Saloua Raouda Choucair with one of her sculptures. Courtesy of Agial Art Gallery / Saloua Raouda Choucair Foundation
Saloua Raouda Choucair with one of her sculptures. Courtesy of Agial Art Gallery / Saloua Raouda Choucair Foundation
Saloua Raouda Choucair with one of her sculptures. Courtesy of Agial Art Gallery / Saloua Raouda Choucair Foundation
Saloua Raouda Choucair with one of her sculptures. Courtesy of Agial Art Gallery / Saloua Raouda Choucair Foundation

Art Dubai: Modern Symposium will pay tribute to Arab master Saloua Raouda Choucair


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When she passed away in January, Saloua Raouda Choucair was 100 years old. Although she had been deeply respected as the undisputed doyenne of abstract art in the Arab world, it was something of a late blooming for the artist in the West. Choucair was 97 when she was given a show at Tate Modern. It was her British debut and the first major exhibition outside her native Lebanon.

She was a sculptor, whose most celebrated works are those made of interlocking pieces that can be taken apart and re-ordered, as in a Sufi poem. In a review for a 1952 exhibition of Choucair’s work, fellow artist Georges Cyr gave some advice to visitors: “do not look for the subject of the painting for there isn’t one. There are lines and surfaces (forms) and relationships between these, in other words, a symphony of qualities, colours and plains. Listen to this symphony with your eyes as you would listen to a concerto with your ears.”

Some UAE art fans might have seen Choucair’s work in the Sharjah Art Museum as part of the 12th edition of the city’s biennial. She was also given a major retrospective in 2011 at Beirut Exhibition Center.

This year, Art Dubai will pay tribute to Choucair’s masterful talent during the first Modern Symposium. Saleh Barakat, the founder of Agial Art Gallery and Saleh Barakat Gallery in Beirut will be leading the tribute.

“Having Saleh speak of Saloua’s life and legacy is apt: he knew her personally and has been instrumental in her international recognition, primarily through curating her major show at the Beirut Exhibition Center in 2011,” says Myrna Ayad, director of Art Dubai. “Saloua is, in many circles, recognised as a pioneering artist, not solely because she is a woman but rather for her major contributions to modernism in the realms of spirituality, abstraction, minimalism and her plethoric use of varied media.”

Choucair and other leading women in Arab Modernism from a later generation will be also discussed in a panel. These include Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi and Sonia Balassanian, who have both have contributed to the discussions on modernity in different respects. Princess Al Hashemi is also a major patron of the arts having established the Jordan National Galler while Balassanian combines varied influences – Iranian, Armenian, poetry, abstraction, cultural and social issues.

* Art Dubai's inaugural Modern Symposium begins on Monday March 13 at 5pm. Find out more on the fair website

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The Book of Collateral Damage

Sinan Antoon

(Yale University Press)

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt

Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Edited by Sarah Cleave, Comma Press

Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

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The biog

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Marathon results

Men:

 1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13 

2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50 

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4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46 

5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48  

Women:

1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30 

2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01 

3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30 

4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43 

5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01  

Results:

5pm: Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Tahoonah, Richard Mullen (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)

5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,400m | Winner: Ajwad, Gerald Avranche, Rashed Bouresly

6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Lam Tara, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m | Winner: Duc De Faust, Szczepan Mazur, Younis Al Kalbani

7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Dh70,000 2,200m | Winner: Shareef KB, Fabrice Veron, Ernst Oertel

7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,500m | Winner: Bainoona, Pat Cosgrave, Eric Lemartinel

Top goalscorers in Europe

34 goals - Robert Lewandowski (68 points)

34 - Ciro Immobile (68)

31 - Cristiano Ronaldo (62)

28 - Timo Werner (56)

25 - Lionel Messi (50)

*29 - Erling Haaland (50)

23 - Romelu Lukaku (46)

23 - Jamie Vardy (46)

*NOTE: Haaland's goals for Salzburg count for 1.5 points per goal. Goals for Dortmund count for two points per goal.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope 
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Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck

if you go
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets