Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for March 6, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE.
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Abu Dhabi
Art exhibition
But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988-2008 focuses on a community of artists, sometimes called "the five", made up of visual artists, writers and filmmakers that encouraged a new culture of radical, formal and conceptual experimentation. The community is now being viewed as playing an important role in the UAE's history. Pictured: Keyboard by Mohammed Kazem
Daily until May 25, 3pm to 10pm, Saturdays to Thursdays (closed on Fridays), New York University Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, 02 628 8000, www.nyuad-artgallery.org
Dubai
Yoga class
Register now to attend the popular Urban Yoga X Talise Fitness Rooftop Yoga session and unwind in a 90-minute class led by lululemon ambassador and Urban Yoga resident yogi Omar Sultani, while overlooking the skyline of Dubai.
March 13, 7.30pm, from Dh50 for Talise Fitness members; from Dh85 for non-members, terrace, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai, register at www.talisefitness.com
Abu Dhabi
Film screening
See the Korean thriller A Tale of Two Sisters at Cinema Space. The 2003 film directed by Kim Jee-woon is based on a Korean fairy tale, and focuses on two young sisters who live with their father and stepmother and face a mysterious past in this story full of plot twists, mystery and drama.
Tonight, 7.30pm, free with registration, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, register at cinemaspace-abudhabi.splashthat.com
Abu Dhabi
Kids’ fun
Register to attend the show Ministry of Science: The World Is One Classroom as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival, featuring the UK's favourite science team, who return to Abu Dhabi to show how we all have the potential to be a scientist, inventor or engineer and change our world for the better. Expect science experiments on a grand scale, including exploding volcanoes and fire tornadoes.
Saturday, 11am and 4pm, free with registration, Abu Dhabi Theatre, Abu Dhabi, www.abudhabifestival.ae
Abu Dhabi
Exhibition talk
Register to attend a public talk Just Between Us, an inside look at the current exhibition, Bayn: The In-Between, which delves into the past and the future, focusing on how transition and change have shaped the artworks chosen. Pictured: Hatem Hatem, one of the featured artists who will participate in the talk
Wednesday, 6.30pm to 8pm, free with registration, Warehouse421, Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, www.warehouse421.ae
Dubai
Family fun
Visit Global Village and enjoy top street theatre acts including stilt walkers, magicians, plus, The Super Helpful Heroes, The Builders and Men Not at Work, Gorilla Gary, Mobile Magicians, The Stilt-ers, One-Man Band, Mad Scientists and Globot, the Global Village robot, Junk Truck and many more.
Daily until April 8, 4pm to midnight, Saturdays to Wednesdays; 4pm to 1am on Thursdays and Fridays, Global Village, Dh15 entrance, Exit 37, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, Dubai, www.globalvillage.ae
Dubai
Art exhibition
In Journey to Abstraction, Dana Naser presents abstract art that explores her intuitive creativity and takes inspiration from day-to-day experiences and emotions. She creates impressions with textures, visual form, colour and spontaneity, concentrating on different media, including acrylics, oils, pastels and ink with wire, fabric, silk screen and more. Pictured: Muted
Daily until March 31, 10am to 10pm, Art Couture, Event Centre, Lobby Level, InterContinental, Dubai Festival City, Dubai, 04 701 1111, www.artcoutureuae.com
Dubai
Kids’ camp
Take advantage of early bird prices when you register your kids, ages 3 to 13, to take part in the Gulf Star Sports Spring Camps, multi-activity camps, where they can enjoy hours of fun and excitement as well as learn new skills, including sports, team games, arts and crafts, martial arts, performing arts and more.
March 26 to 30 and April 2 to 6, 9am to 2.30pm, early-bird price from Dh650 for one week; Dh800 after March 16, Foremarke School, Jebel Ali Primary School, Arcadia Preparatory School, Clarion School, Repton School, Dovecote Green Primary School, Hartland International School, Dubai, 050 429 4860, info@gulfstarsports.com
Dubai
Theme park
Visit Dubai Parks and Resorts and enjoy a UAE resident discount all this month at the three theme parks. Motiongate Dubai features rides and activities based on top Hollywood movies, Bollywood Parks Dubai has Bollywood film-themed attractions, while Legoland Dubai and Legoland Water Park have fun for the whole family and feature Lego models made from more than 60 million Lego bricks.
From Dh165 for Bollywood Parks and Legoland Water Park; Dh210 for Legoland and Motiongate Dubai, Dubai Parks and Resorts, E11, Dubai, 800 2629464, resident rate bookable online only at www.dubaiparksandresorts.com
Dubai
Networking walk
Plan to attend The Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walk in celebration of International Women’s Day, and join established and emerging women leaders in a walk together to discuss the challenges and opportunities of their profession with the aim of establishing a mentoring relationship.
Saturday, 7am to 11am, Dh365 for mentees; free for mentors, Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club, Arabian Ranches, Dubai, www.vitalvoices.org
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
Championship play-offs, second legs:
Aston Villa 0
Middlesbrough 0
(Aston Villa advance 1-0 on aggregate)
Fulham 2
Sessegnon (47'), Odoi (66')
Derby County 0
(Fulham advance 2-1 on aggregate)
Final
Saturday, May 26, Wembley. Kick off 8pm (UAE)
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
MATCH INFO
What: India v Afghanistan, first Test
When: Starts Thursday
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengalaru
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The team
Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
