The UAE’s cultural calendar is bustling through the summer months, and there are plenty of exhibitions worth visiting across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
One of the most intriguing is Human in the Loop, a new installation by Emirati artist and engineer Ahmad AlAttar at 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi. The work invites visitors to play hide-and-seek with an unseen algorithm inside a room filled with hanging ropes and shifting sound.
The title comes from robotics and artificial intelligence, where “human in the loop” describes a system that relies on human input. AlAttar, who has a doctorate in robotics, uses the phrase to question the relationship between people and the systems they use.
“It usually means that a human is part of the control process of any algorithm, code or robot. Here, I’m being a bit playful with the word. It can mean two things: the human is part of the control and, at the same time, the human is being controlled by the algorithm,” he says.
In Sharjah, House of Wisdom is hosting Manuscripts Exhibition – Sustainable Identity and Development, which brings together 50 rare manuscripts from the collection of United Arab Emirates University. The exhibition, running until Friday, marks the university’s 50th anniversary and covers five centuries of scientific, literary and academic thought from the Arab world.
Among the works are a 17th-century student’s guide to calculating the positions of stars, 19th-century Qurans with ornate illuminations, and a treatise on determining the Qibla without instruments.
“The purpose of this exhibition is to show different manuscripts from science, language, medicine,” says Ahmed Ali Al Raeesi, vice chancellor of UAE University. “It is an opportunity for the community to understand how Arabs played a major role in scientific advances.”
Also in Abu Dhabi, Rizq Art Initiative on Reem Island is presenting Under the Same Sky, bringing together 20 UAE-based artists to explore the different ways people come to call the country home.
The exhibition includes works shaped by memory, landscape, architecture and daily life, from apartment balconies and the Abu Dhabi Corniche to mangroves and coral reefs off Saadiyat Island.
In addition, a new gallery founded by Emirati entrepreneur Maha Al Mansoori has launched with a virtual exhibition before moving into physical shows later this year.
The gallery’s first exhibition, Held/Unheld, brings together four artists – Paraguayan Cynthia Acuna, Bahraini Fatima Al Haddad, Filipina Jael Laura and Emirati Wadeema Al Menhali – across painting, drawing and mixed media.
“I feel Abu Dhabi deserves to have more galleries,” Al Mansoori says. “We need more openings, more exhibitions and more local gallerists.” Two physical exhibitions are planned in Abu Dhabi later this year.
Abu Dhabi has also launched Treasured Sayings, a new Assouline book collecting 118 poems by UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Published by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, the collection includes 75 poems translated into English and is organised according to the rhyming scheme of each poem’s opening line. The poems explore leadership, humanity, unity, compassion and belonging.
In China, the UAE’s guest-of-honour programme at the Beijing International Book Fair ended on Sunday after bringing together more than 20 cultural and publishing institutions from across the country.
Al Bait Al Emarati, the country’s pavilion, opened each day with Al Shella, an Emirati folk song of welcome performed by Nahyan Mubarak Al Mansoori. The pavilion was designed to evoke an Emirati heritage village, with a majlis, Al Sadu weaving, henna, gahwa and food.
“Art brings people together, and when music is delivered through the human voice, it really is the language of the world,” Al Mansoori says. “When the Chinese audience hears Emirati music, they hear a language they may not understand, but they appreciate that, like their own heritage, it draws on deep traditions and practices.”
The programme included demonstrations of Arabic coffee etiquette, Chinese-language publications from the Sharjah Institute for Heritage and craftswomen practising Al Sadu.
“The distances between our countries may be great, but learning about one another’s traditions brings us closer,” says Umm Salem, a craftswoman from Abu Dhabi.
While many people in Beijing were introduced to Emirati culture at the fair, that culture's rich tapestry continues to be woven, giving us much to explore this summer.
Kuwait's Sons of Yusuf on turning Gulf conflict into hip-hop history
For more than a decade, Sons of Yusuf have created songs that sound like Kuwait remembering itself.
The Kuwaiti hip-hop duo’s music carries the humour, cadence and cultural texture of the Gulf. Over time, their songs have become tied to memories of neighbourhoods, friends, old videos and particular moments in people’s lives. With Battle of the Black Gold, those memories are pulled into a more urgent present.
The new album by brothers Ya’Koob and Abdul Rahman Al Refaie responds to regional tension, the legacy of oil and the way the Middle East is often viewed from the outside. Across nine tracks, the duo examine conflict, identity and resilience through hip-hop and the weight of Gulf history.
“We’re not politicians, and we’re not journalists,” Ya’Koob tells The National. “But as artists, and as people who care about this, we felt we had to say something. We had to do something about the subject.”
Find more here.
Director reveals Toy Story 5's message to parents
How do we preserve childhood in a world dominated by screens? That is the big question at the heart of Toy Story 5.
“We realised pretty quickly, there’s no easy answer,” director Andrew Stanton tells The National.
The film presents that threat in the form of Lilypad, a frog-shaped tablet that enters the life of Bonnie, the child who inherited Andy’s toys at the end of Toy Story 3. At first, it seems to be a traditional toy replacement, offering games and videos. But quickly it becomes clear that it is a way into another world – one that seems to promise Bonnie friendship, approval and a more grown-up version of herself.
As the film progresses, more obstacles emerge. Driven by her desire to make friends, Bonnie is pulled into a world of peer pressure, pushing away her toys and suppressing her imagination and need for play to fit in. In the process, she begins to lose her spark.
“The quick promise of technology is connection, and it’s not false, but it’s only half the story,” says producer Lindsey Collins. “Speaking as a parent, it’s a quick solution that sounds great when you’re desperate. You think, maybe this will help, and you give it to your kid. But it’s a version of connection that can also be very isolating.”
But does that mean screens are the enemy? Far from it. Instead, the film offers a more hopeful message for the future – and a warning.
Find more here.
Dates for your diary
Shawn Chidiac at Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai – October 5
Offlimits Music Festival at Etihad Park, Abu Dhabi – November 21
Andrea Bocelli at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi – December 2
Other highlights
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