If you thought comic books were just for low-brow art fans, you may want to think again, as this year’s Art Dubai and Middle East Film and Comic Con (MEFCC) have joined forces to bring a rare piece by Damien Hirst to Dubai.
In typical Hirst fashion, the piece isn’t exactly a nice watercolour of some trees, but rather a decorated Stormtrooper helmet. Yes, those Stormtroopers, the ones from Star Wars, which neatly ties up the MEFCC link. It will be joined by an assortment of other helmets as part of an exhibition at The Dubai Mall starting today and running through the weekend, then continuing next month at MEFCC (April 3 to April 5 at the Dubai World Trade Centre).
It’s all part of Art Wars Dubai, which will ultimately see 20 of the helmets decorated by local artists sold off, alongside Hirst’s work, in an auction at Comic Con on Saturday, April 5. The original designer of the Stormtrooper uniforms, Andrew Ainsworth, will be at Comic Con giving a workshop on his experiences designing and making props for more than 70 films including Star Wars, Aliens and Flash Gordon.
This is only the second time the Art Wars exhibition has been commissioned globally. The first took place at London’s Saatchi Gallery and featured helmets decorated by Hirst, David Bailey and Ainsworth himself, among others. Like its London predecessor, the proceeds from the Dubai event will go to the charity www.missingtom.com, the fund set up by the Art Wars and Art Below founder Ben Moore to search for his brother Tom, who disappeared 10 years ago. Ironically, the exhibition may never had happened at all if George Lucas had his way.
In 2011, Ainsworth finally walked away victorious from a seven-year legal battle with the Star Wars creator. Lucas had the backing of his glittering Hollywood empire as well as stalwarts of the industry including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Peter Jackson in attempting to stop Ainsworth from producing and selling Stormtrooper memorabilia, but after seven years, £700,000 (Dh4m) in legal costs, hearings in courts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and facing bailiffs knocking on his door demanding US$20m (Dh70m), the plucky British designer is finally free to do with his designs as he pleases, including using them in charity exhibitions such as this.
The whole saga rested on the fact that Ainsworth originally created the uniforms for Lucas on the basis of a verbal agreement. Unbelievably, considering the cultural behemoth that Star Wars became, the job had been casually passed on to Ainsworth, an expert in working with plastics. The chance came after a puppeteer friend’s own efforts in clay had proved fruitless, so he suggested Ainsworth “buy him a drink” if anything came of it. Ainsworth told the BBC following the court case: “I spent two days on it and made a prototype and Lucas said: ‘Great, I’ll have 50’.”
That could easily have been the end of the story, but in 2002, facing a period of financial difficulty, Ainsworth decided to dig out an old helmet and some "bits and pieces", which he was amazed to see sell for £60,000 at Christie’s auction house. Unsurprisingly, he returned to his old moulds and went into business selling replicas. Equally unsurprisingly, by the time a few models had been sold in the US, Lucas’s team were onto him and the $20m court case was filed in 2004.
The result of the case was good news for Star Wars fans, who can now legally own one of Ainsworth’s full uniforms for £1,500 and now it’s good news for art fans, too. Ainsworth himself had one final bit of pleasure to take from the result. Speaking after the conclusion of the case in 2011 he noted: “The way we’ve funded it is to make the characters, which is the ironic thing about it, it’s really the empire striking back. During the period of the court case I’ve made about 2,000 and sold them around the world."
cnewbould@thenational.ae
→ Check out Weekend's Oasis in The National tomorrow for a look at the Art Wars Dubai Stormtrooper helmets. The helmets will be on display at The Dubai Mall from today until March 30 and again from April 3 to April 5 at Middle East Film & Comic Con at the Dubai World Trade Centre, where Andrew Ainsworth will give a workshop and the helmets will be auctioned
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
Napoleon
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Ridley%20Scott%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Joaquin%20Phoenix%2C%20Vanessa%20Kirby%2C%20Tahar%20Rahim%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
LAST-16 FIXTURES
Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
Company profile
Name: Tharb
Started: December 2016
Founder: Eisa Alsubousi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Luxury leather goods
Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
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.”
