Since we reported on the fabulous work of the artist Elise Vazelakis last month, her work has been picked up by a local gallery and now, she will enjoy her first solo show to run during March and over Dubai's Art Week.
Vazelakis makes fabric art by weaving together the brightly coloured material of the scarves (or gamchas, to give them their proper name) she acquired from the labourers who work near to her home in Dubai Marina. She became obsessed with the gamcha's colours and finally plucked up the courage to ask one man if she could buy his off him. When she felt the softness of the material she was compelled by the many stories the garments told and began to make art from them.
When The National reported on her in December, Vazelakis' work was simply hanging in a spare bedroom at home but when Showcase Gallery in Dubai's Alserkal Avenue read the story, they immediately contacted her and now she will have a solo show in March.
"I'm over the moon," says Vazelakis. "I began this work simply because I loved doing it and then it became something more serious because I wanted to tell the story of these labourers and how much they contribute to our society.
"When Showcase saw the story and asked me to do a solo show I was thrilled. It is like a dream come true."
* The Gamcha Project will run at Showcase from March 15th for one month
* To read our original story about Elise Vazelakis click here: http://bit.ly/19wo3hM
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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