Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 19, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun.
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Abu Dhabi
Film screenings
Catch two film screenings as part of the Cinema Space series. The Patience Stone (pictured), a film in Dari (Afhgan Persion) with English subtitles, is about a young woman in a country torn apart by war who looks after her comatose older husband and begins to tell him the truth about her life and suffering – things she never could have said if he were conscious. When I Saw You by Annemarie Jacir, is about a young Palestinian boy in a refugee camp in Jordan in 1967 who yearns to be reunited with his father, so he sets out alone to find him and meets up with a group of freedom fighters who take him under their wing. The film is in Arabic with English subtitles.
Today, 7pm for The Patience Stone; 9pm for When I Saw You, free with registration, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, register at cinemaspace-abudhabi.splashthat.com
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Abu Dhabi
Concert
Get tickets for performance the Vienna State Opera Gala Evening. As part of the Abu Dhabi Classics series, the musical ensemble associated with the history of European classical music will perform Mozart's masterpiece, Don Giovanni, through which the composer portrays each character's emotional state through music in both tragic and comedic sides of the story.
February 8, 7pm, from Dh100, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, www.abudhabiclassics.ae
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Nationwide
New movie
The Emirati documentary Little Sparta is about the history of the region, focusing on the UAE. The title comes from a statement made by a high-ranking official of the international coalition, who referred to the UAE as Little Sparta, symbolising the country's courageous armed forces in the fight against ISIL. Emirati writer and director Mansour Al Yabhooni Al Dhaheri presents the history of the region using cutting edge cinematic methods. The film is in English.
Screening at cinemas across the UAE. (PG)
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Abu Dhabi
Art exhibition
See the exhibition Realism: Two Angels, which features works by Crimean artists – and husband and wife – Katerina Spirtus and Andrey Dudchenko, who base their expression in realism, though interpreted in different ways, both iconographically and stylistically. Pictured: Crazy Tea Party by Katerina Spirtus
Daily until January 10, 10am-10pm, Saturdays to Thursdays (closed Fridays), N2N Gallery, first floor, Nation Towers Galleria, Corniche, Abu Dhabi, 055 283 2642, www.n2n-gallery.com
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Al Ain
Family fun
Take a spin at Al Ain Raceway this holiday season and enjoy a 25 per cent discount on Arrive & Drive sessions. Bring family and friends and make a day of it. Each session includes a full safety briefing, race gear and 15 minutes of track time.
Offer valid until Saturday, 2pm to 10pm, Monday to Friday; 10am to 6pm on Saturday, Al Ain Raceway, Al Ain, 03 768 6662 www.alainraceway.com
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Dubai
Art exhibition
Rituals of Love is an exhibition by Syrian artist Waddah Al Sayed featuring 25 paintings that transport the viewer to the artist's symbolist world of poetry and sweet reverie featuring suave colours and delicate shapes. Pictured: Naheel
Daily until January 10, 10am to 7pm, Sundays to Thursdays; 10.30am to 4.30pm on Saturdays (closed Fridays), Lamiatos Gallery, Podium Level P153, Emirates Financial Towers, DIFC, Dubai, 04 342 5243, www.lamiatosgallery.com
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Dubai
Art exhibition
See images of Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor captured by the renowned photographer and friend of Taylor, Firooz Zahedi, during the movie star’s visit to Iran in 1976. The collection is unique in that it portrays a worldwide celebrity through the lens of a trusted friend, and the images have seldom been displayed in public. Pictured: An untitled image
Daily until March 1, 10am to 8pm, Sundays to Thursdays (closed Fridays and Saturdays), The Farjam Foundation, Building 4, DIFC Gate Village, Dubai, 04 323 0303, www.farjamcollection.org
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Dubai
Concert
Get tickets for the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival 2017. Performing on the opening night is Tom Jones (pictured, What's New, Pussycat?, It's Not Unusual); the second night features Mariah Carey (Vision of Love, Always Be My Baby); and on the final night Enrique Iglesias (Hero, Bailando) will perform.
February 22 to 24, from Dh275, Dubai Media City Amphitheatre, Dubai, www.ticketmaster.ae
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Dubai
Outdoor films
Enjoy a film screening at the outdoor movie theatre presented by Vox Cinemas at Galleria Mall. See Hollywood blockbusters in a relaxing, open-air atmosphere, where each ticket includes drinks, popcorn, cookies and nachos or a hot dog. Today see The Secret Life of Pets at 6pm and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story at 8.10pm or 11pm.
From Dh150, Galleria Mall, Al Wasl Road, Dubai, book at 600 599905, www.voxcinemas.com
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Dubai
Fitness
Get pumped this holiday at The Beach Gym, a fully equipped outdoor gym by the sea with a variety of equipment for all sorts of full-body workouts, including CrossFit items, weights, rope climb, kettlebells, rowing machines and jump boxes, as well as group cycling classes and personal training sessions.
Open 6am to midnight, weekdays; 6am to 11pm, weekends, Dh60 daily entry fee, The Beach, JBR, Dubai, 04 323 2323, www.thebeach.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPECS
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
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.”
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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