Culture Bites: A lens on Arabia’s prehistoric world



This week on Culture Bites, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal step back to a prehistoric era of the UAE’s story. The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi will recreate models of landscapes and wildlife as they once existed millions of years ago.

Visitors will be able to discover a natural world that’s unique to the country and the Arab region at large. This includes galleries that showcase the topography of Abu Dhabi before there was an Arabian Gulf, with its winding rivers, crocodiles and hippopotamuses. The hosts share their enthusiasm about being able to witness an important part of the region’s history that’s often overlooked. Construction of the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi is expected to be completed next year.

Two big cultural events are coinciding this year, bringing colour and festivity to the UAE. Diwali and Halloween events will see masses turn out to celebrate across the Emirates. The BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors for one of the biggest festivals in the Hindu calendar. Meanwhile, in Dubai, fireworks will light up the sky at the waterfront promenade in Al Seef and Global Village. Maan talks about his plans to celebrate Diwali this year and Farah shares her creative Halloween costume idea.

Earlier this month, The National compiled a list of the 50 most influential Arabic novels of the 20th century, highlighting works that have significantly impacted Arabic literature and culture. The hosts discuss the process of shortlisting the titles to capture the diversity of the region at a critical time in Arabic storytelling that grapples with issues of identity, colonisation, politics and social change. Maan recommends to Farah his top picks to read, including Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy and Ghassan Kanafani's Men in the Sun.

How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia

Three Penalties

v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)

v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)

v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)

Four Corners

v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)

v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)

v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)

v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)

One Free-Kick

v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

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Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

Updated: November 01, 2024, 11:11 AM