Last year was full of big stories for the UAE's art scene. Louvre Abu Dhabi opened; Art Jameel announced a spacious complex on Deira Creek; and Sharjah Art Foundation held a retrospective of the Emirates' most historically important artist, Hassan Sharif.
By contrast, 2018 is expected to be modest, but not unambitious. In fact, shows opening over the next few months are strong on political critique and international collaboration, and many will take risks with the “exhibition” format.
Here are some of the highlights of the year ahead.
January 20 – March 7
Instrumentalized: Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck, Green Art Gallery, Dubai
This solo show by Venezuelan artist Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck takes up the question of refugees, arguing that human rights NGOs and charities have developed into a full-blown industry, with their own marketing and propaganda techniques. Working as an artist and a researcher, Balteo-
Yazbeck proposes that governments and NGOs use human tragedies, such as the migration crisis, to advance political and ideological agendas.
In his Instrumentalized (2017) series, he uses clothes in place of artworks, wrapping used items – such as those that well-intentioned people regularly donate – around canvases, or placing them upon plinths. The cycle of pathos and contributions that follows viral videos on social media is a narrative arc like that of art itself, and Balteo-Yazbeck suggests it should be interrogated, politically, as such.
January 20 – March 3
Gallery Takeover by Gallery 1957, Lawrie Shabibi Gallery
Over the past few years, galleries have initiated swaps: experimenting in collaboration as a means to expand their exhibitions internationally and a way to mutually benefit from new audiences. Galleries in New York and London started the popular Condo programme in 2016 – a month-long initiative where galleries from each city either swap sites or co-curate exhibitions. In a similar vein, Lawrie Shabibi has invited Gallery 1957 from Accra, Ghana, to take over its premises in Dubai. Gallery 1957, which focuses on art from West Africa, will bring two separate exhibitions to the Alserkal Avenue site. The Displaced, a solo show by Serge Attukwei Clottey, will be followed by a joint exhibition by Gerald Chukwuma and Yaw Owusu.
February 1 – March 17
From Barcelona to Abu Dhabi: Works from the MACBA Art Collection in Dialogue with the Emirates, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Gallery A
Collaboration is the name of the game this year, mimicking Louvre Abu Dhabi’s French-Emirati partnership on a smaller-scale. Organised as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival, this exhibition partners artists from the UAE with those of MACBA in Barcelona, one of the most forward-thinking museums in Europe.
It includes work by Fischli & Weiss, Ana Mendieta, Nancy Spero and Hans Peter Feldmann. Co-curated by MACBA’s director, Ferran Barenblit, and Nasser Abdullah, chairman of the Emirates Fine Arts Society, which is headquartered in Sharjah, the exhibition places some of the UAE’s best-known artists, such as Mohammed Kazem, MA Ibrahim and Ebtisam AbdulAziz, in conversation with MACBA’s Spanish and international stable.
February 24 – June 9
Permanent Temporariness: Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, New York University Abu Dhabi Art Gallery
Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, co-directors of DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency) examine conditions of exile, highlighting how refugees’ state of displacement unsettles how we think of temporary living conditions. Trained as architects, the duo show how these living conditions have developed social, economic and political systems, and created built environments that deserve to be seen as fixtures rather than as aberrations.
Their work takes the form of installations and collaborative projects, such as Campus in Camps, an experimental educational programme they ran in Palestinian refugee camps. Decolonizing Architecture, with Eyal Weizman, meanwhile, uses spatial analysis to highlight and contest the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Co-curated by NYUAD associate professor Salwa Mikdadi and Bana Kattan, NYUAD Art Gallery curator, this is the first large-scale retrospective of Hilala and Petti’s work, and will take place within the gallery and across the NYUAD campus.
March 5 – April 1
Ishara: Signs, Symbols and Shared Languages, Concrete, Alserkal Avenue
UAE Unlimited is partnering with Alserkal Avenue to focus on emerging artists in the Emirates: Amna Al Dabbagh, Cheb Moha, Chndy, Dina Khorchid, Farah Al Qasimi, Flounder Lee, Nasir Nasrallah, Saba Qizilbash, Salem Al Mansoori, and Shaikha Al Ketbi.
The show, curated by Karim Sultan of the Barjeel Foundation, explores the idea of communication in contexts (like Dubai) where people from different cultures converge and signs, body language and gestures fill in the gap of a spoken lingua franca.
