al hakawati (the storyteller) zaabeel park, dubai image courtesy visiondivision

the thyssenkrupp elevator award was a competition which asked architects to develop an iconic tall emblem structure for zaabeel park in dubai .

for their proposal visiondivision designed a statue based around al hakawati - a storyteller, whose profession that goes way back in ancient arabic times and still is performed in the arabic world today. the statue will be a home of stories; a children’s library in its base and various spaces for performance and reading inside of the statue.

in every part of the park, small speakers will be set up so people can gather around them and listen to the statue when he recites stories; perhaps great legends from one thousand and one night, historical anecdotes from the city itself and future speculations, all this performed with an animated body language.

the statue

the walls in the base are stairs on the outside which leads to the platform where the storyteller begins to rise. windows punctuates various stairs for a bright indoor environment without any direct sunlight. the statue also has big rooms inside of it for reading,relaxing and other social activities. each big room has its own theme, be it a gold room, a crystal cavern, a green room or a room full of fish tanks, or the night views of dubai

technical aspects

the statue can move its arms and head; this demands an articulate joint between the elevators and the floors on these critical points. the joints are similar in function to those seen in joint buses, and will guarantee an uninterrupted movement inside of the statue, even if he slightly tilts his head.



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I like the name. Al-Hakawati. The Storyteller. When I was small, I always wondered what my profession would've been if I have lived in olden times, stemming from my interest for all things ancient. I'll leave that for another post. Maybe.

No, I wouldn't want to have been one, at least I didn't imagine myself to be one when I was small, but I read that the story teller played an important role in the those days. When the many wonders of the world were still not fully explored and still waiting to be discovered, surely there were many tales to tell, of wonder, of dread, and myths. An important component of society, the storyteller seems to have become extinct the moment the magic of wonderment and imagination no longer exists. The storyteller has become redundant, they say.

Funny that, I have now become a storyteller myself. This is the path I have chosen, and I will not turn back. Not yet. However, the storyteller that I am or have become is one stripped of all wonder, depraved of any excitement. I have become a storyteller yet with no tales of my own. I sing or scribe to the tune of paying authors. Authors of great misfortune, sometimes of their own doing. Sometimes authors causing great misfortune and anguish to others. I do not regale or bewitch anyone except for a tired audience consisting of one.

In my storytelling, there is no room for error. No room for doubts. No room to flinch or breathe. No room for conscience. At all. Hesitation is for the weak, I am quickly taught. I have become a sweetener of harsh words, a concealer of unimaginable faults. It is a skill I have quickly picked up through study and through training, a skill I am becoming quickly adept at. Balancing between the underlining of minute, unnoticeable virtues and spinning silky tales, weaving intricate falsities. Was it this thankless? was it such a drudgery?

So who says the storyteller no longer exists or plays a negligible role in society?

I am one of such. Ana Hakawati. I am a storyteller.