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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIt came with three closely-typed pages of enthusiastic reports from exhibiting gallerists<\/a>: \u201cArt Basel once again established itself as the leading art fair \u2026 our strongest Art Basel in 20 plus years doing the fair \u2026 Art Basel felt particularly rewarding this year \u2026 This edition of Art Basel managed to excite and energise collectors and brought solid sales for our artists \u2026 Art Basel keeps being the most important fair \u2026\u201d A good start then for its new director, Maike Cruse (right).<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, Artnet’s gossipy but knowledgable columnist Kenny Schachter had a different view<\/a>: “While day one was relatively jammed [the] second VIP day was practically desolate \u2026 I was half-expecting tumbleweeds to roll down the desolate aisles”. Why so few people? Maybe\u00a0“the Basels are beginning to feed off of themselves”. Too many Art Basels too close together? Or maybe Basel itself isn’t sufficiently attractive as a destination any more?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now read on<\/mark><\/strong> The\u00a0Mohammed Bin Rashid Library<\/strong>, which inhabits one of the most literal buildings in Dubai, has just celebrated its second anniversary. The underlying numbers are pleasing \u2013 nearly 1.5m visits in the two years, for instance, and a stock of 1.5m\u00a0printed and 2m digital books \u2013 but so is the wider reach: more than 420 workshops, events, and \u201cspecialised sessions\u201d, ten cooperation deals with other culture\/knowledge institutions, prominent participation in policy-setting and knowledge exchange events like the IFLA Congress in Rotterdam last year and the International Library and Technology Festival in Istanbul back in March. Looks like it’s doing well\u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good place to be?<\/strong><\/mark> The UAE Central Bank<\/strong>\u2019s newly published annual report<\/a> says strong performance by the non-oil sector contributed to a 3.6% growth in the country’s GDP last year. The forecast is even better, 3.9% growth in 2024 and a whopping 6.2% in 2025 (though that’s on the back of \u201csignificant\u201d increases in oil production, which probably isn\u2019t what a warming world needs to hear). Predictably, the non-oil increases are primarily coming from tourism, banking, and real estate (more than 110,000 sales transactions in Dubai alone during 2023, up by nearly 50% in the year for apartments and 20% for villas). More good news: inflation was 1.6% in 2023, down from 4.8% the year before.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oddly, the bank\u2019s annual report doesn\u2019t say what the UAE’s GDP\u00a0actually was<\/em> for 2023; it\u2019s full of percentages and comparisons, but we did find a couple of pointers that led us to work it out as something like AED\u00a01.4\u00a0trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shop ahead<\/mark><\/strong> The third round of DCT Abu Dhabi\u2019s annual Urban Treasures<\/strong> award<\/a> (for \u201clong-running establishments that have shaped Abu Dhabi\u2019s urban and social fabric\u201d) has honoured 15 businesses around the emirate. It\u2019s a quirky mix, as you might expect \u2013 it includes the likes of Al Ain Pharmacy, Nasruddin Perfumes Shop, AlFarah Restaurant, WOSTB Legal Translation, and Paris Textiles \u2013 but these apparently represent Abu Dhabi’s unique cultural identity and \u201chold a nostalgia for times past, while remaining anchors of the community to this day\u201d. The qualification seems to be at least 20 years\u2019 trading, so there\u2019s several years\u2019 worth of candidates still waiting to be discovered \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design op<\/mark><\/strong> Tashkeel<\/strong> is looking for a Graphic Design Team Lead \u2013 \u201cresourceful, experienced, and inspiring\u201d natch, capable of \u201chigh quality visuals\u201d that will help sell Tashkeel’s products, workshops, events and rentable spaces. Min seven years\u2019 experience including Adobe Creative Suite (understandable) and Final Cut Pro (not so much).\u00a0Apply here<\/a> by 28 June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know, no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a038% of webpages that existed in 2013 are not available today (and 54% of Wikipedia pages contain at least one link in their \u2018References\u2019 that points to a page that no longer exists).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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