The Islamic guadamecíes of the Cordovan José Carlos Villarejo excite in Dubai

"The guadamecíes that I am showing in Dubai have moved the emirates, they have perceived that they are works of very high artistic level that also reflect the original Islamic philosophy, something that today they do not see in modern art". José Carlos Villarejo pronounces these phrases. He does so amidst the gaps he is finding as he attends to the many people who come to see his work at World Art Dubai 2020, a fair that has been taking place since 8 October at the Exhibition Centre in the city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the artist from Cordoba (Spain) is on hand every day.  
To all of them he explains in detail what the guadamecíes are, works of "incredible" artistic value made of rammed leather. On them Villarejo executes creations with sheets of gold and silver that make floral or geometric motifs appear that today are synonymous of an exclusive luxury that had its origin in the Islamic culture that a thousand years ago shone in Cordoba. 

And that art, whose only representative is today José Carlos Villarejo, connects in a very special way with the love of a people, the emirate, who feel passion for the works that show in a pure, honest and committed way the great values of Islam. "They do not conceive how a Spaniard like me can understand the Islamic concept so well". And why does a Spaniard like José Carlos Villarejo understand the great keys of Islam? He does not hesitate to answer: "because I am from Cordoba and Cordoba has a great Arab past that is still present in its day-to-day life". 

Villarejo has been in World Art Dubai for two days and still has a third to go, this Saturday October 10th. His goal: to transfer his art "to the heart of the Arabs". And he's on his way to achieving it. In fact, he assures that his presence in Dubai is marking the path of a promising future for the Islamic guadamecíes in the lands of the Gulf. "I have found people with strong ties to Emirati culture and society who are interested in promoting my art in this country," he says. And in this sense, he stresses that those interested have conveyed to him that "they consider it a luxury to have the guadamecíes in this fair". "It is something new that they have never seen," he stresses. 

Among the people who visited the stand where Villarejo hangs ten of his works this Friday was the Spanish anthropologist Inocenta Sánchez, who has a career of more than three decades in the UAE and deep connections with the Arab world. Inocenta, who knows the Muslim world perfectly, its meanings and its concerns, was surprised by the beauty of the work of the Cordovan. As she understands it, the guadamecíes can connect perfectly with what the emirates are looking for in Islamic art. 

José Carlos Villarejo, who is exhibiting his work for the second time in the United Arab Emirates after participating in the Sharjah Islamic Art Festival in December 2019, is also deepening his discovery of the country. Last year he had the opportunity to visit the most touristic places in Dubai. 
This time he has gone further and dived into the true spirit of the city by walking the streets of old parts of the city like Al Fahidi. "The vision that is transmitted from Spain that the UAE is a superficial country is not true," he says. These words show that it is not only the Emiratis who are discovering a lost art that treasures their most deeply rooted beliefs, but that there is also an artist from Cordoba who has found in the streets of Deira a country and people who hold high the value of their customs, their hospitality, their heritage and their history. 
If there is one thing that is clear to José Carlos Villarejo today, it is that he will return to the Emirates.