Every country has something that makes it special. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it seems, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that breaking records is their thing .

The land of skyscrapers, Lamborghini police cars, and everything extravagant has long deemed graffiti illegal in its streets. And yet Dubai took the first official steps towards not only legalizing graffiti, but using it to add yet another Emirati milestone in the Guinness Book of World Records.

In celebration of UAE’s 43 rd National Day, Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, commissioned a prominent art plan to display and represent the history of the UAE. This this plan was not confined to traditional art.

Jumeriah Beach Park was abuzz with 150 international graffiti artists as well as local artists. Their artistic mission was to add their special touch to the 2.2454km-long scroll named Rehlatna, or Our Journey . To show sincere support for street arts, and spread an unspoken promise to provide more space for street arts to flourish, artists were asked to only use spray cans. 7,000 cans of Eco-friendly spray were used to create the first graffiti wall in Dubai and the UAE.

In a country where only 13 percent of its residents are nationals, it makes sense that expats leave an obvious mark on the development of the emirates they live in. It’s also not surprising to learn that several graffiti loving expats have been pushing for the growth of the graffiti scene in Dubai.

Real appreciation for graffiti and street art exists in Dubai and yet there are no proper venues that showcase this interest. In light of this, French graffiti artist Thomas Perreaux-Forest, 43, and Stephane Valici, 45, collaborated to co-found the emirate’s first graffiti gallery, Street Art Gallery, in 2013.

Not far from where the record-breaking artwork in Dubai's Jumeirah neighborhood, the gallery celebrates the works of international graffiti artists from across the globe. The space is big enough to display about a 100 pieces at a time and the exhibitions change at least once a month.

Among the many world renowned graffiti artists who have been featured in Street Art Gallery are Parisian artist Nasty, French street artist OneMizer, Swiss-born and now Dubai-based JustOne, as well as several others. Yet despite the international talents the gallery brings to Dubai, the co-founders are very interested in discovering and encouraging homegrown talents.

And there's a lot of local talent worth showcasing. "We took the opportunity of Ramadan to do something about the art of writing," Perreaux-Forest told CNN . "Here in the region, Arab calligraphy is very important and is a real art form in itself. There is an evolution in this particular art. And we managed to find some calligraphers that do much more modern pieces than we're used to seeing in galleries around the region. Some were very close to street art."

Yet this blossoming support of the street arts scene in the emirates extends even further. On 24 January 2014, Al Quoz Beautification Project was hosted and the event's organizers closed an entire street (Street 4B) from 6pm to midnight making it the first public event to support street art and graffiti. 30 artists were invited to spray temporary three-by-three meter boards along the street. This turned this space into an open air gallery for the night. “We want to appeal to people who don’t normally go to galleries and museums and get them interested in art through this,” said Maria Urrutia, the organiser of the project to The National . “We hope we can promote the cause of street art to the people and the authorities.”

And it seems like their efforts didn’t go to waste. The question remains: will Dubai and the UAE truly witness a groundbreaking evolution in street art, or will the rise of graffiti slow down because of the satisfaction over breaking a world record?