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Bronze sculpture Camel Family by Donald Greig — an adult, a calf and a resting camel — at the north entrance of the Gold Souk in The Dubai Mall.

Downtown DubaiDubai

Camel Family

Three life-size bronze camels resting under a starry dome — Donald Greig's welcome to the mall's Gold Souk.

At the northern entrance to The Dubai Mall's Gold Souk, three bronze camels rest beneath a ceiling painted like a starry night sky. This is Camel Family by the sculptor Donald Greig, and it sets the theme for the souk beyond: the journey of the caravan traders who once crossed the desert to trade gold and goods, greeting shoppers at the threshold of what is billed as the world's largest indoor gold souk.

The group is precisely observed. The adult camel stands about 3 metres tall, the calf around 1.9 metres, and the third, a resting camel, about 1.3 metres — together weighing some 800 kilograms of bronze. Greig spent around eight months on the work, and it was built the slow, traditional way: modelled first in clay over a polystyrene armature, moulded in silicone, cast in wax, dipped in ceramic and finally filled with molten bronze by the lost-wax method. The camel is the enduring symbol of Gulf heritage — endurance, patience, survival in the desert — and here it does quiet double duty, honouring that past while ushering visitors into a very modern temple of commerce.

Exhibo editorial

It's easy to walk straight past these on the way to the shops — which is exactly why they reward a proper look. Note the difference in the three animals' postures and the detail in the modelling; this is serious figurative bronze, not mall dressing. Part of a themed sequence in the Gold Souk that also includes an Arabian stallion at the south entrance and other heritage motifs — a falcon, a gold palm tree — worth tracing as a small trail through the souk.

How to find it

At the north entrance of the Gold Souk inside The Dubai Mall, under the painted starry-sky dome. Look for the Gold Souk signage; the camels sit at the threshold. The Arabian stallion marks the souk's south entrance if you want to walk the full themed route.

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