Editorial musings from the nest
The quote: Right now, if you’re an employer and you hire someone, you pay payroll taxes on their earnings. But if you buy a robot, you can usually write it off right away as a business expense. The tax system nudges you toward replacing people with machines | Bill Gates …
Butterfly effect How do you fit three days of rave into just one hour? And just how is it possible to choreograph the freedom and improvisation of club techno? We asked Oli Mathieson, the key progenitor of The Butterfly Who Flew Into the Rave. It’s coming to The Arts Center at NYUAD on Thursday, Friday and Saturday; expect an exhausting, exhilarating watch, and get in quick – tickets are selling fast …
Sound around If you’re in RAK on Saturday, drop in at The Design Gallery for a free 7pm performance by the totally excellent Zarooni Sound Society….
Make it in Al Quoz Dubai Culture’s Makers Days initiative is back – two days that bring together makers (designers, artists, creative entrepreneurs) and manufacturers/fabricators. It’s aiming for more than 150 participants for a programme of workshops, talks, panel discussions, networking sessions; a Maker’s Connect programme will provide “curated mentorship opportunities”; and there will be guided visits to a selection of production facilities within the Al Quoz Creative Zone. What there isn’t (as yet) is a detailed programme – just this press release. It will probably be published first on Instagram, so maybe keep an eye on that.
Art cities What makes a great ‘art city’ – somewhere that contemporary art can flourish? And why is New York so far ahead in the World Art Cities Index (with Dubai at No.42 out of 50)? We took a close look at an impressively detailed model based on nine key measurable factors, muse on the degree subjectivity in those numbers, and ask what it means for creative industries strategies.
Work free Ok, it’s been available for a while but we just came across a very cool, very expansive free drop-in co-working space in Dubai – the lobby and first floor area of 25hours Hotel, One Central. Handy for DWTC and DIFC, right across from Museum of the Future (ok, that’s closed now). Stylish, free WiFi, good onsite cafés, no hassle. Recommended …
Museum deal Zayed National Museum is running a membership promotion during September – 30% off museum membership (normally AED 210 for individuals) using promo code MESEP30, 50% off admission for an accompanying guest, and a Members Day special with complimentary tours and a special all-day breakfast menu rate. Members get unlimited access to permanent galleries and special exhibitions, exclusive invitations to events, priority bookings, and discounts. Info here.
Cutting edge CONVIVIO is a one-day artistic residency and collective workshop on 26 Sept that will bring together 16–20 UAE-based artists to explore the Erasure technique (where parts of an existing text are removed to create a new work) with a pop-up exhibition to follow. It’s being organised by the Italian Cultural Institute in Abu Dhabi, with Italian literary texts transformed into visual art. Could be interesting; more info here, but get your CV and portfolio to abudhabiiic.segre@esteri.it before 18 Sept.
Funny people Lots of good comedy around this week. There’s all the usual standups gigs plus a new Laughter Factory tour starting tonight; the Courtyard‘s inspirational (and free) improv evenings are back after the summer break; and we see some highlights – also tonight, the third outing for the Karak After Dark improv gang at the Junction takes on the back-to-school vibe: the Egyptian-American standup, TV host, and former cardiothoracic surgeon Bassem Youssef is trying out new material with half a dozen sets at the Pepperoni: also at the Pepp, Noha’s Birthday Roast gives us magpie favourite Noha Bashir and a dangerous line of sight to the front-row seats: and top improv team 3albaraka is starting a series of themed shows at New Covent Garden.
Last chance to see … It’s your last opportunity to catch three summer exhibition we liked, all closing Sunday: Rana Begum at Farjam Foundation (the good news is that The Third Line has a show of new work by her opening soon), the big group show Time That Grows Slowly at Dom Arts, and the mightily impressive Ahmad AlAttar installation at 421, Human in the Loop.
Tiffany jewellery We’ve added an entry in our Opportunities page for a new DCAD / Tiffany & Co Design Residency programme in Abu Dhabi. The information available is pretty skimpy – we don’t know how many residencies, what’s involved, where and when it happens, what exactly Tiffany’s involvement means, and what you might get out of it. Still, if you’re a design grad or a jewellery maker it might be worth checking out …
Useful app of the week Datablur blurs sensitive information on your display with one click (or by default – handy for passwords and CC info) giving you realtime screen privacy for live calls, demos, presentations, recordings, screen shares, and people wandering past. Extensions available for Chrome, Firefox and Edge, or try it here.
Something for the weekend Don’t Wordle is Wordle gone evil – in the original you have to guess the five-letter hidden word, here the goal is to not guess the word. And after each guess you have to reuse the green letters in the same position and yellow letters in a new spot. Tricky. Try it here.
Things we didn’t know no.94 Vikings didn’t have horned helmets – they were actually created by a costume designer in the 19th century for a Wagner opera. Actually most Vikings possibly didn’t have helmets at all: only one complete helmet from the Viking Age has ever been found (and it has no horns).
Earworm of the week Bonobo : Always on Your Side (feat. Joy Crookes)
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