Alserkal Lates heralds the beginning of a new art season


Maan Jalal
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Alserkal Avenue's staple art night event, Alserkal Lates, kicked off the unofficial start of a new art season in Dubai's cultural district.

The event, which ran from 5pm to 10pm on Thursday, was attended by art enthusiasts and featured new exhibitions, live music performances, workshops and more.

The Third Line opened with the solo exhibition Prolepsis, showcasing the works of contemporary interactive sculpture artist Sahand Hesamiyan. Influenced by science, geometry and spirituality, Hesamiyan’s works are built on some key theories and foundations of Islamic and Iranian architecture.

Known for his large-scale and incredibly ambitious pieces, Hesamiyan’s third solo exhibition with the gallery presents a collection of yet-unrealised projects, built in miniature scale. They reveal the artist's process and perspective and show that his work, even in a smaller scale, can still captivate viewers for its intricacy and intensity. The exhibition is on until November 3.

Green Art Gallery’s group show, Memory is the Seamstress, features the works of six artists from South Africa, Afghanistan, Lebanon, South Asia, the US and the Philippines, who explore the medium of textiles.

Works by Raed Yassin at the Green Art Gallery. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Works by Raed Yassin at the Green Art Gallery. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Curated by Murtaza Vali, the exhibition features the diverse works – mostly wall hangings – that display different forms and styles of imagemaking through the labour-intensive medium and techniques used in textile making. While the styles may be different, they are connected with the ethos of memory, commemoration and remembrance. The exhibition ends on November 3.

Ishara Art Foundation showcased Only Life, Myriad Places, a major solo exhibition of multi-disciplinary contemporary Indian artist Sudarshan Shetty. The exhibition, running until December 9, marks Shetty’s first foray into video words and film as he showcased the global premiere of his film, One Life Many.

The film uses elements of fantasy and delves into suggested stories that invite viewers to examine if the narratives being told are depictions of dreams or dreams of the characters.

Finally, 1x1 Art Gallery’s exhibition, titled Multiverse, is by artistic duo Klove from New Delhi. Klove's founders, artists Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth, have displayed a series of mesmerising, handcrafted glass lighting sculptures for their latest show.

The limited-edition pieces combine the ancient art of glass blowing by artisans in India with a surreal modern sensibility, creating one-off works. The show ends on November 1.

More information is available at alserkal.online

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Al Ghaf Honey

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Sidr Honey

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Samar Honey

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What the law says

Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.

“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.

“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”

If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.

Top tips to avoid cyber fraud

Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:

1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.

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4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.

5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.

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THE BIO

Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old

Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai

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Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail

Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna

Favourite cuisine: Italian food

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The White Lotus: Season three

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Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

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Based: Dubai, UAE

Founded: 2014

Number of employees: 36

Sector: Logistics

Raised: $2.5 million

Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
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“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.

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Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m

Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’  in Dubai is worth... $600m

China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn

The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn

Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn 

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Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies

Size: 15 full-time employees

Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing 

Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now. 

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When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start

Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1

Tickets: Admission is free

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle

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Expected completion: 2022

Height: 24 meters

Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people

Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people

First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time

First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres  

Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres

Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor 

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Updated: September 29, 2023, 2:10 PM