The UAE art season is in full swing, with new exhibitions at Jameel Arts Centre and Sharjah Art Foundation opening earlier this week and Alserkal Art Week hosting talks and activities, with shows extending throughout the next few months.
One of the big events on the calendar is undoubtedly Art Dubai, with the 15th event taking place from Friday, March 11 to Sunday, March 13 at Madinat Jumeirah. This year, the art fair is gearing up for its biggest programme thus far with more than 100 contemporary and modern galleries participating.
Artworks are on display across three sections: contemporary, modern and Bawwaba, with commissioned works spread out across the venue. In addition, Art Dubai will have its first digital art section titled Art Dubai Digital, complemented by the theme of the 15th Global Art Forum — This is the Picture.
Here’s what to expect at the main sections of Art Dubai this year:
Art Dubai Contemporary
A total of 77 galleries will be showcasing works for the contemporary section, out of which 15 are new to the fair.
From Dubai, Carbon 12 will present works by Sarah Almehairi, Andre Butzer, Anthony Akinbola, Anahita Razmi and Amba Sayal-Bennett, while Green Art Gallery will showcase works by Michael Rakowitz and Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde will have Manal Al Dowayan’s most recent textile pieces.
Other Dubai galleries participating include Ayyam Gallery, Custot Gallery, Leila Heller Gallery, Lawrie Shabibi, Meem Gallery, Tabari Artspace, The Third Line, Volte Art Projects and Zawyeh.
Participating galleries from the Middle East include Athr from Jeddah, Hafez Gallery and Mono Gallery from Riyadh, Wadi Finan Art Gallery from Amman, Mark Hachem from Beirut, Gallery One from Ramallah. There’s also +2 Gallery, Mohsen Gallery, Dastan’s Basement and Parallel Circuit from Tehran; Sanatorium, Dirimart, x-ist, Anna Laudel and Zilberman Gallery from Istanbul.
Art Dubai Modern
Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, the modern section will feature solo booths on 20th-century masters from the Middle East and North Africa, including Bibi Zogbe, a Lebanese painter known for her floral canvasses, whose works will be presented by Agial Art Gallery from Beirut; and Aref El Rayess, whose retrospective is currently on view at Sharjah Art Museum. El Rayess’s work at Art Dubai is presented by Sfeir-Semler Gallery.
Works by Chant Avedissian (Sabrina Amrani), Gamal El Sagini (Zamalek Art Gallery), Nabil Nahas and Anas Albraehe (Saleh Barakat Gallery), and KS Kulkarni (Aicon Art) are also part of the section.
Bawwaba
Translated from the Arabic word for “gateway”, Bawwaba contains works made specifically for the fair in the past year. The section aims to capture artistic trends and developments across the Global South, a region organisers have been aiming to champion through their programming.
Curated by Nancy Adajania, 10 solo presentations will be on view this year, six from newcomers. Lagos-based Rele Gallery, participating at Art Dubai for the first time, will feature stunning paintings by Tonia Nneji, while new arrival TARQ from Mumbai and Nature Morte from New Delhi will be presenting Soghra Khurasani and Mona Rai, respectively.
Works by Ranbir Kaleka will be on view with New Delhi's Vadhera Art Gallery, while Cusco’s Vigil Gonzales will showcase works by Jose Luis Martinat.
Art Dubai Commission
Among Art Dubai’s commissions for 2022 is one by Madrid-born artist Fernando Garcia-Dory with Inland collaborative agency from Spain. Bringing together ideas from archaeology, hydrology and urbanism, he will present Sand Flow, a multi-side installation that will explore Dubai’s history, as well as the cultures and communities that exist within the city.
Meanwhile, Filipino-American light artist James Clar will unveil an interactive installation Cloud Seed at the Julius Baer lounge that will present real time simulation of raindrops and fog.
Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru, whose sculptural masks play with conventional craft and design, will conduct a workshop for children aged 5 to 17. During the workshop, the artist will guide participants on how to repurpose everyday materials to artistic pieces.
The initiative is part of Art Dubai organiser ARM Holding’s Children’s Programme, which aims to expand its activities to 80 schools around Dubai.
Exhibitions
A new partnership between Art Dubai, Warehouse421 and the Salama Bint Hamdan Emerging Artist Fellowship (SEAF) will culminate in an exhibition on the fellowship's eight-year history that is curated by Maryam Al Dabbagh and Mays Albaik.
Titled Speculative Links, the presentation explores ideas of collective memory and prevalent themes found in SEAF's previous exhibitions. Featured artists include Asma Khoory, Tala Worrell, Dina Nazmi Khorchid, Sawsan Al Bahar, Shaikha Alketbi, Fatima Albudoor, Mohamed Khalid and Malak Elghuel.
In another exhibition, Russian artist Marina Fedorova’s Cosmodreams will consider how technology has impacted our environment. The immersive installation blends painting and sculpture with augmented and virtual reality, and was previously shown at the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art in St Petersburg.
Art Dubai will take place from 2pm-9pm on March 11 and 12, and noon-6pm on March 13 at Madinat Jumeirah. Tickets are priced at Dh60 for one-day entry, and Dh100 for a three-day entry, available at artdubai.ae
Art Dubai 2021 - in pictures
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
MATCH INFO
Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, May 3
Live: On BeIN Sports HD
GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE CARD
The line-up as it stands for the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on April 27
50-man Royal Rumble
Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns
Casket match
The Undertaker v Rusev
Intercontinental Championship
Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Bludgeon Brothers v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship
Sheamus and Cesaro v Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy
United States Championship
Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
Singles match
Triple H v John Cena
To be confirmed
AJ Styles will defend his WWE World Heavyweight title and Cedric Alexander his Cruiserweight Championship, but matches have yet to be announced
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
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.”
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
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The specs: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT
Price, base / as tested: Dh259,000
Engine: 6.4-litre V8
Power: 475hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 640Nm @ 4,300rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
The specs: Volvo XC40
Price: base / as tested: Dh185,000
Engine: 2.0-litre, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 250hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 350Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.4L / 100km
THE BIO:
Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.
Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.
Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lee%20Sang-yong%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Don%20Lee%2C%20Lee%20Jun-hyuk%2C%20Munetaka%20Aoki%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
UAE%20FIXTURES
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Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