As part of the UAE Unlimited mission of supporting young artists, Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian have mentored the commissioned artists. They have each played a role in the evolution of Dubai’s art scene over the past 10 years and will loan personal works to the exhibition.
March 16 – June 16
Anna Boghiguian, Sharjah Art Foundationf
This is the first retrospective of the Egyptian-Armenian artist Anna Boghiguian, whose tactile, expressive and idiosyncratic sculptures and installations tell stories of life in urban communities. Born in Cairo, Boghiguian has moved from place to place, from Canada to France and India to Italy. The images and objects she has collected, alongside her drawings, offer vignettes of life in modern metropolises: billboards; traffic; furtive embraces; and anonymity. Spanning more than four decades, it’s an exhibition to become lost in, or in which to see yourself reflected.
March 21 – 24
Good Morning GCC, The Room, Art Dubai
In 2013, nine Khaleeji artists founded the GCC – an art collective – in the VIP room of Art Dubai, and this year they will return to their roots. The artists will transform The Room, an installation within the art fair, into a TV studio in which they will create the daytime show Good Morning GCC. This will combine segments on Arabic cooking and fair parties with art-historical references. Comprising Fatima Al Qadiri, Abdullah Al-Mutairi, Amal Khalaf, Aziz Al Qatami, Barrak Alzaid, Khalid al Gharaballi, Monira Al Qadiri, Nanu Al-Hamad and Sophia Al-Maria, the collective will examine power and economic relations in the Gulf – and how the area is perceived internationally – both mimicking and challenging stereotypes of the region's young residents.
Anniversaries
Finally, if the past few years in the UAE have been about examining the legacy of Hassan Sharif and the artists who gathered around him, expect the next few years to look at the period between 2007 and 2017. This is the time when Dubai’s art scene truly took shape, to reflect the international character of the city. A couple of anniversaries taking place this March will act as important markers.
Tashkeel, the studio and exhibition site in Nad Al Sheba, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in March with a look back at its history of fostering art and design production in Dubai.
Grey Noise, in Alserkal Avenue, will also celebrates its 10th anniversary in March, but with a so-called “non-show show”. Over the course of five months, the gallery will change its contents on a daily basis, starting with a sound piece from Australian artist Tim Bruniges – a show with nothing on the walls. The gallery will continue throughout its course to investigate non-commercialism and self-promotion, eschewing the normal channels of gallery communication such as press releases and wall text.
Grey Noise gallery director Umer Butt says it is “celebrating the gallery’s commercial failure” – but even in the land of commerce, art takes other forms of value.
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Read more:
Artist eL Seed's calligraffiti effect on a quiet corner of Ajman
Artist Timo Nasseri's journey to find calligrapher Ibn Muqla’s four Arabic letters
2017 in Review: a year of progress and creativity in the arts
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RESULTS
5pm Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Munfared, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Sawt Assalam, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dergham Athbah, Pat Dobbs, Mohamed Daggash
6.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Rajee, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri
7pm Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Kerless Del Roc, Fernando Jara, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner Pharoah King, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8pm Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner Sauternes Al Maury, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E470hp%2C%20338kW%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20620Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh491%2C500%20(estimate)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S23%20ULTRA
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20FLASH
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Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
liverpool youngsters
Ki-Jana Hoever
The only one of this squad to have scored for Liverpool, the versatile Dutchman impressed on his debut at Wolves in January. He can play right-back, centre-back or in midfield.
Herbie Kane
Not the most prominent H Kane in English football but a 21-year-old Bristolian who had a fine season on loan at Doncaster last year. He is an all-action midfielder.
Luis Longstaff
Signed from Newcastle but no relation to United’s brothers Sean and Matty, Luis is a winger. An England Under-16 international, he helped Liverpool win the FA Youth Cup last season.
Yasser Larouci
An 18-year-old Algerian-born winger who can also play as a left-back, Larouci did well on Liverpool’s pre-season tour until an awful tackle by a Sevilla player injured him.
Adam Lewis
Steven Gerrard is a fan of his fellow Scouser, who has been on Liverpool’s books since he was in the Under-6s, Lewis was a midfielder, but has been converted into a left-back.
Company%C2%A0profile
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The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5