Comedy
Sharjah gets a fringe
Sharjah is getting a fringe festival, with more than 600 shows – mostly (but not all) aimed at families – running in the second half of this month. You’d expect a fringe to be an add-on or ornament to an […]
Art
Ithra Art Prize winner: Fahad bin Naif
Fahad bin Naif has been named by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) and Art Dubai as the winner of the third Ithra Art Prize. The Prize aims to promote the work of Saudi contemporary artists “on a […]
Architecture
RIBA opens an office in Sharjah
RIBA – the Royal Institute of British Architects, one of the oldest and best-respected professional associations for architects – has just opened its first office in the GCC (and only its second international office anywhere: there’s another planned for Shanghai). […]
Architecture
Finding 50 to Follow
The magpie team is once again putting together its annual list of the 50 most exciting, innovative and stimulating people in the UAE who are making a difference to the cultural and creative life of the Emirates. And we want […]
Crafts
Design and crafts support programme by Expo 2020
UPDATED A newly launched Expo 2020 Design and Crafts Programme will offer “creative, technical and economic support” to “local brands and emerging talents” in the UAE. According to the press statement released during Dubai Design Week, “the UAE’s creative scene […]
Design
Chairpersons: winners of the Herman Miller / DIDI Ergo Chair competition
Dubai Design Week’s many delights included the exhibition of five designs for ergonomic seating. Herman Miller had partnered with students and faculty from the Dubai Institute of Design to bring us ‘Ergo Chair—Student Designs for Wellbeing’. Students and faculty from […]
Conference
Abu Dhabi’s Art Basel Inside cancelled less than three months before it opens
Art Basel has cancelled its exclusive Art Basel Inside event planned for 14-16 February in Abu Dhabi. The official statement blames the timescale, saying “Art Basel Inside in Abu Dhabi was always an ambitious project on quite a short timeline”; […]
Arts Centre
What’s left when the data’s gone: Kaki King in Abu Dhabi
“I walked into Kaki King’s final performance at NYUAD Art Center believing I knew exactly what I had signed on for,” said magpie’s reviewer at the last of the three performances of Data Not Found at The Arts Center at […]
Architecture
Rifat Chadirji Prize for Sharjah art museum design goes to Mexican studio
The Rifat Chadirji Prize for 2019, for the design of a new art museum in Sharjah, has gone to Rolando Rodriguez Leal and Natalia Wrzask from Aidia Studio in Mexico City. The winners will receive the Rifat Chadirji Prize Statuette, […]
Analysis
A cultural free zone for Al Quoz
Dubai Culture has announced the implementation of the first phase of a large redevelopment plan for Al Quoz that formalises the Alserkal Avenue area as the centre of a new creative free zone “to attract both regional and international audiences […]
