Art Dubai has returned for its 16th year with its most ambitious iteration.
Open to the public from Friday to Sunday, the fair is ramping up its representation of creative communities from the Global South. This year's programme is its most extensive, with more than 130 presentations from 40 countries. It is segmented across four sections, including Contemporary, Modern, Art Dubai Digital and Bawwaba, which only features new works.
Several galleries from the UAE and around the world are presenting cutting-edge works in the contemporary section. Among them is Efie Gallery, which is displaying works by a range of African artists, including Isshaq Ismail.
The Ghanaian artist, who is renowned for his polychromatic vibrant works, has reeled in his colour palette for his latest series of paintings. His Serenity portraits revolve around the colour blue — specifically shades that are found in the gemstone lapis lazuli. They show figures with ambivalent expressions, depicted in blues ranging from lighter, paler shades to a deeper azure.
“When I was invited for the residency [at Efie Gallery], I was thinking about new beginnings and new explorations,” Ismail says. “I was also thinking about the precious stone lapis lazuli, which was the point of departure.”
Speaking about his relatively monochromatic approach, especially when compared to his older body of works, Ismail says he was looking to “narrow down my interest and compress everything down to a muted colour palette".
“This body of work is much calmer than previous works in regard to approach," he adds. "It was a little bit slower, building the layers gradually. The previous works were radical and aggressive.”
From New Delhi, Shrine Empire Gallery presents works from South Asian artists, which revolve around feminist practices of women who cover their faces with their hair.
Sri Lankan artist Anoli Perera’s I Let My Hair Loose are photographs from the artist’s Protest series. The feature portraits of woman who have all brought their hair down to cover their face.
“It’s a protest against the male gaze,” Shefali Somani, director of the gallery, says. “The hair, which is actually supposed to be an enhancer of beauty, actually becomes a veil, obstructing the view of the face. The photographs are inspired by those Anoli used to see in her grandparents’ home. Her family belongs to the Bergher community, which had strong Anglo influences. You see that influence in the setting.”
Another series of works is Diary Entries by Indian artist Baaraan Ijlal, which take influence from the isolation many felt during the Covid-19 pandemic, but with social undertones unique to India.
Each painting depicts a figure sitting on an armchair with a black backdrop and a carpet laid out by their feet. One of the carpets displays oxygen cylinders, a clear reference to the shortage of medical supplies that shook India during the pandemic.
“She maintained a visual diary during Covid-19, called the Locust Moon Diary,” Somani says. “Baaraan is an artist who addresses a lot of social and political concerns. A lot of these works address the concerns during that time. It was also the idea of being confined to your home and that sense of isolation.”
At the Julius Baer Lounge, Refik Anadol is presenting an immersive installation that is reminiscent of his previous work at Noor Riyadh, but instead of relying on data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Turkish artist finds inspiration in glaciers.
In Glacier Dreams, Anadol relies on artificial intelligence to process troves of visual materials from online and institutional archives, along with personally collected glacier materials in Iceland. The end result is a room with a reflective floor and ceiling, surrounded by screens, where a wealth of glacier visual materials are presented before AI generates, in real-time, bubbling and swirling visuals that envelop the viewer with colours evoking frosty landscapes and lava streams. The visuals are accompanied by audio and olfactory components, which are also generated using AI.
“The project started a year ago,” Anadol says. “This is the first of many versions. This time, it challenged me to look at the new patterns in nature, and not necessarily just put AI into the work, but also be on site recording data. I recorded more than 10 million images in Iceland.
"There are actually 269 different glaciers in Iceland. The AI learns from the 75 million images and then creates new worlds. Simulations of life are a very interesting topic, which will be the next topic for generative AI. I'm trying to imagine the capacity, the limitation of AI and robotics, and where we can feel this barrier between the feeling of being nature or actually physically being in nature.”
Glacier Dreams, Anadol says, also strives to underscore an important environmental concern: climate change.
“When I went to Iceland, unfortunately, 20 per cent of the ice is melting,” he says. “When you are there and you are told that this whole location was 100 metres high and is now gone, it’s a physical experience. Unfortunately, these are the last memories of the glacier. Every year, it’s different. More and more of it is melting.”
Art Dubai's digital pavilion is returning for its second year with an extensive presentation that features more than 30 first-time participants.
Among them is Yoichi Ochiai. The Japanese artist blurs the lines between the material and digital worlds with his work. Beginning with a reflective amorphous mass, which is suspended on top of magnets, Ochiai then scans and renders the form and its reflections digitally, repeating the process a number of times to create a series of vivid, animated artworks.
“The objects capture the reflective scenery,” says Ochiai. “And then it combines the digital again and again. The loops make more complex pieces and transform the physical object. Data is like a process to gather the noises and phases of the physical world. My interest is in transforming the object from the physical side to the digital side and from the digital to the physical.”
