After more than 10 weeks of closure due to Covid-19, Jameel Art Centre is set to reopen its doors to the public on Wednesday, June 3.
As it restarts operations, the contemporary art institution, located along Al Jaddaf Waterfront in Dubai's Bur Dubai area, has introduced new guidelines for the public to ensure social distancing. While admission remains free, visitors must book a two-hour slot online in advance so the centre can monitor capacity.
As with other public places in the UAE, visitors must undergo temperature checks at the entrance and wear face masks. Each gallery has been designated a certain capacity, and security staff will ensure that this is maintained.
Despite its physical space being shuttered on March 16 due to government regulations, the centre had been quick to move a number of its activities online, including educational resources for children and a virtual version of its Jaddaf Aloud cultural event, which featured artist workshops and experimental films.
Nevertheless, the closure has affected the centre’s programming schedule, which has now been recalibrated. “Our entire calendar has shifted through 2020 to 2023,” says Antonia Carver, director of Art Jameel.
Jameel Arts Centre has extended two of its current exhibitions, which were slated to end in August. The major survey exhibition on renowned artist Michael Rakowitz, showcasing large-installations that reflect on material culture in the region, will now run until November. Lubna Chowdhary’s ceramic sculptures in the installation titled Metropolis will remain until October.
Carver notes that extending Rakowitz’s show meant holding negotiations with 30 different museums and collectors. “A museum exhibition calendar… is so complex – shows are often years in the planning and dates forensically worked out with the artist and all the various multiple partners involved. We were lucky in being the last venue for Michael Rakowitz’s major survey show and in working with an enthusiastic, dedicated artist who is so excited to share his work with the UAE and regional public,” she says.
Across the world, the pandemic has exposed grave inequalities and the fragility of support systems within industries, arts and culture being one of them. Globally, artists and art professionals, including galleries, are facing loss of income and financial uncertainty.
In April, Jameel Arts Centre stepped in to help artists, particularly those whose projects have been disrupted due to the pandemic. For its micro-funding initiative, Art Jameel Research and Practice Platform, the centre has set aside Dh550,000 worth of grants to give to artists, writers and curators in the Middle East. The platform is accepting applications for its third and final cycle until Sunday, June 7.
“Very quickly into this crisis, artists and curators came to us from the UAE and around the region, and explained their predicament. We decided we should act fast and repurpose existing budgets into [our] rapid-response programme,” explains Carver.
“This has been a moment of real reckoning for the regional arts scene, and has thrown into sharp relief the precarity of culture, in general,” she says, adding talk of reinvention within these systems may be too early – cultural institutions and practitioners are presently in “survival mode”.
The centre has not been immune to these monetary challenges either. “Like museums globally, we are dealing with a loss of income from our enterprises, including our shop and third-party events, while we’ve been closed, plus budget cuts. We are learning to cope with this, and hoping for better times ahead,” she says.
On Wednesday, June 10, Jameel Arts Centre will present new interations of their Artist’s Rooms series, with works by Larissa Sansour, Taysir Batniji and Lawrence Abu Hamdan.
The venue will be open daily except Tuesdays, from 10am to 6pm. Children aged below 12 and adults over the age of 60 are not allowed to visit as per UAE regulations.
More information can be found on jameelartscentre.org
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
25-MAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Daniel Akpeyi
Defenders: Olaoluwa Aina, Abdullahi Shehu, Chidozie Awaziem, William Ekong, Leon Balogun, Kenneth Omeruo, Jamilu Collins, Semi Ajayi
Midfielders: John Obi Mikel, Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, John Ogu
Forwards: Ahmed Musa, Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon, Henry Onyekuru, Odion Ighalo, Alexander Iwobi, Samuel Kalu, Paul Onuachu, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze
On Standby: Theophilus Afelokhai, Bryan Idowu, Ikouwem Utin, Mikel Agu, Junior Ajayi, Valentine Ozornwafor
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
