It was between 1969 and 1971 that the reality of a United Arab Emirates truly took shape. At the time, the region was undergoing a seismic shift – the British presence in the Gulf was on its way out and calls to unify the emirates intensified.
The reshaping of relations between the two countries in this period is the focus of an exhibition titled Photographs in Dialogue UAE – 1971 – UK. The show, told chronologically through rare images, objects and archival material, opens at Dubai’s Etihad Museum on Wednesday, September 9.
Photographs in Dialogue is the result of a partnership between the museum and the National Portrait Gallery in London, and it is the latter’s first collaborative project in the Middle East.
In 1968, the British government announced that it would withdraw from the Gulf by the end of 1971, compelling the region's leaders to prepare for a new reality. The exhibition's scope is narrow, following the leaders from the UK and the Emirates as they navigated the path towards unification.
The show chronicles some of the important meetings of the 1960s, including visits to Downing Street by Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, then Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, as they handled negotiations with British prime ministers Harold Wilson and Edward Heath. There are also photographs from the sheikhs' royal visit to Buckingham Palace, where they met Queen Elizabeth II, in 1969.
In another section of the exhibition, a number of portraits capture the political representatives from the UK who lived in what would become the UAE throughout the 1950s and 1960s, working as explorers, oil tycoons and mediators between local rulers and the British government.
This is where the dialogue, as the title suggests, is best attempted, with contrasting photographs from Emirati and UK archives on display. One side showcases a traditional portrait of a British politician or representative, gleaned from the National Portrait Gallery's collection. The other side contains images from the National Archives in the capital and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi's collection, showing the same people in the Gulf, in action, so to speak – attending inaugurations of oil fields and meeting sheikhs. Here, however, the perspective remains largely British, with little visual representation of local populations or rulers, and sparse information on the nature of their relationship with them.
Other parts of the show highlight gestures of cultural exchange, including a commissioned painting of Sheikh Zayed in his 30s, created by British artist Michael Scott. In a photo, we see a young Sheikh Zayed posing with the portrait.
In another display, we see portraits of Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Rashid and Queen Elizabeth presented as a comparative study of portraiture styles and depictions of power. The 1953 monochrome image of Sheikh Zayed, taken by Ronald Codrai, an amateur photographer who worked in oil exploration, shows the leader in a pensive pose as he looks into the distance.
By contrast, a series of rare portraits of Sheikh Rashid reveals a more relaxed image of the Dubai ruler, taken during his visit to London in 1961. Shot by Rex Coleman for the official photography studio of the British royal family, the photos are on view to the public for the first time.
The rest of the exhibition focuses on the documentation of the UAE’s development by photographers such as Codrai, Ramesh Shukla and Noor Ali Rashid, presented through an interactive screen display. A collection of objects and images from key figures in UAE history, such as Zaki Nusseibeh, then cultural adviser and translator to Sheikh Zayed, and David Heard and Frauke-Heard Bey, known for their books on UAE history, are also on view.
Personal items owned by Col Edward “Tug” Wilson, founder of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force, who became director of the Royal Stables, are a highlight. Wilson was deemed so vital by Sheikh Zayed that when the former tried to resign from his post in 1993, the Abu Dhabi leader refused it. The official letter detailing this incident, as well as Wilson’s camera and photographs with Sheikh Zayed, are part of the display.
From a historical perspective, Photographs in Dialogue emphasises the deep diplomatic ties between the UK and the UAE, a relationship that dates back to the 19th century with the General Maritime Treaty, which helped Britain secure its trade routes and maintain its colonial grip on India. It also highlights the efforts of UAE leaders to secure statehood for their people as the British Empire was waning.
However, the exhibition does have a gap in its narrative, which is the perspective of local populations during this period of transition and the impact of these political decisions on life in the UAE.
It does attempt to resolve this with an installation featuring personal photographs from Emiratis living in the UK and British people living in the UAE in the 1970s. The images are projected on to opposite sides of a wall, and visitors can flip through them by controlling the projector's switch. Collected from a network of former residents, the pictures offer a glimpse into everyday life that is missing from the more diplomatic and official images of previous sections.
Photographs in Dialogue ends in a similar way to how it began – with a fascinating image from another official visit. This time, from Queen Elizabeth's first trip to the UAE in February 1979. It shows the British monarch sitting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid, as well as rulers of the other emirates. During this visit, the queen toured various cultural sites across the country, including Al Ain, Dubai Creek and Dubai World Trade Centre.
The exhibition was originally scheduled to take place in mid-March but was postponed because of the pandemic. Photographs in Dialogue will now run until March 25, and the museum is currently developing additional programming for the show. It is also working with the National Portrait Gallery to produce a catalogue in time for National Day.
Photographs in Dialogue UAE – 1971 – UK runs until March 25. More information is at www.etihadmuseum.ae
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How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
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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.”
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