Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has announced that a dress designed by Sheikha Alyazia bint Nahyan Al Nahyan is now on display at Al Shindagha Museum’s Beauty and Adornment House. The piece is on special loan from Anasy Media and is being shown at the UAE’s largest heritage museum.
Sheikha Alyazia is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary creative. She founded Anasy Media and served as the Extraordinary Ambassador for Culture for the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) between 2021 and 2023. The dress was created in 2024. It is made from a silky, silvery pastel-green fabric and features geometric and floral embroidery at the neckline and wrists. Nabatean script runs across the garment in circular clusters, referencing early forms of written communication and storytelling. The design draws on Emirati identity and reframes it through a contemporary approach.
The silhouette includes a sheer bronze-toned tulle that falls from the left shoulder, a reference to the tunics of ancient Palmyra. This translucent layer is held in place by a reinterpreted Mishmash coin, part Phoenician and part Emirati dirham, representing cultural exchange across different periods and places.
The piece sits within the Beauty and Adornment House’s broader focus on how clothing and adornment carry social meaning and shape identity. The museum presents the dress as a point where material tradition and contemporary design meet.
Sheikha Alyazia has shown her work in Madrid, London and Berlin. Her documentary work includes The Tainted Veil and Nanny Culture. In 2020, she directed her debut fantasy short film Athel, which received a Platinum Award for Best Fantasy Short and a Gold Remi Award in the United States. Her practice spans film and visual art, with a consistent focus on the role of storytelling in shaping how audiences understand culture.
