Interview: Farah Hindiyeh, MD, Invnt Dubai, after multiple activations at COP28

The continuing upsurge in prominent events in the Middle East is no longer a phenomenon, but rather the expected outcome after many years of reputation building.

Breakthrough moments are fewer and further between, making the recent series of milestones for Invnt all the more impressive.

Invnt, an agency which presents itself as [INVNT GROUP] THE GLOBAL BRANDSTORY PROJECT™ has strengthened its commitment to EMEA and the UAE, growing it’s local Dubai team and full-service, integrated, strategic, and experiential marketing services to partners and clients including PepsiCo (Aquafina, Gatorade, Lay’s, Rockstar Energy), Audi, COP28, Emirates Airline, and more.

Of these, it was the remarkable show of versatility and output at December’s COP28 that turned my head.
For COP28, Invnt designed, produced, and project managed a series of activations, seamlessly integrating the traditionally separate Blue and Green Zones into a comprehensive experience at the repurposed Expo city site, accommodating for a daily crowd of 70,000 attendees.

Invnt’s activations at COP28 included:
• The “Tree of Life”: A world-first, interactive, Artificial Intelligence powered digital art installation and contemporary symbol of environmental sustainability, educating attendees about the key themes and topics of COP28. The AI-generative art experience allowed for individuals to pledge commitment to global environmental sustainability.
• The Stella McCartney Marketplace: An experience spotlighting product displays and information on the LVMH brand’s unwavering commitment to sustainability and conscious luxury movement.
• One World One Humanity: A large-scale interactive entertainment performance using human-driven, larger-than-life characters to deliver a narrative inspired by COP28’s central message: “UNITE. ACT. DELIVER”, while celebrating our planetary connection through a unified lens.
• The CNN x United Nations Foundation Exhibition: An educational immersive experience focusing on the climate crisis’s impact on gender inequality, displaying powerful film and imagery captured by Global South female photojournalists.
• “Energy for Health” Activation (collaboration between the World Health Organization, Selco Foundation, and UNICEF): An immersive educational experience highlighting the importance of solar energy in delivering medical services to remote regions, showcased through compelling films and innovative technical solutions.

The desert dust startled to settle on COP28 on December 13th, and so it was just into the New Year with COP fresh in her memory that I spoke to Farah Hindiyeh, Managing Director of Invnt Dubai.

“COP28 was a beautiful global event to be a part of”, she told me, “with many educational and interactive exhibits.”

COP28 operated across two zones, the delegate specific Blue Zone and the public-access Green Zone.
The Event repurposed Expo City, a location where Invnt had previously activated. Invnt worked directly with COP and with brands at COP.

The Tree of Life

Of the activations above “The Tree of Life” is intentionally top of the list. Before talking to Farah I didn’t know why that was. To me, a Tree of Life could have many connotations, generally positive. Looking up Tree of Life on Wikipedia revealed that whilst the concept is cross cultural, there are some specifics. For the UAE and its neighbours, it is a specific tree, a ghaf tree. At COP28, Invnt’s Tree of Life was a 6ft creation.

I can sense some extra pride in Farah when discussing it, so I asked her more about it.
“The ghaf tree is drought tolerant and is symbolic of stability and peace”, she says. “We wanted to bring that idea to life through AI. We asked, ‘what changes would a tree make if it could speak to us?’
Engagement with The Tree of Life encouraged participants to pledge commitments.
The exhibit is best visualised in this video clip:

I think what I like most about The Tree of Life is the global/local appeal. The green welcome of the ghaf tree can be understood by anyone, but it connects best by anyone who recognises the miracle of its survival on so little water. It’s a great symbol for the fragile balance of the nature vs the climate. There’s a famous tree, an acacia I believe, called The Tree of Life in Bahrain. It has survived with seemingly no water since 1582. It is 32 feet tall, and gets 65,000 visitors annually.

Stella McCartney’s Marketplace

After The Tree of Life, I was intrigued to find out more about the Stella McCartney Marketplace experience. The British designer’s fashions are part of the LVMH luxury brand group these days and whilst guilt free luxury can sit awkwardly for some, it is certainly useful for trendsetting and environmental awareness to be brought together.
Farah told me that the brand is focussed on being at the ‘forefront of sustainability” and confirmed that this project, as with any at COP28, had to be built under exacting sustainability KPIs.
There’s an interesting article about the Stella McCartney Sustainability Marketplace here. 

The article includes this fascinating statement:

“Among the innovations being platformed at COP28 are a grape-based alternative innovated in partnership with Veuve Clicquot, using the harvest by-product from the champagne Maison’s historic vineyard in Reims, France – grown regeneratively on land bought by Madame Clicquot herself over 200 years ago. We have also collaborated with Protein Evolution on the world’s first garment crafted from biologically recycled, infinitely recycled polyester, made using their Biopure™️ technology.”

The grape leather, called Vegea, was shown at COP28 shaped into McCartney designs for bags and accessories.

Farah told me “When people see Stella McCartney’s commitment to sustainability, it brings much positive awareness.” Parts of the Marketplace were 3D printed on location. “We always look to what can be done locally”, says Farah.

One World One Humanity

Invnt certainly showed its production versatility at COP28. One World One Humanity showed the agency engaging with the entertainment programme at COP28.

The CNN x United Nations Foundation Exhibition & “Energy for Health” Activation

These two conversation openers were focussed on being immersive in order to engage and educate. Both provided critical content that added to the gravitas of COP28.

Conclusion

It must have been a complex and demanding couple of weeks for Invnt, with the range of experiences that the team arranged. The responsibility levels were high, with agency trust at a premium.
Farah was able to nutshell the why for this.

She commented: “We are committed to deepening our connections and partnerships with brands, organizations, and the local UAE community. Our team blends global vision with local insights and tactics, ensuring our initiatives resonate meaningfully in the region. This approach allows us to contribute positively to the region’s growth while embracing and learning from its technological ethos and rich cultural heritage”.

From an outsider’s perspective it is easy to imagine that these global facing events are primarily focused on their global audience but in truth, of course, the focus has to be two-way, able to impress, connect and enthuse locally.

The COP28 work followed Invnt’s creation of 3 PepsiCo pavilions at Expo 2020 Dubai (2021). Other notable work in the region has included Audi’s Investor Gala at the Geneva International Motorshow in Qatar, and the Emirates Airline debut of their industry first, immersive experience employee training platform, MIRA, at the Dubai Air Show.