The Saudi capital is set to light up with the works of 60 artists from 20 countries this weekend, as the Noor Riyadh festival begins on Thursday.
This annual lights and arts event will feature installations and galleries spread across 13 locations in its first year and will continue until April 3.
"This is what makes Noor Riyadh different from any other light festival; it is not centred in one area," festival director Miguel Blanco-Carrasco told The National.
"Riyadh is a big city that spans wide, from south to north, from east to west, while other festivals focus on central areas, but for Riyadh, we needed to make it something home-grown, something that is for the people of Riyadh, by the people of Riyadh."
As part of the festival, public art installations are placed in natural locations, such as Wadi Hanifa, and urban locations, such as the King Abdullah Financial District and the Digital City. It will also feature artwork at heritage locations, such as Al Masmak Fortress.
The 30 installations encompass all forms of light art, from sculptures to projections, interactive shows, kinetic and immersive pieces, all of which aim to shed light on Riyadh's diversity and its urban form.
The festival also includes a programme of more than 270 special activities, such as tours, talks, workshops, family activities, film screenings and music, many of which are available online, allowing the festival to be enjoyed by a wider audience outside of Riyadh.
Noor Riyadh's theme for 2021, "Under One Sky", is a unifying one said Hosam Alqurashi, an official at the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, the festival's organising authority.
"In a time where people are going through social distancing, Noor Riyadh comes in as a beacon of hope. Multiple artists coming to one beautiful initiative like this promotes a message to the world that art is a universal language," Alqurashi said.
Beside the citywide installations that will illuminate the capital, the festival features "Light Upon Light: Light Art Since the 1960s", the largest retrospective exhibition of lightworks that features the work of 30 artists.
In this special iteration of "Light Upon Light", Saudi artists' works are featured in each of the four sections of the exhibition.
One of the festival's aims is to discover and nurture local Saudi talents and link them with international ones.
"We are proud to say that 40 per cent of the artists participating in all of Noor Riyadh are Saudi," said Alqurashi.
Producing an international festival of this magnitude during the pandemic was not an easy task, Blanco-Carrasco explained.
"Flying so many tons of cargo around the world and bringing teams to install this from many international locations has been very challenging, but we're all very pleased that we are here today," he said.
To ensure the safety of the festival's visitors, a number of Covid-19 measures are in place, including a mask policy, ticketed activities for capacity management, temperature screening at the entrance to indoor venues and a paperless policy, with a festival app and website.
Noor Riyadh is the first programme of Riyadh Art, a megaproject announced in 2019 to make the city one of the world's artistic capitals.
The project aims to turn Riyadh into a gallery without walls by installing 1,000 art pieces by 2030.
Twelve new projects from Riyadh Art will be announced soon.
Ticket price
Most of the outdoor public exhibitions are non-ticketed and open to all. A small number require prior booking. Special activities, such as workshops, film screenings and talks are ticketed with a nominal charge.
Date
The citywide installations will illuminate Riyadh from Thursday to Saturday, April 3.
The Light Upon Light: Light Art Since the 1960s exhibition will open on Thursday and run until Saturday, June 12, at the King Abdullah Financial District Conference Centre.
Location
Noor Riyadh is a citywide event that can be enjoyed in the following areas: Al Nakheel sports park, Digital City, Diplomatic Quarter General Authority, JAX District, King Abdullah Financial District, King Abdulaziz Historical Centre, Jeddah Tower, King Fahad National Library, Al Masmak Fortress, Riyadh Front, At-Turaif District World Heritage Site, Wadi Hanifah Stone Dam Park and Wadi Namar Park.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m; Winner: Gurm, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Al Nafece, Al Muatasm Al Balushi, Mohammed Ramadan
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Adrie de Vries, Ibrahim Aseel
6.30pm: Arabian Triple Crown – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Ottoman, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Liwa Oasis – Group 2 (PA) 300,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeemat Muscat, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ganbaru, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Episode list:
Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery
Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges
Ep3: The recovery and global trade disruptions - globalisation post-pandemic
Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks
Ep5: Travel and tourism
Avatar%20(2009)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Cameron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Worthington%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Sigourney%20Weaver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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.”
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
