Jameel Arts Centre's Ramadan programming includes a tablescaping workshop and a pop-up market with homegrown vendors. Courtesy Art Jameel
Jameel Arts Centre's Ramadan programming includes a tablescaping workshop and a pop-up market with homegrown vendors. Courtesy Art Jameel
Jameel Arts Centre's Ramadan programming includes a tablescaping workshop and a pop-up market with homegrown vendors. Courtesy Art Jameel
Jameel Arts Centre's Ramadan programming includes a tablescaping workshop and a pop-up market with homegrown vendors. Courtesy Art Jameel

From zero-waste iftars to late-night souqs: What art spaces are doing this Ramadan


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As Ramadan enters its first week, arts and culture spaces in the UAE are putting together events that place wellness and community at the core.

Every week, Alserkal Avenue is offering different activities, including zero-waste iftars and reading groups, while Jameel Arts Centre will teach the art of creating the ideal dining setting and will host a Ramadan souq with homegrown vendors at the end of the month.

Here are a few things to do at the UAE’s cultural spaces this month:

#ThisIsNotABuffet at Alserkal Avenue

Every Wednesday during Ramadan, Alserkal Avenue is hosting a programme focused on community care, including a donation drive with Stop and Help, a UAE platform that connects those in need with individuals who can extend a helping hand.

For those looking to be more mindful of their consumption habits, Chef Halawa, who specialises in Levantine cuisine, will host a zero waste iftar filled with Palestinian dishes from his hometown.

Using her novel Burnt Sugar as a springboard to discuss about care, familial obligations and community ties, author Avni Doshi will run reading sessions and discussions on Wednesday, at 8pm-10pm.

More information on alserkal.online

Ramadan Nights at Jameel Arts Centre

Jameel Arts Centre’s Ramadan programming, presented in collaboration with #MyDubai, features a tablescaping workshop led by designer Anoud Al Zaben, which guides visitors on how to create a nature-inspired table layout for suhoor.

The 90-minute workshop, which takes place on Monday, draws inspiration from the centre's third Artist's Garden commission, Desert is a Forest by Sunoj D and Namrata Neog, and includes a tour of current exhibitions before the event.

Other events include a family night, featuring drop-in workshops and educational activities for children at the Jameel Library, on Friday; an evening dedicated to Arabic literature with Emirati writer Sultan Al Ameemi on Monday, April 26; and a Ramadan Souq with local vendors selling vintage clothing, baked goods and gift-worthy items on Friday, April 30.

More information on jameelartscentre.org

Ramadan Nights at Al Seef

Al Seef has collaborated with Dubai Culture to present art along its waterfront promenade located close to the Al Fahidi Historical District. The outdoor art gallery includes drawings, paintings, sculptures and video installations by various local artists.

Works include Arabic calligrapher Mohamed Elagaty’s augmented reality animation and Ali Shawwa’s 3D-printed sculptures of everyday objects from the region that have become motifs, including sand dunes, coffee cups and abayas. There are also outdoor installations by Yara Manla and Raghad and Asma Ahmed Shikoh, alongside paintings by Masarra Fatima Sulaimani.

Al Seef has also installed Ramadan lights along the area. The works will remain on view until Eid Al Fitr.

Al Seef has collaborated with Dubai Culture to present an outdoor art gallery along its promenade. Courtesy Al Seef
Al Seef has collaborated with Dubai Culture to present an outdoor art gallery along its promenade. Courtesy Al Seef

Cinema Akil screenings

Cinema Akil, which focuses on showcasing independent and art house films, is presenting an exclusive Ramadan release of The Man Who Sold His Skin from Tunisian film director Kaouther Ben Hania, nominated for the Best International Feature Film at the coming Oscar awards.

The film tells the story of Sam Ali, a Syrian refugee living in Lebanon. Eager to move to Europe for his lover, he agrees to have his back tattooed by a contemporary artist, a decision that complicates his life as collectors become interested in acquiring the art.

New exhibitions to see 

House of Artisans celebrates traditional weaving

House of Artisans at Qasr Al Hosn has reopened with a permanent exhibition honouring local artisans. The cultural centre explores the way the people of the UAE made use of the country's natural resources, specifically in the area of crafts with practices such as Sadu and Khoos weaving. The former refers to a weaving practice by Bedouin women in the UAE that uses wool of sheep, camels and goats to create intricate geometric designs that reflect on social identity. The latter is practised by men and women and involves braiding palm fronds to create functional objects such as food containers and fans.

The House of Artisans exhibition includes displays of different personal collections of woven objects, as well as the different materials used by craftsmen and craftswomen from the UAE.

Total Landscaping at Warehouse421

The latest in the Substructures: Excavating the Everyday exhibition series, which is curated by Murtaza Vali and which investigates the infrastructures that shape Gulf cities, Total Landscaping looks at the Gulf’s relationship with plant life, how it is understood and consumed in the area and across the global south.

Drawing from the research of Harvard professor Gareth Doherty, which explores landscape architectural theory and how human ecology is entangled with environmental issues, the show looks at how the local flora has been shaped by capitalism and politics, featuring participants such as Layan Attari, Iftikhar and Elizabeth Dadi, GCC, Mohamed Khalid, Ho Rui An, Hind Mezaina (with Todd Reisz), Farah Al-Qasimi, Stephanie Syjuco and Yee I-Lann.

Total Landscaping runs until Sunday, June 13.

More information on warehouse421.ae

SPECS

Nissan 370z Nismo

Engine: 3.7-litre V6

Transmission: seven-speed automatic

Power: 363hp

Torque: 560Nm

Price: Dh184,500

West Indies v India - Third ODI

India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)

India won by 93 runs

Monster

Directed by: Anthony Mandler

Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington 

3/5

 

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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RESULT

Leeds United 1 Manchester City 1
Leeds:
 Rodrigo (59')
Man City: Sterling (17')

Man of the Match: Rodrigo Moreno (Leeds)

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Xpanceo

Started: 2018

Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov

Based: Dubai, UAE

Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality

Funding: $40 million

Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)

Results
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500 People from Gaza enter France

115 Special programme for artists

25   Evacuation of injured and sick

DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
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Ticket prices
  • Golden circle - Dh995
  • Floor Standing - Dh495
  • Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
  • Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
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  • Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
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Dhadak

Director: Shashank Khaitan

Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana

Stars: 3

The%20specs%20
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Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

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So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?

Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
 

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

The 12 breakaway clubs

England

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur

Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus

Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid

Bib%20Gourmand%20restaurants
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Gertrude Bell's life in focus

A feature film

At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.

A documentary

A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.

Books, letters and archives

Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
 

'Midnights'
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MATCH INFO

Newcastle 2-2 Manchester City
Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 0-1 West Ham
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth
Southampton v Watford (late)

Profile of VoucherSkout

Date of launch: November 2016

Founder: David Tobias

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers

Sector: Technology

Size: 18 employees

Stage: Embarking on a Series A round to raise $5 million in the first quarter of 2019 with a 20 per cent stake

Investors: Seed round was self-funded with “millions of dollars” 

Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.

Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.

The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.