Triple W always seemed a little too good to be true and, in the end, it was.
Since 2010 the website-turned-community platform has championed music, art, film and creativity in the region, a part of the world where we are too-often told these things are lacking.
Crucially, it was autonomous from any corporate influence – no sponsorship and little advertising – instead running at a loss, by design, at the expense of its owners.
Such an arrangement could never last and, towards the end of last month, founder Paul Kelly announced in a typically humble column – headlined “Why Decisions Get Made and Other Adult Stuff” – that Triple W will cease producing new content early next month.
“At some point, things need to stack up for those who fund this,” he wrote. “Six years – and more than a couple of million dirhams later – it’s now time to say goodbye and hope that someone else takes up the challenge.”
Triple W has been funded in-house as an off-shoot of Kelly’s branded content development firm Digital Ape, which will continue business as usual.
For local creatives, the closure is undeniably a major blow – especially to musicians. Countless Middle Eastern artists gave their first major interviews to Triple W's website. Many more won valuable early airplay on the platform's weekly radio slot on Dubai Eye. Dozens of acts passed through Triple W's Downtown Dubai HQ to tape episodes of the weekly acoustic video series, The Empty Corner.
Writing on Facebook, UAE-based producer Reiner Erlings hailed Triple W’s “pioneering” work, which has “helped so many artists to discover, connect and collaborate with each other, as well as be heard by the masses”.
He is not the only one saddened by the loss of such a great resource.
“If you’re a musician, filmmaker or artist in the Middle East, like myself, you will most likely be pretty damn depressed about what will soon transpire,” says musician and EYE frontman Bojan Preradovic.
“As yet another publication that exclusively covers and promotes the regional arts scene bites the dust, things are clearly regressing, rather than progressing.”
Triple W’s managing editor Adam Grundey highlighted a lack of engagement from – and fraternity within – the cultural community in the UAE.
"There's a great deal of apathy here when it comes to art and culture, and in the UAE the creative community could do a lot more to work together," says Grundey. A long-term resident, he was formally editor of Rolling Stone Middle East, which folded in 2013.
“People don’t seem to realise that you need to make a bit of an effort to support the things that are there to support you,” he adds.
Before it goes for good, Triple W will bow out with a final edition of its weekly radio show ME Indie Jukebox, spinning regional favourites during a two-hour special on August 24. There will also be a commemorative final episode of The Empty Corner.
But the mood should not be one of desolation, says Grundey, who hopes the sad news will encourage audience members to take up the baton in championing local culture – and artists to value the people and platforms that do just that.
“We don’t want this to be a big, serious funeral – we want to show people that you can do it yourself,” he says. “Invite your friends round and make a video on your iPhone. It takes effort and passion, and maybe you don’t always get paid for it.
“The audience can try to help the artists – if you really love something and want them to keep going, then put something in.
“And artists , if people make an effort to write about you or take pictures, make sure you promote it – don’t take it for granted, or it will go away pretty quickly.
“You don’t deserve attention, you’ve got to earn it.”
rgarratt@thenational.ae
