Sunny Rahbar is one of the founders of The Third Line, a contemporary art gallery focused on building an internationally recognized platform for Middle Eastern artists.
www.thethirdline.com
What brought you to Dubai?
I grew up here, been here since I was three.
How did you start your gallery?
When I came back to Dubai in 2001, I was curious where the artists in the region were and what they were doing. I wanted to build a platform for these artists, to be able to showcase their work but also to gain more exposure for them, internationally. Then I met my partners HE Omar Ghobash and Claudia Cellini and they were aligned with the thoughts I had. We took on artists that quickly established themselves. We worked with young artists who just graduated and nurtured their careers. We also did fairs internationally, we also held film screenings, programs, published books and did artist talks to educate the Dubai audiences and that is what we are still doing ten years later.
How has Dubai helped shape who you are?
Dubai is home. I studied in London, New York and a little bit in Paris. I loved all these cities and could have made those my home as well, but did not. Dubai is a big part why I am, who I am.
I met at a young age friends from all different parts of the world, of different religions and beliefs. If I had not met those people at such a tender age I would not have been so open to different things. Living in Dubai, I suppose has helped me to travel every summer back in the day, I do not anymore (she says with a laugh). That was another way I learned about the rest of the world.
Also growing up in Dubai in a city that is young when you are young makes you feel you are very relevant to its growth. It also makes you feel that you are making a difference.
When I came back to Dubai from university I came back to a different Dubai. Back in the day if you stopped at a traffic light or went to the cinema, you would bump into your friends or parents friends. When I came back there was no (art) market, no collectors and you would have to seek out the artists who were out there doing their own thing. I could have gone back to NYC or London but I was in the right place at the right time to make a difference in Dubai.
What cinemas do you remember from back in the day?
The first and the only one Al Nasr (she says with a big laugh). I used to go there four times a week, sometimes I would watch the same movie five times because there was only one screen! Everyone would be hanging there, it was good, it was good (she exclaims with yet another laugh). The Galleria was another one but I did not go there much as it was further out from where I lived.
A story of you in Dubai.
Recently, I went to buy trees for my garden and it struck me that, we used to go to the fruit and vegetable market to buy plants and trees. It used to be by Shindaga, by the Hyatt Regency. We used to go there once a week with my mom who would haggle with the fruit man and the vegetable man. That is how you would buy, you would not go to supermarkets and pay for deep frozen fruit and vegetables shipped from halfway across the world that does not taste like anything. You would go and get boxes of produce and if you went later in the day you would get them for less.
We would wake up early Friday morning to go to the fish market. It was a very different way of living them. People say it is fake here now but it really was not, you would get produce that was available seasonally.
Favorite places.
I spend a lot of time at home I recently moved back to Jumeriah, which is my old hood. I like to ride my bicycle or go for a walk by the beach. I like to have my friends over and we usually spend time at ours since traffic everywhere gets crazy and once you get home you don’t really feel like going out. I also like to try new restaurants, the harbour in Jumeriah is a good place to eat. I go to Flooka, Dubai Marine a lot, which is quite old school.
