Treat on Us was a community gesture through Art

At a time when daily life moves in a rush and emotions are hidden and covered up by routine, artist, writer and dentist Dr. Alzahraa Soliman, chose to respond with a touching gesture of care towards the community, through art and human connection. On 3 May, she presented Treat on Us in collaboration with The Workshop Dubai; it was a community initiative created as a gesture of appreciation for the people of Dubai. Rather than being a commercial event, the concept focused on offering people a space to pause, reflect, reconnect, and express themselves freely during emotionally overwhelming times.

“When a country continuously gives people support, opportunities, and space to grow,” said Dr. Alzahraa Soliman, “I felt the least I could give in return was create something meaningful for the community. Treat on Us was my way of giving back through art, reflection, and connection.” As part of the initiative, Soliman chose to offer Traces of Thoughts, her reflective workshop concept centered around emotional expression through symbols, abstraction, colour, and intuitive drawing. Held in the gallery-café atmosphere of The Workshop Dubai, the event invited participants to communicate visually rather than verbally, using ancient symbols, Greek-inspired visual references, repeated patterns, colours, and instinctive mark-making, to explore thoughts and emotions that lie beyond words.

The Workshop Dubai is a multi-concept space that brings together an art gallery, workshops, and a café, all designed to foster creativity and connection. “From the moment the concept was shared with The Workshop Dubai, the team immediately connected with the intention behind it,” Soliman recalls. “When Alzahraa introduced ‘Treat on Us’, it felt like a natural fit,” The Workshop Dubai team said. “We were drawn to the honesty of the concept, offering people a moment to slow down and express themselves. For us, it was about giving people the freedom to enter as they were, and to leave, feeling a little lighter,” they added.

Unlike traditional art workshops focused on technical outcomes, Traces of Thoughts encouraged participants to create freely without peer pressures and anxious expectations. The experience centered on emotional mapping and symbolic thinking, allowing people to reflect internally and express what they might not normally communicate directly. Sixteen participants joined the session, with many being complete strangers to each other. As the workshop unfolded, conversations formed naturally across the table, leading to comfortable exchange of notes and views. Participants discussed the meanings behind their symbols, drawings, emotions and described personal reflections, creating an atmosphere of openness and trust, in the space of only a few hours!

By the end of the session, many attendees who had entered silently and independently, were exchanging contacts, promising to continue conversations, leaving with genuine new connections and authentic experiences. What emerged in the afternoon was not only an art workshop, but a sense of community. Several participants described the experience as emotionally calming and enrichingly personal. One attendee said that the workshop felt “better than a vision board”, while others spoke about how symbols, colours and abstract marks, revealed emotions they had not realised they were carrying.

“The atmosphere itself played an important role in shaping the experience. Surrounded by soft music, warm drinks, quiet reflection, and the calming environment of the gallery-café space, participants were invited into a slower rhythm that is perhaps rarely experienced within the pace of the city,” Soliman said. For her, the emotional openness is central to both her workshops as also for her artistic practice. Much of her work focuses on helping people notice what they have grown used to overlooking — emotions, simple but profound everyday moments and internal experiences that often remain hidden under routine and noise.

Through Treat on Us, art broke visual barriers. It became a way to create a living and serene space. By the end of the afternoon, what remained was not only a collection of drawings and symbols on paper, but a shared emotional experience built on vulnerability, reflection, creativity, and conversation. “More than a workshop, Treat on Us became a reminder that sometimes the most meaningful gestures are simply creating spaces where people feel safe enough to pause, express themselves honestly, and feel human together,” Soliman concluded. Philosophers and authors Alain de Botton and John Armstrong, known for their book Art as Therapy, argue that art should be used to understand, manage and overcome personal dilemmas. They say that art focuses too much on aesthetics and not enough on how it can assist with life’s struggles, such as loneliness, anxiety, and relationship issues. They suggest that – and as Treat on Us proved — art can act as a catalyst for emotional and social growth.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer