“Let’s make sure my favourite sword is there,” my son used to say, every time we walked into New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a child of five (and then six, seven and eight), he was sword-obsessed and although most people probably don’t think “swords” when they think about the Met, he did. And truth be told, he’s got a good eye. The favourite sword is an 18th century ceremonial sabre with a jade and emerald handle and a blade inlaid with diamonds that spell out “God’s will” in Arabic.
In order to pry him away from the weaponry, I kept bite-size chocolate bribes in my bag, which I used to lead him from the armour, past the Egyptian galleries, and into whatever exhibit I wanted to see. My gallery experiences lasted as long as my stock of chocolate.
One of the few non-armour exhibits that made an impression on my son’s smaller self was a photograph of the Met when it was brand new: a single building standing alone on a patch of weathered grass. “That’s this?” he asked, waving his hand at the crowds and vast galleries of the present-day museum. I told him that in 1870, New Yorkers thought it was crazy to build a museum so far uptown it was practically in the cornfields and that many people thought Americans weren’t ready for an art museum.
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Read more on Louvre Abu Dhabi
The long-awaited first look inside
The five gifts Louvre Abu Dhabi offers to the UAE and the world
Heady atmosphere as Louvre Abu Dhabi opens to the public
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Now, of course, the tourist buses line up for blocks along Fifth Avenue, waiting for their passengers to return from their art-gazing. On our most recent trip to New York, as we went up the entrance stairs, I turned to my son, now 13, and said: “Aren’t we lucky?”.
He rolled his eyes before I could finish my sentence. “I know, I know, yes, I’m lucky that I grew up here and could come to the museum whenever I wanted.”
He may have been exasperated by my comment, but he nevertheless came with me. We didn't even glance at the favourite sword but went directly to a Robert Rauschenberg exhibit. The only holdover from our visits in his younger days was a mandatory post-art soft-serve from the Mr Softee ice-cream truck that's always parked across the street from the museum.
In the excitement of the days before Louvre Abu Dhabi opened on Saturday, I've been remembering those years of chocolate-fuelled museum trips. I wish I could tell you that these excursions have resulted in teenagers with a passion for Greek sculpture or photography, but that's not the case.
Passion did not prompt me to take those expeditions to the Met, however. It was my desire to plant the seed of an art habit. I wanted them to know that art - thinking about it, making it, learning about it - can be as much a part of life as going to the movies or to a restaurant.
True, seeing the newest Star Wars movie will always trump looking at art, but even so, our time in New York (or any other city) always involves spending time looking at art. On our last visit, we learned that Frank Lloyd Wright initially proposed a design for his spiral Guggenheim museum in which the building's exterior was shocking pink. We all decided it was a shame that the city went with the safer choice of white stone.
That’s why having the Louvre Abu Dhabi open is so exciting: not only does it create energy about the art scene already percolating in the Emirates but it also offers us an opportunity to bring art into our daily lives.
What matters, ultimately, isn’t how many people show up during the glamorous opening week. What matters is how many people pay a return visit next week, next month, or next year. What matters is that “going to the museum” becomes a regular occurrence, an ongoing exploration of the collections in order to see new things and revisit old favourites.
Luckily, for the parents among us, the collection houses a jade-handled sabre. Now we just need a Mr Softee truck in the vicinity.
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The years Ramadan fell in May
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5