The Noor Riyadh festival of light and art is running until April 3, held at sites across Saudi Arabia's capital city.
An exhibition of historical artworks that use light, from international explorations in the 1960s and 1970s to more recent works from the kingdom, is also on until June 12 at the King Abdullah Financial Centre.
Here are our picks of pieces not to miss, in no particular order.
1. 'Palace of Light' by Robert Wilson (2021)
Location: At-Turaif World Heritage Site
It might be no surprise that Robert Wilson slots into this list: the veteran artist has become well known for his work across light, dance, music, art and theatre since the late 1960s.
The award-winning American theatre director and visual artist proved himself a match for At-Turaif, the historic palace where the Al Saud rulers first made their home in the 1700s. Now in partially restored ruins, the sand-coloured citadel rises up on a hill overlooking the Ad Diriyah wadi.
For Palace of Light, a video of crashing waves is projected onto the walls of the heritage spot, with music that rises and falls in sync with the foamy water. The British composer and sound designer Nick Sagar signs the original music track for the installation, featuring the voice of Sierra Casady.
The ground in front of the palace is covered in reflective foil, while a copper sun sits amid the installation, creating the illusion of a silvery, fantastical landscape.
2. 'Earthseed' by Ayman Zedani (2021)
Location: King Abdulaziz Historical Centre
One of a number of younger artists who are wrestling with the effects of environmental change on the Gulf, Ayman Zedani looks to naturally occurring forms to imagine a future in which humans have learned greater respect for animal and plant species – perhaps the hard way.
In a two-part video, shown within one of the heritage houses of the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre, the Saudi artist creates a lush, red-infused scenario, with a script done in collaboration with the poet Wided Khadraoui, which pictures a future of evolved migration.
3. 'The Cupola' by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov (2003)
Location: Murabba Square, King Abdulaziz Historical Centre
Noor Riyadh is based on traditional son et lumiere festivals, once a staple of European cities, where sound and light were used together to spectacular effect. With this in mind, the Russian couple Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, who are known for their intricate architectural installations, created a cupola that plays glorious works of classical music, such as Handel's Sarabande.
The colours of the cupola slowly change, from purples and blues to reds and pinks, edged in dark black panels that give the effect of stained glass windows. The cupola is in the Murabba public square, with space in front for visitors to enjoy the full experience.
4. 'Diwans of the Unknown' by Dana Awartani (2021)
Location: Light Upon Light, King Abdullah Financial Centre
Arranged like a miniature screen, in Diwans of the Unknown the Palestinian-Saudi artist Dana Awartani projects lines of poetry from female poets of the pre-Islamic age to the 12th century.
The phrases are stitched into gauzy sheets of silk that are lit from the side, so that the words float like ghosts from another age.
The work is a continuation of Awartani’s 2018 large-scale sound installation, in which the whispers of these poems swirled around gravestone-like silk cloths, embroidered in complex geometry.
5. 'The Mind Ship Exodus' by Muhannad Shono (2021)
Location: JAX District
"You take one idea, and keep following it, keep moving it up," says Muhannad Shono of his new work. The Riyadh artist has proved himself to be a master of working at scale and his The Lost Path at Desert X Al Ula, a long, snake-like line of glistening black coils, was a standout of the festival last year.
For Noor Riyadh he responds to the gargantuan size of the warehouses that comprise the JAX district. Mind Ship Exodus is inspired by the moment when Moses saw the burning bush, which Shono conceives of as a psychedelic encounter. The installation is made up of around 37,000 kilograms of shredded steel wire, onto which red lights are projected, to visceral, almost alarming effect.
6. 'Searching for Darkness' by Rashed Al Shashai (2021)
Location: Light Upon Light, King Abdullah Financial Centre
This elegant artwork charmed nearly every critic who visited it at the Light Upon Light exhibition. Searching for Darkness is comprised of seven vertical spirals of light, animated on rotors so that they formed swirling columns of dancing lights, all moving at fluctuated speeds in a blackened room.
The result was entirely joyful, eliciting smiles and gasps of laughter as people entered the room, and relating, the Saudi artist says, to the theory that the galaxy is formed in a spiral shape.
7. 'Glowing Nature' by Daan Roosegaarde (2021)
Location: King Abdullah Financial Centre
The Dutch Roosegaarde studio, which bridges sustainability and design, created an experience for visitors that is lit only by phosphorescent micro-organisms that light up as a stress response.
The studio, led by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde, underlaid a watery floor in which the organisms float, in such a way that as one walks on the plastic sheeting, one's steps agitate the lifeforms and cause them to glow.
Rows of glass bottles containing the species line the room, which visitors can shake to wake them. The work fills one with admiration for the creatures – but also with a little guilt, as you rouse them out of their happy invisibility.
8. 'Mitochondria: Powerhouses' by Ahmed Mater (2021)
Location: King Abdullah Financial Centre
This work is not for those whom self-isolation or lockdown has lulled into a stupor, and are now likely to jump at a sound so ordinary as a knock on the door. Ahmed Mater’s intervention – the rare artwork that deserves that art-speak term – into the King Abdullah Financial Centre consists of a large circle of sand, fenced off from the public, with ungainly stone-like sculptures twisted into place.
The scene looks serene, if strange – and then zap. Huge bolts of light emerge from a central metal pole onto the structures, buzzing through the air. The scene then recedes into normality – your blood pressure, maybe less so. The work is inspired by the phenomena in the desert that forms the twisted sculptures on show, and relates, the artist says, to the radical transformations weathered by Saudi society since the discovery of oil.
9. 'SKALAR' by Christopher Bauder and Kangding Ray (2021)
Location: Riyadh Front
A 38-minute sequence tucked away in the Riyadh Front mall, Christopher Bauder and Kangding Ray's SKALAR is a mix of synchronised coloured lights, moving mirrors and a soundscape of multi-channel electronic music.
The work by the German artist and French musician has toured to multiple locations and comes in a customised form here: the high-ceilinged room has been transformed into another world, and visitors have been lingering there, exhibition organisers say, in a meditative state.
10. 'The Sun, Again' by Mohammed Al Faraj (2017)
Location: Light Upon Light, King Abdullah Financial Centre
This video highlights a bifurcation glimpsed throughout the exhibition. Artists of an older generation – such as Urs Fischer, Sultan bin Fahad and Maha Malluh – teased out of light the idea of memento mori, or art as a reminder of one’s mortality. But younger artists, such as Zedani, Sarah Abu Abdallah and Al Faraj focused more on light as a feature of an ecosystem that is vulnerable and under stress.
In Saudi artist Mohammed Al Faraj’s video, a woman in an abaya wends through reeds and palm trees as a sun bears down overhead. The colouration gives the scenes a harsh cast, making the heat of the day and dryness of the environment almost palpable – and making the slowness of the world’s response feel that much more reprehensible.
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Year started: 2017
Based: Bahrain
Employees: 100-120
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Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
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1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
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4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
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8. Pillar 2 implementation
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Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