Elsewhere, with A Modern Genesis, Miami-born artist Jason Seife digitally explores the storytelling aspect of regional carpets, particularly the way they depict gardens. The works are based on the design of a Persian carpet that he found and through which he intended to create something new. They are framed with borders alluding to traditional carpet designs, but instead of presenting static scenery, there are deer leaping across lush landscapes and flora bundled in vases rustling with the wind.
“The early works that I made were derivative of carpets that we had at home that were like family heirlooms, carpets from Morocco, Istanbul, Armenia and Iran,” says Seife, who has Cuban, Syrian and Iranian roots. “Over the last few years, in my paintings, I've worked out of completely new designs that I've created. This is the first time in the last few years where I've gotten back and worked off of an existing carpet. With this work, I found a Tabriz carpet and I sculpted it and rendered it in 3D. I wanted to bring something that has been around for centuries and make it new again.”
The Bawwaba section, meanwhile, only presents works that have been created in the past two years. While many were completed by the press preview on Wednesday, others were still having finishing touches applied.
Indian artist Gunjan Kumar meticulously sprinkled turmeric on a finely-conical mound of the spice. At first, the title of the series, Sifr, or zero, may bring to mind a sense of nothingness, but Kumar’s work evokes the limitless presence and infinite probabilities that can spring from it. The works hang on the wall, merging flat and textured surfaces with finely-pointed patterns, the tips of which allude to the zero starting point.
“These works are made with nine yellow pigments from various parts of the world, turmeric being one of them,” she says. “They are from Africa, Europe, America and India. Zero is an abstract concept on one side and a factual one on the other. In the eastern sense, zero is associated with spirituality and light, hence the colour yellow.”
As for the conical form that is a motif across the artworks, Kumar says it is inspired by the whirling dances in Sufi tradition. “Zero is a dot and then you rotate it around, it becomes a whirl. The dancer becomes the dance.”
Art Dubai will be open to the public at Madinat Jumeirah from Friday to Sunday
Previous men's records
- 2:01:39: Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) on 16/9/19 in Berlin
- 2:02:57: Dennis Kimetto (KEN) on 28/09/2014 in Berlin
- 2:03:23: Wilson Kipsang (KEN) on 29/09/2013 in Berlin
- 2:03:38: Patrick Makau (KEN) on 25/09/2011 in Berlin
- 2:03:59: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 28/09/2008 in Berlin
- 2:04:26: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 30/09/2007 in Berlin
- 2:04:55: Paul Tergat (KEN) on 28/09/2003 in Berlin
- 2:05:38: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 14/04/2002 in London
- 2:05:42: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 24/10/1999 in Chicago
- 2:06:05: Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) 20/09/1998 in Berlin
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Jawan
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Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Levante v Real Mallorca (12am)
Leganes v Barcelona (4pm)
Real Betis v Valencia (7pm)
Granada v Atletico Madrid (9.30pm)
Sunday
Real Madrid v Real Sociedad (12am)
Espanyol v Getafe (3pm)
Osasuna v Athletic Bilbao (5pm)
Eibar v Alaves (7pm)
Villarreal v Celta Vigo (9.30pm)
Monday
Real Valladolid v Sevilla (12am)
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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The biog
Hobbies: Writing and running
Favourite sport: beach volleyball
Favourite holiday destinations: Turkey and Puerto Rico
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Samau Xmnsor, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Ottoman, Szczepan Mazur, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Sharkh, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 85,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Yaraa, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Maaly Al Reef, Bernardo Pinheiro, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Jinjal, Fabrice Veron, Ahmed Al Shemaili
8pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Al Sail, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
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Young women have more “financial grit”, but fall behind on investing
In an October survey of young adults aged 16 to 25, Charles Schwab found young women are more driven to reach financial independence than young men (67 per cent versus. 58 per cent). They are more likely to take on extra work to make ends meet and see more value than men in creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. Yet, despite all these good ‘first’ measures, they are investing and saving less than young men – falling early into the financial gender gap.
While the women surveyed report spending 36 per cent less than men, they have far less savings than men ($1,267 versus $2,000) – a nearly 60 per cent difference.
In addition, twice as many young men as women say they would invest spare cash, and almost twice as many young men as women report having investment accounts (though most young adults do not invest at all).
“Despite their good intentions, young women start to fall behind their male counterparts in savings and investing early on in life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president, Charles Schwab. “They start off showing a strong financial planning mindset, but there is still room for further education when it comes to managing their day-to-day finances.”
Ms Schwab-Pomerantz says parents should be conveying the same messages to boys and girls about money, but should tailor those conversations based on the individual and gender.
"Our study shows that while boys are spending more than girls, they also are saving more. Have open and honest conversations with your daughters about the wage and savings gap," she said. "Teach kids about the importance of investing – especially girls, who as we see in this study, aren’t investing as much. Part of being financially prepared is learning to make the most of your money, and that means investing early and consistently."
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
How Sputnik V works
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5