Dubai's Kite Beach features a new street art mural that's all about diversity and inclusion
Dubai's Kite Beach features a new street art mural that's all about diversity and inclusion
Dubai's Kite Beach features a new street art mural that's all about diversity and inclusion
Dubai's Kite Beach features a new street art mural that's all about diversity and inclusion

Converse teams up with Dubai artists to create new street art mural on Kite Beach


Hayley Skirka
  • English
  • Arabic

Dubai’s Kite Beach has a new street art mural designed by two well-known artists in the city.

The shoreline collaboration between Abdulla Lutfi and Maddy Butcher is in partnership with Converse, and is a bold interpretation of the Dubai skyline and the people who call the city home.

Unveiled on Friday, with the city's Burj Al Arab as a backdrop, the work is part of the Converse Create Next project, a campaign that celebrates street art as a creative and artistic medium for social progress.

Abdulla Lutfi and Maddy Butcher partnered with Converse for the Dubai street art campaign. Photo: Converse
Abdulla Lutfi and Maddy Butcher partnered with Converse for the Dubai street art campaign. Photo: Converse

The artwork represents the spirit of togetherness, with the two Converse Create Next artists celebrating Dubai and the blend of people and cultures who make it an incredible place to live.

Featuring a recreation of the city’s skyline, the mural is based on a design by Lutfi, an artist of determination who illustrates in monochrome colours entirely from memory.

Butcher — an artist famed for her large-scale, colourful abstracts — took Lutfi’s piece and transformed it for the Converse Create Next project. She added colour and faces to highlight the diversity that exists in Dubai.

“A lot of my paintings feature what I call ‘fluid positivity’, which fits the theme of Converse Create Next. With vivid patterns and bold lines, the pieces do not fade into the background. I think that vibrancy is a good reflection of the city and the amazing creative talent we have. As we collaborate more and reach across cultural divides, we can unlock even more creativity across Dubai,” said Butcher.

Dubai's Converse Create Next Murals is on Kite Beach with Burj Al Arab as a backdrop. Photo: Converse / Stephen Godenzie
Dubai's Converse Create Next Murals is on Kite Beach with Burj Al Arab as a backdrop. Photo: Converse / Stephen Godenzie

The mural will be on display until June at one of the city’s most popular beaches. Converse says its campaign helps to communicate the message that every action makes a difference, and every artistic creation leaves an impact.

The Converse All Stars team comprises thousands of emerging creative leaders in more than 30 countries who champion progress in sports, art, music and culture.

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

The biog

Name: Capt Shadia Khasif

Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police

Family: Five sons and three daughters

The first female investigator in Hatta.

Role Model: Father

She believes that there is a solution to every problem

 

Bharat

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar

Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 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.”

 

 

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
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Tuesday results:

  • Singapore bt Malaysia by 29 runs
  • UAE bt Oman by 13 runs
  • Hong Kong bt Nepal by 3 wickets

Final:
Thursday, UAE v Hong Kong

The Freedom Artist

By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)

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Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis

What is graphene?

Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.

It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.

It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.

It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.

Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.

The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.

Updated: March 19, 2022, 1:27 PM