United Arab Emirates 50th Anniversary Album
The Brief
In 2021 the United Arab Emirates celebrated its 50th anniversary. For this momentous occasion Facsimile Editions developed an expansive album celebrating the UAE’s rich poetic and visual heritage.
50 iconic images, page size 39 x 43cm.
Specially commissioned calligraphy embossed in gold.
Beautifully grained goatskin binding.
Suede-lined, silk moiré solander box.
The Project
Taha Al-Hiti is one of the world’s leading calligraphers. From classical Emirati poetry, Taha created fabulous designs which were gold-embossed into fine, neutral-pH archival paper made to last for centuries.
To represent the number 50 Taha designed a unique logo for the volume’s cover. Each digit is ingeniously created from interwoven text; ‘5’ contains ‘United Arab Emirates’, and ‘0’ lists the UAE’s seven Emirates – Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.
Using a different shade of gold for each word, the logo is embossed into the cover with specially made three-dimensional bronze dies.
Images in the album were tipped onto green, white and black paper which, with the volume closed, echo the colours of the Emirati flag.
The volume is conserved within a silk-covered, suede-lined solander box with the ‘50’ logo embossed on the cover.
Watch an interview with Taha Al-Hiti
The title page
Above, a sample open spread.
Below, the spread closed.
A selection of images with sample text.
(Various copyrights)
The three-dimensioned, gold-embossed logo.
Each intricately interwoven word has been embossed in a different shade of gold.
Representing the number 50, the ‘5’ on the left contains the words ‘United Arab Emirates’ and the ‘0’ lists the UAE’s seven Emirates – Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.
The flag of the United Arab Emirates incorporated into the handsewn, goatskin binding.
The volume is presented in a silk moiré, suede-lined solander box.
Other Custom Projects you may enjoy
Baybars Qur’an
The British Library’s greatest Quranic treasure. Seven volumes written entirely in gold Thuluth script for Sultan Baybars in Egypt in 1304. An experimental project and prototype. London.
Three Falconry Manuscripts
Early copies of Ibn Ghitrif’s treatise from the Bodleian Library Oxford and the British Library London. Three editions of 220 sets each for the Houbara Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
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