Is the idea of washing your hands over a 180,000-year-old fossil daunting or delightful? Find out at The Hotel Show being held at Dubai World Trade Centre until September 20, where marine conservationist Volker Bassen’s giant clamshell, painstakingly crafted into a magnificent sink, lies on display.
Bassen, who remodels ancient finds into stunning furnishings, excavated the 373-kilogram shell and its pearl in a limestone quarry along the Kenya-Tanzania border. While the clamshell-sink is for sale, the baroque blister pearl found within is not, but it’s on display alongside.
The last clamshell Bassen unearthed sold for US$32,000 (Dh117,500) for a 300kg specimen, during the Tucson Gemstone Mineral & Fossil Showcase 2017 in Arizona.
While Bassen hopes that this piece will be picked up by one of Dubai’s on-trend hotels for its presidential suites, the shell-sink is also up for grabs for private customers.
The archeologist, who runs the East African Whale Shark Trust, says: “Throughout history clamshells have been found along the East African coast. When I first saw one of them 20 years ago, I was amazed by the sheer beauty and size. Now we are able to bring out their beauty by using skilled craftsmen to carefully clean, grind and polish them. It is difficult to say how many are left, but I can promise you that there are more diamonds available in the world compared to these giant clamshells."
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Tips on buying property during a pandemic
Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.
While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.
While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar.
Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.
Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities.
Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong.
Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Background: Chemical Weapons
