The late artist Christo hoped for one of his most ambitious projects to be built in Abu Dhabi. This week, the vision for the Abu Dhabi mastaba has arrived in the city that inspired it.
Colnaghi Gallery from London is presenting rare drawings by Christo, including his sketches for The Mastaba for Abu Dhabi Art, which runs from November 17 to 21 at Manarat Al Saadiyat.
The presentation Christo: Works on Paper at the gallery’s booth includes 11 drawings produced by the artist from the 1970s to the 2000s, such as the The Umbrellas, Japan-USA (1984-1991) and Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida (1980-1983).
A total of two large coloured sketches and two smaller pieces from 1978 to 1979 are available for The Mastaba, Project for United Arab Emirates (1977) at the fair. Prices for the works range from $150,000 to $1.5 million, and the gallery says that a number of drawings have already been reserved.
Previously, the gallery had shown Christo’s earlier creations from 1958 to 1968, including nine sculptures and works on paper. Back then, the artist had already begun wrapping found objects – from a Vespa and road signs to chairs and magazines. These were part of a presentation at Frieze Masters in London in October.
Before the sprawling installations and the monumental wrapping of landmarks that defined Christo’s practice, his ideas existed on paper. The Bulgarian artist, who died in New York last year at the age of 84, created numerous detailed sketches of the environmental art that he wanted to produce.
These preparatory drawings were not only treated as studies, but artworks themselves. Christo, along with his wife and artistic collaborator Jeanne-Claude, often sold them to raise money for their grand projects that involved large-scale installations.
Their grandest plan, however, is still unrealised. Christo and Jeanne-Claude conceived the idea of The Mastaba in 1977. The artists intended for the mastaba, or mud bench, to be built from around 400,000 oil barrels stacked in the Liwa desert in Abu Dhabi. At a height of up to 150 metres, it would be taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The couple began making trips to Abu Dhabi during this period, meeting with rulers to discuss their plans. As part of his research into the natural environment and how his work could respond to it, Christo ventured to Al Dhafra and Madinat Zayed to understand the landscape.
In a 2018 interview with The National, he explained that “the project has never been planned for the coastline. It is designed for inland, many hours from Abu Dhabi, with the great desert and the great dunes.”
His drawings reveal the various calculations he made for his works, from the slope and angles of the stacked barrels, to the weight and colour of each component.
The Mastaba is one of two projects that the artist authorised to be produced after his death, says Victoria Golembiovskaya, executive director of Colnaghi Gallery, which works directly with the Christo and Jeanne-Claude estate.
The other is L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, for which the Paris arch was draped in silvery blue plastic curtains from mid-September to early October.
Unlike the project for the Arc de Triomphe, however, The Mastaba in Abu Dhabi is meant to be a permanent structure. If completed, it would be the largest sculpture in the world.
By bringing the sketches for this work to Abu Dhabi, Colnaghi hopes that it will cultivate interest in making it into a reality. “All proceeds from selling the preparatory drawings will go towards the realisation of Christo’s projects. When he passed away, he left a will to his estate stating that they have to continue working on them,” Golembiovskaya says.
“We’re bringing these preparatory drawings to bring awareness to Christo’s projects and also to meet locals who are interested in helping realise them,” she explains.
Earlier this year, Sotheby’s held auctions for nearly 400 lots from Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s art collection, which brought in a total of $11.2m in sales. The proceeds will benefit the artists’ estate, which plans to establish a foundation.
In July, Vladimir Yavachev, Christo’s nephew and project director for the Paris and Abu Dhabi initiatives, said his team have completed the research for the engineering and location of the sculpture.
The chosen site is in Gharbia, near the oasis of Liwa, about 160 kilometres south of Abu Dhabi city. The estate is now waiting for the government’s permission to build.
More information is available at abudhabiart.ae
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
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
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
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
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
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.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
The biogs
Name: Zinah Madi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and links
Nationality: Syrian
Family: Married, Mother of Tala, 18, Sharif, 14, Kareem, 2
Favourite Quote: “There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.”
Name: Razan Nabulsi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and Links
Nationality: Jordanian
Family: Married, Mother of Yahya, 3.5
Favourite Quote: A Chinese proverb that says: “Be not afraid of moving slowly, be afraid only of standing still.”
UAE gold medallists:
Omar Al Suweidi (46kg), Khaled Al Shehhi (50kg), Khalifa Humaid Al Kaabi (60kg), Omar Al Fadhli (62kg), Mohammed Ali Al Suweidi (66kg), Omar Ahmed Al Hosani (73), all in the U18’s, and Khalid Eskandar Al Blooshi (56kg) in the U21s.
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