A portable shelter made from recyclable materials by Syrian refugees is on display at Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation to address humanitarian aid issues and the needs of displaced people.
The art exhibition, designed by refugees now living in Jordan, serves as a reminder of wider issues around recycling, climate change and the over production of textiles and resulting environmental damage.
Artist and architectural historian Dr Azra Aksamija worked on the installation alongside the refugees and a team of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in America.
The team constructed a four-metre-high tent, inspired by ancient portable Ottoman palaces, as a space for refugees from the Al Azraq refugee camp in Jordan to meet and share their experiences, for storage and for insulation.
Situated east of Amman, the camp is home to more than 30,000 refugees who fled the nearby Syrian civil war. An example of the tent is now on show in Sharjah.
“Art brought us together to share experiences and find unorthodox ways of approaching contemporary issues,” said Dr Aksamija, who is of Bosnian and Austrian descent.
"While providing aid to those in need, the art encourages people to talk about these issues.
"These artistic inventions highlight the social, cultural and environmental responsibility of design to address the real needs of people who have lost their home, history, and identity."
The tent is similar in design to more traditional corrugated steel humanitarian shelters.
It is produced using recycled fabrics with support from Sharjah Museums Authority and other humanitarian institutions and the product of a three-year long research project in tandem with MIT’s Future Heritage Lab and the German Jordanian University.
Recycled clothes like jeans and wool blankets have been sewn in a reverse appliqué technique - stitching two fabrics together - to form the canopy of the shelter.
The exhibition named T-Serai, an acronym for Textile Systems for Engagement and Research in Alternative Impact, reflects a culturally sensitive approach to humanitarian intervention via textile arts and crafts.
"Using these materials focuses on the social and environmental cost of our clothes, as making one pair of Jeans needs about 2,000 gallons of water," said Dr Aksamija.
"T-Serai is a visual argument to say it's not enough to provide just a shelter above a refugee's head and offer food.
“We can do better. Humanitarian aid needs to include preserving human dignity and culture.”
Dr Aksamija hopes the project will improve the understanding of issues faced by refugees every day, by uniting students to create art and deconstruct boundaries between demographic groups.
The exhibition will be on show at Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation until December 7.
"Maybe this will impact the way in which humanitarian aid is planned in the future," said Dr Aksamija.
"Hopefully aid can one day consider the cultural and emotional needs of displaced people, if those making decisions are more informed through a refugee's voice delivered by art.
"Our co-operation with SMA is because of their great efforts in connecting different cultures and establishing an open human dialogue."
Parallel productions of T-serai tapestries will also take place at the Al Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan.
There, refugee students have been learning via an online course provided by FHL in design, sewing, textile industry history and art.
The students will also be commissioned to complete shelter improvements for their fellow refugees.
Manal Ataya, head of SMA, hopes the Sharjah exhibition will highlight the importance of cultural institutions and the role they play in providing resources for artists and academics to conduct valuable research.
"Museums and cultural institutions need to contribute more actively in showcasing artworks that highlight pressing current issues whether environmental, political or social concerns," she said.
"As museums we can assist artists to help communities rethink and learn about these concerns in a way that encourages discussions and most importantly, encourages action."
The display is open weekdays from 8am to 8pm, and 4pm to 8pm on Fridays.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%20Twin-turbocharged%204-litre%20V8%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20625%20bhp%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20630Nm%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh974%2C011%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
The years Ramadan fell in May
Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Fernando Jara (jockey), Irfan Ellahi (trainer).
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Momtaz, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,400m
Winner: Yaalail, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh180,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: Dahess D’Arabie, Fernando Jara, Helal Al Alawi.
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2.200m
Winner: Ezz Al Rawasi, Connor Beasley, Helal Al Alawi.
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
