This week’s editorial musings
from magpie’s nest
The quote: The cause of death is birth David Hockney
A smile for Gaza Just when you think it couldn’t be worse, a group of 9-11 year old children in Gaza made a funny animated film about displacement, friendship and a large fridge. Artist Haneen Koraz runs the workshops that created the film; you can support the project via GoFundMe and Patreon.
Also backing them is Animation Community for Palestine, founded by British animator Joanna Quinn, and it has just premiered To Gaza with Love – a three-hour anthology of animated shorts with contributors from across the globe as well as from the region. See it on YouTube here …
Bill’s excellent adventure magpie has interviewed Bill Bragin of NYUAD Arts Center again – because he’s always interesting, but also because we believe his programming is a yardstick for the development of the UAE’s contemporary culture scene. We wanted to find out how his programming has developed for the season (“It can to be too easy just to repeat the formula”), what keeps him going (“I am what I am: but Abu Dhabi has changed me, the Arts Center has changed me”), and where the Arts Center is going next (he’d like to help export home-grown talent to festivals and institutions elsewhere). Now read on …
Arab money wanted The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, the NGO that is the leading independent funder of artists and cultural institutions in the Arab world, has awarded 87 projects and more than $1 million in grants for its first 2025 grant cycle. They came from a record-breaking 1,428 applications for Documentary Film, Critical and Creative Writing, Performing Arts and Visual Arts. AFAC, founded to be a catalyst for Arab artists and cultural practitioners and distributing an average of $4m per year, still gets most of its money from international sources – just 2.5% of funds come from Arab donors, “a figure we are determined to grow” …
Who’s got the biggest art fair? Can it be that Abu Dhabi Art has overtaken Art Dubai as the region’s biggest art fair (and it’s fastest-growing)? We looked at some impressive numbers from the preview of this year’s Abu Dhabi outing (19-23 November) …
Brought to light DCT Abu Dhabi has announced the locations for the second edition of its Manar Abu Dhabi public light art exhibition, running from 1 November (Al Ain) and 15 November (Abu Dhabi) to 4 January (both). Under the theme ‘The Light Compass’ there will be “over 19” commissioned works and site-specific installations. The artistic director this time is Khai Hori, whose CV includes stints at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Singapore Art Museum; co-curators are Alia Zaal Lootah, Munira Al Sayegh, and Mariam Alshehhi. More details when we have them …
20 crafty years ARTE The Makers’ Market, reputedly the UAE’s original handmade popup selling space (“We Make What We Sell”) is celebrating its 20th anniversary on Saturday 27 September at its long-standing Times Square Center venue. We’re promises a festive atmosphere and more than 100 stalls plus family-friendly demos, live craftmaking, and “hidden surprises”. Worth checking out …
See the world This looks an exciting option for open-minded academics with a global perspective – a fully funded PhD in Global Studies at the Africa Institute in Sharjah. It’s a fascinating curriculum for a five-year course starting in Autumn 2026 and open to bachelor’s degree holders (no master’s required). Apply before 1 December; details here …
Collecting art There’s a call for papers for the very first issue of the upcoming Louvre Abu Dhabi Research Journal, a new annual, peer-reviewed, open-access publication scheduled for publication in 2026. For its inaugural edition the Journal is looking for contributions to a thematic volume titled “Building Art Collections: Global Perspectives in the 20th and 21st Centuries” (with a focus on practices in the MENA region). The deadline for submitting a 400-word abstract is 15 October; more here …
What (some) people think “Listen, what’s your problem? They have slaves and they kill everyone — Get over it … Do I have issues with some of the policies towards women, towards the gays, towards the freedom of speech? Well, of course I do. But I believe in my own financial wellbeing … I’m being paid enough money to look the other way.” What a nice bloke. This is a US comic called Tim Dillon who’s been dropped by the Riyadh Comedy Festival (he claimed he had been getting $375,000 for one show) over these comments about Saudi Arabia …
Tonight’s the night If you’re stuck for some Thursday evening entertainment, check out The Sketchy Social (drink ‘n’ doodle): PowerPointless (presentations from a never-before-seen slide deck): and star Chinese violinist Siqing Lu …
Three shows to see among many opening around this weekend: huge figures from Sebastian Hosu at Volery, four decades of retrospective for Leda Catunda at Sharjah Art Foundation, and the multi-skilled Talal Al Najjar‘s show for Tabari Artspace …
Useful app of the week Blip is a free AirDrop alternative for fast, cross-platform (Windows & Mac) file transfer at any distance. It can handle files and folders of any size without zipping. Totally brilliant.
Something for the weekend Sub/Title invites to a match a snatch of dialogue to the movie. It gets harder as you go up through levels … Try it here.
Things we didn’t know no.94 There is no standard number of dimples on a golf ball – it varies by manufacturer and model, though most have between 300 and 500. The average is typically around 336 …
Last word Some of you knew Nancy Sutcliffe-Jarrett. All of you should know that she is an unimaginably huge loss to her art, her friends, and me. To counter some of the vicious, arbitrary stupidity of her death, there’s a Justgiving page here.
Earworm of the week Nothing Compares 2 U : Sinead O’Connor
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