This week’s editorial musings from magpie’s nest
The quote The precise role of the artist, then, is to illuminate that darkness, blaze roads through that vast forest, so that we will not, in all our doing, lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human dwelling place James Baldwin
Modern circus The days when ‘circus’ meant sad animals and sadder clowns are hopefully behind us, replaced by high-energy performance art with acrobatic choreography and something to say, This month sees not one but two really good contemporary ‘circuses’ in the UAE – Aussie company Gravity & Other Myths with The Pulse at Dubai Opera (get 50% off by using promocode PULSE50) and the Guinean Circus Baobab with Yé !at NYUAD Arts Center.
Unfortunately, they’re both on this weekend (9 and 10 May); if you have to choose, maybe go for Baobab (a) for the ticket prices and (b) for the backstory (read it here) …
Discount dad rock From 12–18 May, and for one week only, you can get tickets to Live Nation shows happening during the rest of the year for just AED 99. That means big savings on some big names – heritage rock from the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Limp Bizkit, David Gray, Natalie Imbruglia, even Rod Stewart; plus some great-looking comedy gigs, like Gad Elmaleh, Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr. Tickets go on sale at 12pm on 12 May (when you’re booking look for the ticket type labeled ‘Concert Week Promotion). Info here …
Art Here deadline Louvre Abu Dhabi has extended the deadline for proposals to the fifth edition of Art Here 2025 (and therefore the Richard Mille Art Prize too) – you now have until 18 May to get your submissions in. Details are here …
SAT03 curated Sharjah Architecture Triennial has named sociocultural anthropologist Vyjayanthi Raoas curator of its third edition (November 2026 to Match 2027). She’ll be joined by her long-time collaborator, South African architect and publisher Tau Tavengwa, as associate curator. “We hope to open up new ways of thinking about what a triennial like Sharjah can become over time,” they said. There’s a ‘Meet the Curators’ session at SAT’s HQ in Al Qasimiyah School at 4.30 to 6.30pm on 10 May; register here …
Cooking in Venice The Biennale Architettura opens in Venice this weekend, with the National Pavilion UAE featuring Azza Aboualam’s Pressure Cooker – an exhibition that explores the intersection of architecture, food security, and climate change through a series of experimental greenhouse assemblies. We’ll have an appreciation of the show in our next issue from our correspondent; in the meantime if you’re in Venice you can check it for yourself at the Arsenale’s Sale d’Armi. The Biennale Architettura runs to 23 November; info here, book tickets here …
Bye bye Siri? The Perplexity iOS Voice Assistant is one of the more ambitious AI mobile assistants we’ve seen – it actually connects to Reminders, Calendar, and other iOS features and blows Siri out of the water. On the App Store here …
MFA on show This year’s MFA cohort from NYUAD are opening a show this evening at the Arts Center’s Project Space. The title, A Room of One’s Own, obviously borrows from Virginia Woolf’;invites viewers to consider the possibilities that emerge when artists are given the freedom to create – which just about sums up the point of an MFA. Details here; it runs to 25 May …
Tonight’s the night There’s a lot more going on this evening – a Curators Talk with the always interesting Nada Raza at NYUAD Art Gallery; Magadalena Wajdzik (piano) and Carlos Teixeira (flute) in a programme at Alliance Française Dubai for the last concert of the UAE Classical Talents Season; Manel Mallat’s tribute to Edith Piaf at the Zabeel Theatre …
Media access Applications are now open for the multi-platform storytelling course at CNN Academy Abu Dhabi. Participants will complete core courses on topics such as Ethics in Journalism, the Art of Storytelling, and the Art of Anchoring; it runs September to November 2025 in Abu Dhabi, will be delivered in English via in-person and online workshops, and is open to UAE residents and nationals over the age of 17 (it’s aimed at school-leavers and students with an interest in the media). The deadline for applications is 30 June; info is here …
Vindication? The International Court of Justice has dismissed Sudan’s claim that the UAE was backing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the civil war there. The ICJ didn’t adjudicate on the merits of the case, just decided it lacked the jurisdiction (because when the UAE signed up to the Genocide Convention in 2005, it entered a reservation to Article IX, which gives the ICJ jurisdiction to hear disputes between states relating to the interpretation, application, or fulfilment of the treaty). The UAE says this clears everything up …
Something for the weekend You shouldn’t need this inducement to donate the price of a pizza to help a people that have been subjected to daily atrocities for 18 months, but a bargain $16 buys the Crips for eSims for Gaza Bundle – 237 games for a variety of platforms with all proceeds going to relief efforts in Gaza. Shop here.
Things we didn’t know no.94 According the US Mint’s 2024 annual report, making and distributing a one cent coin costs 3.69 cents. (Trump has now told the Mint to stop making them, which some say might end up being the One Good Thing he did.)
Earworm of the week Wet Leg : Catch These Fists
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