This week’s editorial musings
from magpie’s nest
The quote: I recommend the freedom that comes from asking: “Compared to what?” Gloria Steinem
Catch ’em while you can Today and tomorrow (1 and 2 October) Abu Dhabi’s Bassam Freiha Art Foundation is hosting the first public fine art show that Sotheby’s has put on in the UAE – six works by van Gogh, Gauguin, Khalo, Magritte, Pissaro, and Munch, together worth a guesstimated $150m. None have been seen in the Middle East, and three haven’t been seen in public for 50 years. They’ll be sold in New York in November, but for now they’re free to view. It’s also a teaser for Sotheby’s luxury marquee sale n November under the label Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week; Sotheby’s is of course part-owned by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ, which has a minority stake in the auction house …
Money for Saudi Culture KSA’s first Cultural Investment Conference, which finished a couple of days ago, apparently delivered the goods in the shape of new cultural funds and agreements worth more than SAR 5bn. The tone was set by the first session, ‘Culture as a strategic investment’; details of the external investments are a bit sketchy, but there will definitely be a new Riyadh University of Arts, opening in 2026 with courses in film, performing arts, and theatre …
Curating Venice Bana Kattan has been named curator for the National Pavilion UAE at next year’s Venice Biennale. Currently Curator and Associate Head of Exhibitions at Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, she’s an Abu Dhabi native who had a successful stint at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery (including a hand in the seminal 2017 exhibition But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988–2008). A great choice, in our opinion …
Meet for free The Jameel Arts Centre is offering free meeting spaces for “independent groups, creative communities and grassroots organisers” who need somewhere for regular meetups and shared activities. It’s strictly non-commercial, and private celebrations are also disqualified (you could probably enquire about paid-for room hire for those, though). Here’s the enquiry form …
Why Shakespeare works Coming to the NYUAD Arts Center the weekend after this is a really interesting take on Othello, an adaptation by Lara Foot from Cape Town’s Baxter Theatre. The play has been relocated to 1880s Namibia, a time of genocidal colonisation, and the racism inherent in the play is transferred from the personal to the social. Which started us thinking about how and why Shakespeare can be updated …
Art fair eco-footprints? The Gallery Climate Coalition (the other GCC, a non-profit which aims to halve the art world’s carbon emissions by 2030) has a bit of a coup – a group of 22 blue-chip galleries at the upcoming Frieze London and Frieze Masters (15-19 October) has committed to donate 10% of the sale price of “some” works to the initiative. A dedicated online viewing room goes live on 4 October. Art fairs, known for their heavy environmental footprint, are a particular target for the GCC; it has signed up a number of them (mostly European) for its Art Fairs Initiative – not including Art Dubai or Abu Dhabi Art, though we hear Art Basel Qatar may be on board …
Abwab embroidered The winner of the Abwab commission at this year’s Dubai Design Week (4-9 Nov) is the Bahraini architecture and design platform Maraj, founded by architects Latifa Alkhayat and Maryam Aljomairi. This year’s Abwab theme was In the Details, “exploring Ornamentalism as an aesthetic language of meaning, symbolism and embedded knowledge that has influenced architecture, objects and textiles across cultures”; the winning project, Stories of the Isle and the Inlet, explores the ecological and cultural layers of a Bahraini island located between wetlands and an industrial zone through work by local artisans, especially embroidery …
Sing along There’s now an Emirati Birthday Song, “a defining, unique moment that grounds a familiar tradition within a shared identity”. Which translates as the Happy Birthday music with a Khaleeji twist and Arabic lyrics. The UAE Year of Community crowdsourced ideas and Ferjan Dubai produced the result; here it is …
Getting the show on the road The first ever DXB Theatre Awards is (are?) being held on 5 October, “attended by over 200 of Dubai’s best and brightest writers, actors, directors and theatre makers” and with 116 nominations spread over 22 productions – which surely demonstrates the vitality of Dubai’s theatre scene. Leading the nominations are two musicals, Guys and Dolls and Romeo+Juliet (the one featuring songs by Queen). The awards ceremony is open to the public and free at The Bagot, McGettigans JLT …
Waterworld Hooray, the Dubai Fountain is back! After a five-month refurb, the world’s largest choreographed fountain system exploded back into life at 6.30pm yesterday with leaks fixed, a glow to its bottom, and more oomph for the lighting and sound. Emaar says there will be a Phase Two of renovations, with “innovative new features designed to elevate the Dubai Fountain experience even further’; that should be ready next Spring. For now, there’ll be two afternoon performances each day (1pm and 1.30pm most days, an hour later on Fridays) with evening shows from 6 to 11pm …
Bank of laughs The seventh Dubai Comedy Festival runs 2–12 Oct. Big names abound, some with ticket prices to match. But we will be queuing for Omid Djalili, Joanne McNallyand Masood Boomgaard …
Three shows to see Newly opened at Alliance Française: Seaty‘s cross-cultural high-colour portraits. Sophie-Yen Bretez offers “the dramaturgy of passage” at JD Malat. Nat Bowen has high-gloss poured resin at Bassam Freiha Art Foundation …
Useful app of the week Poolsuite is one of my favourite play-and-forget internet-radio mixes to play during housework sessions and elsewhen. Web, iOS and Android …
Something for the weekend Bloquecitos is a simple, soothing, ‘merge the pieces’ game – match tile groupings based on their patterns, keep going for as long as possible til the screen clogs up … Try it here.
Things we didn’t know no.94 Wombat poo is cube-shaped.
Earworm of the week clipping : Mirrorshades pt 1
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