For Muhammed Bilal, a Kerala-born designer, a routine assignment turned into an unexpected career milestone when his artwork was transformed into commemorative postage stamps by Emirates Post, the UAE’s national postal service.
Bilal, 28, a senior designer at the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, was tasked with creating the visual identity for the 23rd edition of Sharjah Heritage Days, held between February 4-15, 2026 in the Heart of Sharjah. He created eight designs inspired by the festival’s theme, “The Glow of Authenticity”, and the heritage it celebrates. Six were later selected for a commemorative stamp issue by Emirates Post, in collaboration with the institute – a set the institute describes as the first-ever commemorative stamp for Sharjah Heritage Days, unveiled during the opening ceremony and signed by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah.
What made the recognition more remarkable was that Bilal had no idea his work was being considered. “I had no clue about this. I had never even dreamt about this,” he said, speaking to Gulf News. He discovered that six of his designs had made it onto stamps when Noura Al Khayal, head of the institute’s media department, sent him the images. “I was shocked and super happy,” Bilal recalled.
Six designs, one story
Of the eight designs Bilal created for this year’s festival branding, six were selected: The Cannon of Joy, The Spirit of Authenticity, The Joy of Return, The Light of the Path, The Blessing of the Home and Steps for the Future – reflecting heritage, identity, family, belonging and progress.
Bilal used three photographs taken by institute photographers and three of his own, weaving them into the festival’s wider visual identity. For him, seeing the work reproduced on postage stamps gives it a permanence that ordinary campaign branding lacks.
“I have been working with the institute for nine years,” he said, adding that he was grateful for the chance to contribute to preserving and popularising Sharjah's cultural identity. Nadia Al Sahlawi, head of marketing at the institute, said Bilal’s work had consistently helped bring the festival’s themes to life and resonated with audiences, describing the stamp issue as a lasting symbol of Sharjah’s heritage.
Kozhikode to Sharjah
Bilal’s journey into design began in Kozhikode, Kerala, where he developed a passion for art and painting as a child. After Grade 12, he pursued a design course and began working at an advertising agency at 18.
He moved to the UAE in 2017. Since then, his career has expanded well beyond Sharjah Heritage Days: his work has been featured by Dubai Culture at Expo 2020, and he has contributed to projects for other government departments and prominent personalities. He has also designed billboards displayed across Sharjah and a marine route map for the waterway linking Al Ghubaiba in Dubai with the Heart of Sharjah – a route visitors used for free boat rides during this year’s Heritage Days.
Bilal said working at the heritage institute has changed him personally, too. He has learned Arabic and developed a deeper understanding of Emirati culture and traditions, crediting colleagues and the wider Emirati community for their support. His connection to the institute is also a family one – his father, Hameed KT, works there as well. Bilal called the stamp recognition the proudest moment of his professional life. “I am so glad that the branding I did for our institute became something that the UAE itself is proud of,” he said.
A story that reflects a wider one
Bilal’s rise is a small but telling chapter in a much larger story. India is now the UAE’s largest expatriate community, with the diaspora having doubled to more than 4.36 million over the past decade – roughly 38 per cent of the country’s population, according to figures cited by India’s Consul General in Dubai.
Within that community, Malayalis from Kerala have a particularly deep-rooted presence, dating back to the Gulf oil boom of the 1970s. Today, the UAE is home to well over a million Keralites, a community for whom the Emirates has long functioned as a second home, sustaining strong cultural, linguistic and family ties back to the state even across generations. Bilal’s own trajectory – from Kozhikode to a senior design role shaping the visual identity of one of Sharjah's flagship cultural events, and now a national postage stamp – sits within that broader tradition of Malayali professionals putting down lasting roots in the UAE.
