What is that giant sculpture submerged in water that has popped up near Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena?


Samia Badih
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A giant, bronze-coloured sculpture that's submerged in water has mysteriously popped up at Yas Bay Waterfront in Abu Dhabi.

The large sculpture with its head and a hand coming out of the water sits by the promenade behind Etihad Arena.

A photo of the installation was shared by an Abu Dhabi resident on the popular Facebook group Abu Dhabi Q&A. It drew a lot of interest as people wondered where it had come from and what it meant.

One user joked that it meant "bald men can swim", while another commented on its similarity to the anime Attack on Titan. Other people speculated on how it could more likely relate to the country's history of pearl diving.

Information about the artwork and its artist has not been revealed. The National has sent a request to Yas Bay Waterfront property developer Miral.

The area is an ongoing project that will soon feature a pedestrianised promenade with about 40 cafes and restaurants, plus retail outlets.

This isn't the first public artwork to be revealed on Yas Island. On Monday, Miral revealed the artist's name behind the huge mural on the walls of nightclub Mad.

Called The Humans, the black-and-white mural was created by Indian-Canadian street artist Fathima Mohiuddin, also known as Fatspatrol, who grew up in the UAE.

"When you look across the wall at the different heads, you see the dreamers, the visionaries, the jokers," she says in a video posted on Miral's social platforms. "If you look at every human being as their own universe, they are really quite beautiful."

Mohiuddin, who has created murals around the world, including in Canada, Jordan, Australia and Ireland, is also creating a series of seven murals for Miral on Yas Island, all under the theme of birds of the UAE. She shared the first giant bird mural called The Desert Partridge on her Instagram account.

More art projects on Yas Island are set to be revealed in the coming months.

Take a look around different areas on Yas Island here: 

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If you go...

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Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50

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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.”