This week’s editorial musings
from magpie’s nest
The quote: I wonder if a single thought that has helped forward the human spirit has ever been conceived or written down in an enormous room Kenneth Clark …
The place to be No apologies for majoring on Abu Dhabi: it seems to be where it’s all happening right now. The last version of Abu Dhabi Art in its current guise is genuinely buzzy; it’s the biggest yet but must also be one of the best – some stunning work, especially in the curated sections (big shout out for Nigeria). It runs to Sunday. NOMAD of course looks an interesting complement, opens today (to Saturday). And Manar Abu Dhabi is a blast, much easier to appreciate now that it’s concentrated in two sites (Jubail and Al Mina) rather than being scattered around the city. The light installations are live until 4 Jan; most of the talks and workshops finish this week, but there are related performances (all free) next week.
And DCT Abu Dhabi reports that its plan is working – over 4m visitors for its cultural and heritage sites in the first six months of this year, a 47% increase on the same period in 2024. Louvre Abu Dhabi clocked 784,606 visitors, but the big increases were at the Cultural Foundation (49% more at 620,709) and Manarat Al Saadiyat (207,684 visitors, more than doubled); teamLab Phenomena contributed 145,912, too. “These results are a direct reflection of our deliberate investments in cultural infrastructure, the diversification of our world-class offerings, and our targeted efforts to attract visitors from global markets” …
Give me the book. I’ll read it A copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio was at Abu Dhabi Art (on sale for £4.5m). This 1623 book is genuinely important, one of only around 230 copies of the first proper collection of Shakespeare’s plays (it has 36 of them, 18 previously unpublished); it was put together by the man’s friends and colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell “onely to keepe the memory of so worthy a Friend, & Fellow alive”. At time of writing no one had actually bought it but it’s “under consideration” …
Shhh Dubai Police wants a quieter life and so is deploying more AI-powered noise radars across the city. They can detect and document noisy vehicles, “using horns without necessary reason”, and over-loud audio systems. “Our aim is to make Dubai the safest and most calm city globally,” a policeperson said. The law says owners of vehicles exceeding 95dB face fines of AED 2,000 and 12 black points. 95dB is quite loud – it’s what you might get from standing next to heavy traffic, a bit less than a power tool, a lot less than a rock concert (120dB ish) …
Doha’s designs Another brick in Qatar’s plans for regional art-world prominence appears to be in place – GWC, described as Qatar’s leading logistics and supply chain provider, is partnering with the Ministry of Culture’s strategy entity QC+ to to develop the Gulf’s largest full-service art storage and logistics facility. It will be in a designated free zone in Doha, will provide “museum-grade preservation” and professional care, and will have a conservation laboratory alongside the usual secure storage and viewing rooms. So it’s not going to be just another way for transparency-averse collectors and dealers to hoard art; there will also be “learning and collaboration zones designed to advance local expertise in art preservation and management”. It all fits with Qatar’s ambitions to be a cultural hub for the Gulf …
Where the rich go This may shock you, but Dubai and Abu Dhabi are among the world’s top five destinations for HNWIs, according to the inaugural Spotlight on Wealth Trends 2025 report from Savills. Dubai is top, followed by New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi at No.5. “Together the cities offer a compelling blend of pro-business environments, robust legal frameworks, high-quality education, and lifestyle appeal.” And “favourable tax environments”, of course …
Where the rich stay? Michelin Keys are the hotel equivalent of Michelin Stars for a restaurant – apparently they “qualify each hotel experience in broader terms than simple amenities, to establish a new international and reliable benchmark for exceptional hospitality”. The new list for the UAE has just appeared, full of the usual suspects: only one hotel got three Keys (“an extraordinary stay”) and perhaps predictably it was Atlantis The Royal – its funky stacked design also won it the Michelin Architecture & Design Award (“elevating the guest experience through a distinctive aesthetic identity”). The UAE had four hotels awarded two Keys (“an exceptional stay” – Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, the rest in Dubai) and 16 got one Key (“a very special stay”). That last one has some of the more interesting picks – ME by Melia, of course, but also Qasr al Sarab, Bab Al Shams, and Erth Abu Dhabi (those of a certain age will reminder this as the Armed Forces Officers’ Club) …
Where the rich live? Submissions for the third edition of Dubai’s Top 50 Homes (“celebrates the residences that capture the art of modern living through creativity, innovation, and design excellence”) are now open here for homeowners, architects, and interior designers seeking some recognition and applause. Last year saw 400+ nominations …
Seven for SAF Sharjah Art Foundation has named the first seven artists selected from nearly 2,400 responses to the open call to its Residency Programme 2025-2026. They are Maitha Abdalla (UAE); Afraa Ahmed (Yemen); Mila Balzhieva (Russia); Daria Goncharova (Russia); HUNITI GOLDOX (Jordan/Germany); Fatemeh Kazemi (Iran); and Jim Jasper Lumbera and Joey Alexis Singh (Philippines). A second group will be announced in February …
Tonight’s the night Dubai Singers & Orchestra (60 voices, 30-piece orchestra) are doing a selection of British favourites at New Covent Garden; Vadim Grigoryan is talking about his interesting new book, Art Thinking: Art, Meaning and Brand Leadership at the Sorbonne; Cirque du Liban’s acrobatics-plus-aquatics show starts a four-day run in Abu Dhabi …
Three more to catch More good-looking gallery shows opening in the next few days, among them: Cindy Bernhard‘s theatrical chiaroscuro at Volery Gallery, Hussain Jamil‘s reflections at Oblong Contemporary, Salma Al Marri‘s personal and collective mythologies at Alliance Française …
Stay in bed Just in case you missed it, Monday and Tuesday are the official federal government holidays for Union Day …
Useful app of the week Most online file converters are ugly, littered with ads, slow, and less than open about what they do with your files. Vert is free and open-source, converts files directly on your computer rather than a remote server (the exception is videos, which Vert deletes after an hour), and handles images, audio, video, and documents …
Something for the weekend With The Collector you have to drag balls to the middle of the screen without being hit by the deadly nacho-like nasties. Well-designed, retro-ish, tricky, fun; try it here …
Things we didn’t know no.94 There are 219,000 paid parking spaces in Dubai, says the elegantly named Parkin PJSC (the company which runs them)
Earworm of the week Ben Böhmer : Caught Up In The Fire
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