On Thursday, I’ll be hosting a special edition of The Arts Edit Live ahead of Christie’s first fine art auction in Abu Dhabi, joined by Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, and Ridha Moumni, chairman of Christie’s Middle East and Africa.
We’ll explore the works going under the hammer, the growth of Abu Dhabi’s art scene and how collectors, museums and auction houses are helping establish the city as an international arts centre.
Register to join live or to receive a recording. You can submit questions in advance via audience@thenationalnews.com.
The auction takes place on November 1 at the Abu Dhabi Edition, with more than 70 works spanning six decades of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art.
Among the highlights are Paul Guiragossian’s monumental wedding scene Noces and Emirati artist Hassan Sharif’s satirical Press Conference No. 2.
Abu Dhabi's cultural scene continues to evolve. As part of that growth, Louvre Abu Dhabi has appointed Souraya Noujaim its new director.
The Islamic art specialist has a history with the institution, having helped shape the museum’s curatorial vision, and oversaw its collections before moving to the Louvre in Paris.
She takes the role ahead of its 10th anniversary next year, with nearly two-thirds of the works now displayed in its main galleries belonging to Louvre Abu Dhabi’s own collection.
Meanwhile, in literature, the Nobel Prize went to Canadian poet and classical scholar Anne Carson, whose writing has brought ancient Greek stories into contemporary life for four decades.
Her first book, Eros the Bittersweet, is a good starting point: it draws on ancient Greek poetry and philosophy to explore why desire brings pleasure and pain together. Carson traces the connections between falling in love, reading and the pursuit of knowledge, each driven by a longing for something we have yet to possess or understand.
Getting books in a diverse range of languages also occupied publishers at Frankfurt Book Fair, at which Saeed Saeed spoke to Egyptian publisher Sherif Bakr about the barriers facing Arabic literature abroad. His Arab Voices platform now introduces foreign publishers to 200 titles from 22 countries, spanning crime, fantasy and literary fiction.
There is still work to be done to raise Arab literature's prominence globally, according to Bakr. “You have to talk to the publishers and convince them that this book stands up with the others,” he says.
There were new agreements, too. The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre announced 14 translation and co-publishing projects in seven languages, with partners in countries including Brazil, India and North Macedonia. The next step will be seeing which titles emerge from those partnerships, with publication dates still to come.
Closer to home, Dubai Design Week has unveiled its programme for November 3-8. Emirati architect Rasha Saffarini will draw on traditional palm-tree trimming to create a communal space, while Palestinian-Turkish practice aestudio will build using reclaimed concrete rubble. Abwab, Dubai Design Week's annual signature exhibition, is also changing format, bringing practitioners together in a group exhibition exploring communication through gestures, symbols and oral histories.
Abu Dhabi Comedy Season has already begun, with Morgan Jay taking his musical comedy to Etihad Arena in October. Evelyn Lau went along after discovering him through social media, only to surrender her phone at the door. His spontaneous exchanges with the audience delivered the biggest laughs, which explains their consistent virality.
There is plenty more ahead: Russell Peters performs on October 25, followed by Mo Amer on November 6 and Maz Jobrani on November 7. With shows continuing into the new year, there should be time to find an evening – and a comedian – that suits you.
Juma Al Haj finds new meaning with first institutional solo show
Juma Al Haj’s new exhibition arrives at a turning point in his life.
Last June, after 15 years in a corporate career, the Emirati artist left his job and returned to university to fully commit himself to art. Revelation, now on view at 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi, grew out of this period of reassessment.
The exhibition – which is also Al Haj’s first institutional solo show – was developed through 421’s Artistic Development Programme. Running until January 10, the show brings together painting, glass, text, light, shadow, water and installation in a meditation on seclusion, reflection and the idea that personal revelation is part of a continuing process rather than a final answer.
Al Haj says the decision to become a full-time artist came relatively late. He studied visual communication before completing a master’s degree in international relations and moving into government work, following a path familiar to his family. His father is a diplomat, while his siblings also work in government and diplomacy.
“I always thought of it as a practice that I do in my spare time,” he says.
Find more here.
Stephen King's ideas for where Carrie could go next
When creator Mike Flanagan brought his plans for a new adaptation of Carrie to Stephen King, he had more in mind than another retelling of the author's 1974 horror novel.
His eight-part Prime Video series follows Carrie White (Summer H. Howell), a bullied teenager discovering her telekinetic powers, but also expands on something King had only hinted at: the existence of others like her.
Flanagan, who previously adapted King's Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep, was uncertain how the author would receive his proposed changes.
“I was very nervous to bring it to him because the pitch was loaded with changes, and my feeling was that if he didn't like them, I wasn't going to do the show,” he tells The National.
But Stephen King embraced the approach, even contributing ideas to one of the new characters. His involvement could prove important to the series' future, with Flanagan having previously discussed the possibility of telling the story over three seasons.
Flanagan shared several of those ideas with The National, giving a good idea of where the hit series could go from here.
Find more here.
Dates for your diary
Shane Todd at New Covent Garden Theatre, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai – October 16
Tamer Hosny and Tamer Ashour at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi – October 17
Vir Das at Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai – October 18
Other highlights
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