Filipino artist David Medalla, recognised as a pioneer in kinetic art, has died in Manila at the age of 82.
His death was announced by his longtime collaborator Adam Nankervis on Facebook on Monday.
Medalla's work extended to performance and participatory art, though he is perhaps most known for his Cloud Canyon sculptures, which he created from 1963 to 2011.
He lived and worked in various cities around the world, such as London, New York and Paris, where he also lectured in several institutions. His works have been exhibited widely, and he participated in various international exhibitions, including Documenta 5 in 1972 and the Venice Biennale, where he performed at the Philippine Pavilion in 2017, the same year that the country returned to the biannual show after a 51-year absence.
Born in Manila in 1938, he attended Columbia University in New York at a young age upon the recommendation of American poet Mark van Doren, studying ancient Greek drama.
In the 1960s, he moved to the UK, where he co-founded the Signals Gallery in London, which was known for showing kinetic art and the avant-garde. During this time, he created his Cloud Canyons, sculptures bearing sinuous forms that spewed soapy bubbles.
One of these early sculptures was shown in the group show Migrations at Tate Britain in 2012. Speaking in a Tate video about the work, he traced the beginnings of his bubble machines – from witnessing the death of man as a child in the Second World War to seeing cloud formations from a plane flying over the United States.
“The inspiration was very much on my own experiences. During the war, as a toddler, I saw a young man shot and he was dying and I saw bubbles coming out of his mouth …” he recalled.
“The migration is because these experiences came from different moments in my life, from being in the Philippines, New York, Scotland, England and France, all the while thinking about clouds and their formations, which are never the same. They’re unpredictable,” he continued.
In 2016, he was shortlisted for the Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, a biennial prize that recognises contemporary sculptural practices in the UK. He created two kinetic sculptures for the corresponding exhibition at the Hepworth Wakefield, which presents the award, including a new version of his Cloud Canyons, and a second work titled Sand Machines, which comprised sand, shell, necklace and bamboo.
It was also in the 1960s that Medalla began his participatory project A Stitch in Time, where he gave two lovers handkerchiefs and asked them sew designs on them. He continued the project, moving on to larger fabric pieces on which participants would stitch their designs. Iterations of A Stitch in Time have been held in Kassel, London, Berlin and Singapore.
Medalla co-founded a number of collectives in the 1970s to 1990s, including Artists for Democracy, which claimed to support “liberation movements worldwide” and the Mondrian Fan Club, where Nankervis served as vice president.
In 1998, he conceived of the London Biennale, an arts festival that seeks to welcome diverse artistic movements and that is held at different locations. The first London Biennale was led by Medalla in 2000. The event continues to this day, with the next one to be held in June 2021.
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
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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
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
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
