct witness to history.
This perspective led her to work with original newspapers from the late 1960s and early 1970s, alongside archival photographs of the UAE’s founders.
“These newspapers represent memory as it was written and presented in its own time,” she explains, “carrying the voice of that period with complete honesty and spontaneity”.
Balfaqeeh’s academic background plays a central role in shaping this approach. Holding a PhD specialisation in linguistics, she draws parallels between language and visual documentation. Just as linguists document language before it transforms or disappears, she believes images, texts and visual records must be preserved as cultural evidence of their time.
From this standpoint, documentation becomes both an intellectual and artistic practice. The artwork, she says, is her method of re-reading these historical signs and bringing their deeper meanings to the surface.
Sourcing original newspapers from the pre-Union period – dating between 1969 and 1971 – is itself an intensive process.
Newspaper as a Historical Document
Balfaqeeh relies on long-term research, private archives, collectors and individuals who preserved these materials as part of their personal histories. Each document undergoes rigorous verification, including cross-checking dates, paper types, printing styles, editors’ names and archival references.
“Every newspaper I work with is first treated as a historical document with its own independent value,” she says, “before it becomes part of an artwork”.
Balfaqeeh is quick to acknowledge that the process is far from simple, the challenges are considerable. The materials are fragile, never intended to survive decades, and require special preservation methods.
Cost is another obstacle, as the rarity and historical significance of certain editions increase their value. In many cases, acquiring a single issue can take months of searching across multiple sources.
Once collected, the transformation process is deliberate and precise. Preservation comes first – cleaning, stabilising and protecting the paper’s original structure using insulating materials. Only then does the artistic intervention begin.
Balfaqeeh treats the newspaper as the central element of the artwork, not a background.
She paints directly over it using a style close to vector art, characterised by controlled, intentional lines.
The goal, she explains, is to minimise the painted surface and preserve as much of the original text and imagery as possible in a clear, readable state.
The final stage involves applying epoxy over protective layers – not only for aesthetic reasons, but as a means of long-term preservation.
“The final artwork becomes a space where the historical document meets contemporary visual expression, without either overpowering the other,” she says.
Some pieces, she notes, can take nearly a year to complete, explaining that the duration depends on the availability of specific newspapers, many of which are sourced from neighbouring Arab countries, as well as the sensitive conservation process itself.
Reading the Pulse of the Era
Choosing the appropriate portrait and expression – one that aligns with the content of the newspaper and the spirit of the historical period – requires careful reflection.
“Each artwork aims to reflect the essence of a particular phase in the history of the emirate and the formation of the state,” she explains, “not simply a rapid visual execution”.
While researching these materials, Balfaqeeh has encountered moments that left a lasting impression. She recalled the powerful energy present in articles from the pre-Union years – a sense of movement, anticipation and beginning, as though the texts themselves carried the pulse of the era.
“I was drawn to how Arab countries viewed the UAE at the time – with anticipation, hope and sometimes astonishment – reflecting the scale of the transformation that was taking shape.”
Reading the faces of the founders, she says, evoked a complex reaction of concern, enthusiasm and joy – emotions that shifted across different moments in history.
This human interaction, she reflects, inspires a profound sense of gratitude and pride, and underscores the scale of the effort and sacrifice behind the nation’s journey.
Through her work, Balfaqeeh does more than reinterpret history. She safeguards it, allowing documents that were once bound to fade to continue speaking, visually and truthfully, through generations.
