Jordanian artist and sculptor Mona Saudi has died. She was 76.
The news was confirmed by her daughter, Dia, on Saudi's Instagram account on Thursday.
“With the heaviest heart, I share that my beautiful mama, sweetest grandmother and extraordinary artist, Mona Saudi, has left us last night in her beloved city Beirut," she wrote. "Words fail me beyond this.”
The arts community mourned the loss. "Very sad that Mona Saudi, the great Jordanian sculptor, left us tonight," William Shabibi of Lawrie Shabibi gallery shared on Wednesday.
"With great sadness we remember Mona Saudi. An irrepressible personality, a great artist, sculpting in stone for over 60 years, Mona was a force of nature. She passed away peacefully last night in her beloved Beirut. What a privilege to have known, and worked with her — we will always remember her. Shine bright Mona Saudi," Lawrie Shabibi's Instagram posted on Thursday morning.
Close friends of the artist also took to social media to remember her. "Mona Saudi is no longer with us. Long live Mona Saudi, a great sculptor and beloved friend," wrote Palestinian artist Samia Halaby on Instagram.
Born in Amman, Jordan in 1945, Saudi studied sculpture at the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She worked and lived between Beirut and Amman and her work has been exhibited at home and around the world.
In an interview with The National in 2018, Saudi talked about why she left Amman for Beirut and then Paris when she was only 17.
"This was how I planned my life," she said. "I wanted to do an exhibition and then go to Paris. Nobody supported me. I just decided to make my life by myself, so I abolished all kinds of obstacles — family, society, et cetera."
By the time she turned 18, Saudi had already held an exhibition, at Cafe de la Presse in the old An-Nahar newspaper building in Beirut, and was off to the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Saudi mainly worked with stone and today one of her works sits outside the Institute du Monde Arabe in Paris. In a recent interview with Nathalie Bondil, director of museum and exhibitions at Institut du Monde Arabe in Forbes, Bondil said: "My meeting with Mona Saudi, this immense contemporary sculptor, moved me: a woman who cuts stone is very rare... "
Decades after her first sculpture titled Mother/Earth (1965), Saudi's work has been exhibited around the world. Today, pieces of her artworks are in the collections of cultural institutions around the world including the Sharjah Art Foundation, the British Museum in London, National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC and the Ministry of Culture in Cairo.
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“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
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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.
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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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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
