The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2021 has been awarded to three architecture students from the American University of Sharjah (AUS).
Nour Elbery and Marawan Mahmoud, both from Egypt, and Rashid Modibbo, from Nigeria, have been recognised for their submission Cocoon, an installation work that explores the idea of time – how yesterday and tomorrow merge into one another, reflecting on the individual and collective experiences during the pandemic. The work will be unveiled in Abu Dhabi in November.
Established in 2012, The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award is aimed at young artists in the UAE who wish to create public artworks. The couple behind the award were known for their environmental art and ambitious projects involving famous landmarks around the world.
Presented by New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (Admaf), the award provides the winning artists with $10,000 (Dh36,700) to produce their work, along with a gift of $5,000 (Dh18,350) from Christo's estate to fund future projects.
Cocoon will be completed by the artists with the guidance of experts, including the artists' mentor, AUS architecture professor Gregory Watson, award director Emily Doherty, the NYUAD Art Gallery team, NYUAD's visual arts faculty, and the award team at Admaf.
Huda I Alkhamis-Kanoo, founder of Admaf, said that the award is part of the foundation's "commitment to cultivating the UAE's creative ecosystem".
“We believe that prominent platforms for the nation’s young artists to exhibit their work, along with guidance and support, are essential to the health of culture and the arts.”
Maya Allison, executive director of the NYUAD Art Gallery and the university's chief curator, said: "This year we witnessed how the artists responded to the uncertainty and challenging environment of this time, by using their creativity to design a Cocoon for humanity.
"Their proposal invites us to reflect on our shared experience of the pandemic. It is heartening to see how uncertainty and the unknown have led us to explore new ways of working, while changing the way we live, think, and act, and still, we find ways to create art.”
This year’s selection committee for the award included Alkhamis-Kanoo, NYUAD interim dean of Arts and Humanities Awam Amkpa, director of Abu Dhabi Art Dyala Nusseibeh, and artist Azza Al Qubaisi.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
