This week’s editorial musings from magpie’s nest
The quote Keep your eye on the donut, not the hole David Lynch
Biennial bit The opening events of Sharjah Biennial 16 run from 6 to 9 February, mostly in and around the galleries of Arts Square but also taking in performances, activations and screenings in four other locations around the emirate (there are shuttle buses). In total SB16 has more than 300 works, including 80 commissions, by around 140 participants. Here’s the website …
This weekend’s festivals Al Hosn Festival is running in Abu Dhabi (runs to 9 February) and LitFest has just started (to 3 Feb). Sikka Art & Design Festival starts tomorrow (to 9 Feb) – the Sikka website wasn’t working when last we tried it, though you may have better luck now, and there seems to be no overall directory/guide available. Still, there’s always something at Sikka that makes the trip to Al Shindagha worthwhile …
Art openings A splurge of gallery shows are opening in the next few days, too many goodies to list here (check the Agenda). But we’re aiming to see top glass art from Dale Chihuly, porcelain as a metaphor for the soul by Melis Buyruk, Adrian Pepe’s poetic meditation on fragmentation and renewal, and Sola Olulode on myths and holiday memories …
ArtMap maps art The newest edition of ArtMap, created by thejamjar for Dubai Culture, aims to provide “a detailed overview of art galleries, exhibitions, festivals, and programmes in the UAE”. The meat is a comprehensive listing of galleries and other institutions; we couldn’t see any obvious omissions, though there were a few pretty generous inclusions (just because something says it’s a gallery doesn’t make it so). There’s some magazine-style editorial up front, with a predictable emphasis on Dubai (so Dubai public art gets a feature, Abu Dhabi public art doesn’t); the actual location maps are clear and useful, though obviously things can get a bit crammed on the Dubai page because of the clustering. There’s also a whole section called ‘Calendar’, which is completely empty; but then maybe that’s what magpie is for … You should be able to pick up a paper copy at cultural and arts institutions and events, or access a PDF here.
Now hear this We’ve been listening to Live In The Khaleej, an album of jazz-meets-Arabica by Ghazi Faisal Al-Mulaifi and members of Boom.Diwan playing with Arturo O’Farrill and others from his Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. The results combine Latin jazz and traditional Kuwaiti/Gulf vibes, and we like it a lot. Find it here …
Goldie-looking Cybertruck Dubai Gold Souk Extension is giving you, yes you, the chance to win the region’s first 24K gold Tesla Cybertruck. You’ll need to spend AED 500 at participating outlets to get a ticket for the raffle; enter before 31 January. Or you could just save your money (and probably your self-esteem and a bit of the planet too) …
Demon barber trimmed The Sydney Opera House production of Sweeney Todd lands in Dubai for a week from 1-8 February. The prices are high – this is a full-cast show with high production values, so tickets nominally start at AED 360 – but Dubai Opera is offering 25% off all ticket categories if you book online using promocode SWEENEY25.
How many bicycles? Prove you’re human by playing Doom Captcha instead of completing one of those boring “select all images” puzzles. You have to blast three enemies to pass – which is surprisingly difficult …
Something for the weekend Amazingly, the BBC still maintains an archive of games for the BBC Micro – also playable on Proper Computers. Here’s one we like ..
Things we didn’t know no.94 That 10,000-steps-a-day goal has nothing to do with science – it comes from a 1965 marketing campaign by a Japanese company selling pedometers.
Earworm of the week Hania Rani : Abu Simbel
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