I Write in Colour includes more than 35 artworks by Makki, including her abstract neon paintings. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery
I Write in Colour includes more than 35 artworks by Makki, including her abstract neon paintings. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery
I Write in Colour includes more than 35 artworks by Makki, including her abstract neon paintings. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery
I Write in Colour includes more than 35 artworks by Makki, including her abstract neon paintings. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery

Emirati artist Najat Makki presents latest neon paintings in Dubai: 'Experience the joy of colour'


Alexandra Chaves
  • English
  • Arabic

A neon waterfall cascades from the ceiling at Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery. This shock of colour is actually a fishing net doused in neon paint and an artwork by Emirati artist Najat Makki.

In her latest solo exhibition, I Write in Colour, Makki embraces electric greens, pinks and yellows, a continuation of her years-long fascination with these vivid pigments.

“When neon paint first arrived in the UAE in the 1980s, I was enamoured with its possibility. First, the fact that it had such a vibrant and robust pigment appealed to me,” the artist says. “Secondly, when neon paint is illuminated with blacklight, it is transformed into a completely new experience. It brings a third dimension into the painting …”

Indeed, the artist often displays her paintings under UV light with the intention of giving visitors a chance to “feel and experience the joy of colour – the depth and changes that neon facilitates”.

The artist often arranges to display her paintings under UV light. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Gallery
The artist often arranges to display her paintings under UV light. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Gallery

I Write in Colour includes more than 35 artworks by Makki, from abstract neon paintings that are bold and dramatic to smaller, more playful works on variously shaped canvases, as well as sculpture and installation.

Born in 1956, Makki is a pioneering figure in the UAE art scene and was one of the first Emirati women to study art abroad in the 1970s. Over the past 40 years, she has expanded her subjects, motifs and style, adding elongated female figures on to her canvases in the 1990s, experimenting with sculpture and eventually focusing on neon paintings.

Though she mostly works in painting, she says that her interest in sculpture hasn’t waned.

“I have never shifted away from sculpture. In my paintings, you will see an attempt to push three-dimensionality through my techniques. I interrogate the surface, using the colours’ compositions, forms and elements,” she explains, adding that she works on building layers of colour on top of each other to add density and texture.

In 2019, Makki was celebrated via a survey exhibition at the reopening of the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi. Titled Luminescence, the exhibition traced the artist’s career and practice in addition to documenting Makki’s role in UAE art history through an archival section of newspapers and photographs.

Her latest paintings at Aisha Alabbar Gallery – one of which shows a field of sunny yellows and lime greens overlaid with orbs and notches, and another layers of ocean blue and candy pink – were created during the pandemic.

An untitled neon painting by Najat Makki created in 2020 in response to the pandemic. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery
An untitled neon painting by Najat Makki created in 2020 in response to the pandemic. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery

Makki says that the period gave her more time to reflect and express ideas through new paintings and mixed media works.

“These artworks focused on the importance of solidarity to overcome the crisis. The intense colours were an expression of fear and anxiety that people felt at that time,” she explains.

Her process has always been intuitive, she says, allowing the colours to emerge and build until she feels she has found the right balance. “I don’t necessarily know what the outcome will be,” she says, though she often gives herself time to evaluate the painting until she finds that it bears “harmony” and “internal rhythm”.

I Write in Colour is on view until the end of June. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery
I Write in Colour is on view until the end of June. Courtesy the artist and Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery

Despite their abstract nature, she constantly draws from her own visions and personal experiences.

Makki keeps a daily visual diary where the stuff of daily life – “It may be a thought or a feeling from the lives of my friends and our environment. It could be about nature, including the inspiration of trees, animals or my relationships with place and time,” she says – gets transformed into sweeps of colour and shape that find their way on to the canvas.

I Write in Colour is on view at Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery until Wednesday, June 30. More information at aishaalabbar.art

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Canada
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Chelsea 2
Willian (13'), Ross Barkley (64')

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While you're here
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
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  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
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  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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

88 Video's most popular rentals

Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.  

Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.

Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.

Three trading apps to try

Sharad Nair recommends three investment apps for UAE residents:

  • For beginners or people who want to start investing with limited capital, Mr Nair suggests eToro. “The low fees and low minimum balance requirements make the platform more accessible,” he says. “The user interface is straightforward to understand and operate, while its social element may help ease beginners into the idea of investing money by looking to a virtual community.”
  • If you’re an experienced investor, and have $10,000 or more to invest, consider Saxo Bank. “Saxo Bank offers a more comprehensive trading platform with advanced features and insight for more experienced users. It offers a more personalised approach to opening and operating an account on their platform,” he says.
  • Finally, StashAway could work for those who want a hands-off approach to their investing. “It removes one of the biggest challenges for novice traders: picking the securities in their portfolio,” Mr Nair says. “A goal-based approach or view towards investing can help motivate residents who may usually shy away from investment platforms.”
The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8

Transmission: nine-speed automatic

Power: 630bhp

Torque: 900Nm

Price: Dh810,000

Manchester United v Liverpool

Premier League, kick off 7.30pm (UAE)

Yahya Al Ghassani's bio

Date of birth: April 18, 1998

Playing position: Winger

Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda

Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla

Verdict:  Three stars 

Super Rugby play-offs

Quarter-finals

  • Hurricanes 35, ACT 16
  • Crusaders 17, Highlanders 0
  • Lions 23, Sharks 21
  • Chiefs 17, Stormers 11

Semi-finals

Saturday, July 29

  • Crusaders v Chiefs, 12.35pm (UAE)
  • Lions v Hurricanes, 4.30pm
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species

Camelpox

Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.

Falconpox

Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.

Houbarapox

Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.

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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

The Orwell Prize for Political Writing

Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include: 

  • Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
  • Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
  • Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
  • Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
  • Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
The five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses

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Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows

Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.

Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.

The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.

After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.

The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.

The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.

But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.

It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.

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