A world-class art exhibition, spanning five decades of works, is an illuminating experience for visitors in Sharjah.
Light Show, which opened yesterday at Sharjah Art Foundation and runs until December 5, presents light used in sculptures, as installation, as pure colour and even as optical illusion.
Weaving in and out of the six art spaces that inhabit Sharjah’s Al Mareija district, just off the city’s Corniche, a visitor is drawn to the artworks like a moth to a flame. They command attention and dictate the pace of the show in a way that is rare with art in any other format.
It doesn’t matter in which room you begin; you can spend hours exploring the spaces, becoming mesmerised and letting your senses guide you.
Light Show is a travelling exhibition that began in London's Hayward Gallery in 2013 and was shown in Auckland and Sydney before arriving in Sharjah. The original idea, says Cliff Lauson, the show's curator, was to focus on "light as a sculptural object, and how it commands space", as well as the "ingrained physiological responses" we have to light.
The starting point for the show was two pieces by Dan Flavin, an American artist whose work with light gained him global acclaim. Untitled (to the "innovator" of Wheeling Peachblow) from 1968 is the artist's first coloured work, and is installed in Sharjah's Building F alongside another piece, The Nominal Three (To William of Ockham), from 1963.
“These are the earliest works in the show,” says Lauson. “They show how Flavin developed his artistic vocabulary using ready-made neon tubes and then experimenting with colour panels, which essentially led him to painting with light.”
Flavin’s placing of the light sources either on the ground or in the corner of a room also radically changed how audiences came to view art in the 1960s, and was another reason why Lauson chose him as the starting point for the exhibition.
The other pieces in the show represent different aspects of light. With Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight, Katie Paterson, a Berlin-based British artist, uses a naked light bulb to force us to consider the gentle light of the moon.
François Morellet, a French artist, uses neon tubing to distort the simple circle into a geometric sculpture, while in Model for a Timeless Garden, Danish artist Olafur Eliasson lights up a series of water fountains with a strobe, which creates static images of a moving object.
The theatrical nature of the show and its experiential elements make it something that is sure to draw the crowds in the coming months. Lauson says a key aspect to curating the exhibition was to let the works lead the way. “In today’s society, light totally surrounds us,” he says. “Cities are getting brighter and we live in a world of constant illumination, even down to the fact that everyone has phones that are themselves light sources and all have torch functions.
“For this show, we have dimmed everything else down so the pace of engagement will change and shift. The works will ask you to slow down and appreciate the different aspects of light.”
The wonderful thing about Sharjah Art Foundation as a venue, Lauson continues, is the sheer volume of space it offers. In some of the larger buildings, he has placed single works, such as James Turrel's Wedgework V from 1974, which plunges the viewer into darkness and into a space of contemplation upon a reddish wedge of light he seems to have carved out of the wall.
In Building I, meanwhile, David Batchelor's Magic Hour is a collection of recycled shop signs that faces the wall and gives off a halo of colour that stems from "an interest in the contrast between pure natural light and the kitsch of artificial light". It is placed in the vast hall with only one other work, Leo Villareal's Cylinder II, a column of constantly flickering LEDs that sparkle and shine, compelling the viewer to watch its display.
Perhaps the most popular work will prove to be Carlos Cruz Diez's Chromosaturation – three adjacent rooms filled with intense colour baths of red, green and blue that will require the visitor to put on shoe covers before entering to preserve the clean whiteness of the space.
But whatever piece you decide is your favourite, there is a good chance you will end up returning for another visit just to make sure.
• Light Show runs until December 5 at Sharjah Art Foundation. For more information, visit www.sharjahart.org
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
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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.”
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
