A photographic series investigating the iconography and use of celebratory cakes as a symbol of military and nationalistic prestige. The photographs serve as a record of anonymous interviews conducted with men who had completed the newly compulsory UAE national service training about their experience and attitudes towards a hyper-miliatirized environment. The cake designs are commonly available in bakeries across the UAE.
Compulsory national service is one of several topdown government initiatives in the UAE that, along with public military demonstrations and commemorations of ‘martyrs,’ aim to forge a sense of national belonging. These cakes present a few variations of common patriotic themes—most notably, the flag—but are also indicative of a completely new set of symbols for national pride that epitomized a hegemonic, militarized masculinity.
