Guy Ferrer is a difficult man to keep up with. Only a moment ago he was describing the inspiration behind his monumental new bronze sculpture, T.O.L.E.R.A.N.C.E., which was unveiled at the entrance to the Court of the Crown Prince on Bainuna Street this week. And now, without preamble, he's off on a tangent about how he personally designed and built 15 houses. Excuse me?
"Of course!" he beams. "When you're a sculptor, there's no limit in considering your activity. As far as you're creating a three-dimensional piece, it can be a little object to put on the coffee table - and I did designs for several companies for this kind of project - but it can also drive you to create, for instance, houses. And what is a house except a sculpture that you can live in?"
He looks at me challengingly. As a matter of fact I can think of a few differences between houses and sculptures; ovens, for example. But there's no hope of interjecting. Ferrer is on a roll. Architects and sculptors, he says, "have exactly the same problems and issues and the same questions to resolve, as far as you create a piece that will take the light, that will contain your thoughts ? So there's no limit. Why should I limit myself, creating a little coffee-table sculpture?"
"Do you have any architectural training?" I ask.
"Well, no," he concedes. "But I would say that I'm so trained that I could sometimes give lessons to - well, modestly - to architects who have the tag on the wall. I've been working hard in this field so I really know a lot of things about it."
This have-a-go chutzpah is something of a Ferrer trademark. Born in Algeria in 1955, he started making art - also untrained - in his late twenties. Why? "I wanted to be useful. I wanted to deserve my life. And I think that art is probably the best way to do that."
He started painting and sculpting under the powerful influence of Alberto Giacometti - in particular, the Swiss artist's coal-black, spindly figurines. "You know this sculpture, Giacometti's sculpture?" Ferrer says. "This man who is walking, and in fact he is defying death? Because he's vertical, and he wants to go on? This artist is really particularly important to me."
No kidding: a Giacometti-style barbecued man recurs throughout his work - in his knobbly busts and his spidery figurative canvasses, and not least in T.O.L.E.R.A.N.C.E., the piece that brings him to Abu Dhabi now.
T.O.L.E.R.A.N.C.E. isn't really a single sculpture: the Bainuna Street version, commissioned by the government after last year's artparis-Abu Dhabi, is the second to have been erected. The first is in Saint-Ouen, north of Paris, and a third is in progress in Perpignan, on the French-Spanish border. Ferrer hopes to produce eight in total, a typically ambitious goal. There will be minor tweaks between castings ("I'm not a printer," he scoffs, "or somebody who turns out these things. I like creation, that's why I'm living") but the idea will remain the same. Each piece will spell out the word "tolerance" in letters assembled from allegorical figures and religious icons. The "E", for instance, is represented by a Hindu Aum symbol, surmounted by an Islamic crescent. "N" is a pair of Giacomettian stick men, one diving to the ground in death, the other springing up reborn.
It isn't tremendously subtle. But subtlety seems beside the point when faced with Ferrer's ebullient sense of life. Apropos a vague question about the rough textures he seems to like working with, he exclaims: "Everything can be art! So yes, you can find rubbish and transform it into gold. It's just a question of freedom. I want to tell you also that painting and sculpture are the best exercise to be free."
Later I ask him why he stopped dividing his time between France and America (for seven years he kept a studio in Orange County), and for a moment he looks a bit deflated. Jet lag put paid to that arrangement, he admits.
But you can't keep a Tigger down for long; a second later he bounces back to make the startling assertion: "I'm absolutely decided to open a secondary studio in the UAE to replace the one I had in California. Definitely ? the future is wide open here." The idea had probably just crossed his mind. I don't doubt he'll go through with it.
elake@thenational.ae
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The five pillars of Islam
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
OIL PLEDGE
At the start of Russia's invasion, IEA member countries held 1.5 billion barrels in public reserves and about 575 million barrels under obligations with industry, according to the agency's website. The two collective actions of the IEA this year of 62.7 million barrels, which was agreed on March 1, and this week's 120 million barrels amount to 9 per cent of total emergency reserves, it added.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets