COMMENT

magpie Weekly, our free email newsletter, is an essential read for anyone interested in the same kind of things that engage us at magpie. It’s mailed on Thursdays throughout the year (we do take short breaks in the summer and at the turn of the year). In it you’ll find …

From the nest – key news for our community summarised, with the editor’s (usually opinionated) commentary
Five ‘not to be missed’ upcoming events selected from the full Agenda listings
Three of the latest open calls and other opportunities for artists and other creatives from our Opportunities page
As a bonus, we include a quote for the week (inspirational, entertaining or apposite, or sometimes all three); and our Earworm of the week, the tune that is currently doing it for us in magpie’s offices.

Here are the most recent From the nest sections:

COMMENT

Comment: 10 July 2025

10 July 2025

The quote: Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light Joseph Pulitzer Bricks as books The [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 3 July 2025

2 July 2025

The quote: A classic is a work which relegates the noise of the present to a background hum, without which at the same time the classics cannot exist Italo Calvino Upcoming at The Arts Center The Arts Center at NYUAD usually announces its next-season [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 26 June 2025

30 June 2025

The quote: Sometimes you have to hug people you really don’t like. That way you’ll know how big to dig the hole in the back garden Anon [credit welcome] SB17 curators Sharjah Art Foundationhas named Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento as the curators for Sharjah [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 19 June 2025

19 June 2025

The quote: Do not topple their idols in anger: pulverize them in play Marquis de Sade DDW 2025 Open Call Dubai Design Week runs 4–9 November at d3, and an open call has just been announced – submissions sought for Abwab, Urban Commissions, [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 12 June 2025

11 June 2025

The quote: If a book is tedious to you, don’t read it; that book was not written for you Jorge Luis Borges Join the club Karama Arts Club has finally got its licence to operate as Dubai’s first ever non-profit arts social club [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 5 June 2025

4 June 2025

The quote: I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here Arthur C Clarke Eid note 1 It’s Eid ad Adha, and we can all celebrate by driving into Dubai: on-street and surface parking will [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 29 May 2025

28 May 2025

The quote All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 22 May 2025

21 May 2025

The quote It is important to use your hands. That is what distinguishes you from a cow or a computer operator Paul Rand Art Basel Gulf Looks like the rumoured $20m deal for Art Basel to take over Abu Dhabi Art [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 15 May 2025

15 May 2025

The quote To ask why we need libraries at all, when there is so much information available elsewhere, is about as sensible as asking if roadmaps are necessary now that there are so very many roads Jon Bing Home-grown prizes The fifth edition [… more]

COMMENT

Comment: 8 May 2025

8 May 2025

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 [… more]