Artists of determination bid farewell to Dubai's Mawaheb studio with stirring final exhibition

Mawaheb from Beautiful People, a non-profit art studio for young people with disabilities, will mark its final moments in Dubai with a group exhibition.

Mawaheb’s founder Wemmy de Maaker announced the art studio’s closure last month, citing the coronavirus pandemic as the reason. “The implications surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic have unfortunately forced Mawaheb to close its doors. Mawaheb was supposed to celebrate its 10-year anniversary in October, but instead of a celebration we had to make this difficult decision,” she wrote on Facebook.

She told The National in October that she hopes the community and corporate businesses will continue to support people of determination. "We hope they continue to integrate and include them, whether in motivational talks, art exhibitions or jobs. Work can still be commissioned from the artists even though Mawaheb is not there."

Founder of Mawaheb Wemmy De Maaker, left, with students. Courtesy of Mawaheb

The art studio's final exhibition will open on Monday, November 30, at Fann A Porter, The Workshop in Jumeirah, Dubai. The show will include works from eight artists who have studied at Mawaheb over its decade-long run. Among them is Anjali Kakkar, dubbed the "Tulip Queen of Mawaheb" for her fascination with painting the flower; Namrata Pagarani, who has created tributes to her favourite artists; and Mariam Ismail, whose works focus on the environment. All the pieces will be for sale, with proceeds split between Mawaheb, Fann A Porter and the artists. Works by Anjana Ramakrishnan, Leila Murgian, Sharan Anil, Verano Field and Aarti Shah will also be part of the exhibition.

Scroll through the gallery above to see some of the artworks on offer.

Mawaheb alumni include Victor Sitali, a Zambian painter who is hearing-impaired and attended the art studio from 2011 to 2014. Sitali specialises in portraiture and was included in the 12th Florence Biennale in 2019. This year, Abdulla Lutfi, an Emirati who also studied in Mawaheb, exhibited his humorous illustrations at Cuadro Gallery in DIFC.

The group exhibition at Fann A Porter will run until Monday, December 7.

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.”

Artists of determination bid farewell to Dubai's Mawaheb studio with stirring final exhibition

The week-long show will feature eight artists who have been part of the studio over its 10-year run