Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 2026: Dubai Culture and Arts Authority has announced the return of its ‘School of Life’ initiative, held under the umbrella of Dubai’s Quality of Life Strategy.
Under the theme ‘Family Month,’ the programme features 38 workshops and interactive sessions hosted across Dubai Public Libraries and delivered through specialised clubs focused on calligraphy, books, performing arts, languages, family development, and health and nutrition. Sessions are designed to support visitors in developing personal and life skills, enhancing self-awareness, and engaging with local literature and creative practice.
A key highlight is a creative writing programme launched under the Impact Track in collaboration with Sahab Collective. Designed for writers aged 18 and above with prior experience, the 12-week course guides participants from initial ideas to fully developed works of creative non-fiction through structured, seminar-based learning. Sessions combine selected texts and writing methodologies with opportunities to develop voice, structure, and reflective practice. Each participant will produce up to 5,000 words ready for publication, contributing to a curated anthology distributed across cultural institutions. Hosted at Al Safa Art & Design Library, the track aims to build cultural capacity, support pathways to publishing, and strengthen Dubai’s writing community.
The May calendar also features a virtual session on ‘Self-awareness and Emotional Intelligence in Leadership,’ delivered by Ghalia Turki, exploring how emotional management and conscious thinking shape stronger decision-making. At Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children, Chef Alya Al Ali will lead a workshop on traditional Emirati snacks, introducing participants to traditional dishes such as jbab and ferni.
Across other venues, ‘Decorating a Wooden House’ with Teng Miras at Al Twar Library invites families to design home decor pieces using creative painting methods and patterns. At Al Rashidiya Library, Venturia offers a workshop where attendees create personalised textured frames using simple materials and moulding techniques, while Ashleigh Wilmot’s ‘Family Matryoshka Painting’ sees families decorate their own wooden nesting dolls, a longstanding symbol of generational connection. Al Mankhool Library presents ‘Japanese Onomatopoeia’ with Japan in Arabia, where learners discover the expressive sound words in manga through calligraphy and drawing, before creating artwork with brush, ink, and manga-inspired techniques.
All things art:
The Art Club programme is anchored at Al Safa Art & Design Library. ‘Cushions Block Printing’ with Regal Fabrics introduces traditional block printing as families design their own cushion covers using handcrafted blocks and fabric dyes. Medaf Creative Studio leads two sessions for children: ‘3D Home Craft,’ in which young attendees build and decorate a miniature house, and ‘Paper Family Portraits,’ where they craft colourful paper characters representing their family members. ‘House Soap’ with Rooftop Soapery guides adults through designing house-shaped artisan soaps using melt-and-pour colouring and moulding. In ‘Stitched Memories’ with Tashkeel, participants transform personal photographs into embroidered artworks using hand-stitch techniques applied directly onto images. Hadeel Adnan of Ghosn Art leads ‘Doll Making,’ where visitors turn yarn into handmade characters inspired by their household. ‘Mastering Oil Painting’ with artist Abeer Al Edani runs as a three-part series taking adults from materials and composition through colour theory and underpainting to layering and individual critique.
Elsewhere, Hatta Public Library hosts ‘Family Paper Quilling’ with StripsnCurls, where participants use paper quilling to shape designs representing each family member. Al Rashidiya Library presents ‘Embroidered Stories’ with Happy Chaos, a textile session ending with the creation of a handmade memories envelope for storing family photographs.
From kitchen to stage:
The Health and Nutrition Club features a workshop with Mummy Yummy at Hatta Public Library, where families learn to prepare and present a variety of sandwiches in a professional style. Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children hosts ‘Pizza Making,’ also with Mummy Yummy, covering dough preparation from scratch through kneading, fermentation, and shaping. At Al Mankhool Library, Japan in Arabia leads ‘Mango Matcha,’ a session on blending matcha with mango to create a refreshing iced drink.
In the Languages Club, Al Twar Library hosts an Arabic spelling competition organised by Arabically, where students compete across increasingly challenging rounds. Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children presents the ‘Poetry Stars’ final with Nahky Arabi, the culmination of a three-stage competition in which finalists perform live on stage before a judging panel, fellow students, parents, and enthusiasts. Audience members vote for contestants via QR code in a theatre setting designed to encourage young talent in recitation and literary expression.
Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children also hosts ‘Choral in Arabic: My Family’ with Cordon, a four-session series for children aged 6 to 14. Over four Sundays, participants begin by learning to hold a steady pitch and to express their names and family members’ names through rhythm and music. Subsequent sessions build vocal confidence by introducing breathing exercises and movement, before participants learn a new song through gradual repetition. The series concludes with a complete performance that reinforces family as a theme of connection and belonging.
Letters and lines:
At Al Safa Art & Design Library, Fujairah School of Calligraphy and Ornamentation leads ‘Geometric Ornamentation,’ where attendees delve into the fundamentals of geometric construction and create an eight-pointed star artwork enhanced with gold and silver accents. Al Mankhool Library hosts ‘Baybayin on Glass’ with Gino Banola, introducing the script through painting on glass vases.
The programme also includes the Book Club at Al Safa Art & Design Library, featuring talks organised by AlRawyat Book Club: ‘A Journey Through Life with Hala Kazim’ and a discussion of the novel My Name is Alia and This is My Father by Emirati author Ali Al Shaali. Samar Abduljabbar of Sahab Collective leads ‘Creative Writing: Between Memory and Family,’ an interactive poetry session examining family relationships through writing.
Rounding out the calendar, the ‘Conscious Family’ workshop by Jehan Safar at Thukher Club at Al Khawaneej Library focuses on building a clear family identity through practical tools that support communication and family leadership. The ‘School of Life Forum,’ led by Muna Al Amoodi at Al Safa Art & Design Library, will bring together programme facilitators to exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and identify opportunities for future collaboration.
