This week’s editorial musings from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pitch perfect?<\/mark><\/strong> The deadline for the Al Quoz Creative Entrepreneurship Competition<\/strong> for start-up entrepreneurs (must be less than two years from launch) has been extended by a month to 30 September. If you reach the shortlist you can pitch your business idea to an adjudication panel; three will win prizes \u2013 AED 50,000 for 1st place, AED 30,000 for 2nd, AED 20,000 for 3rd. There\u2019s virtually no limit to the business proposition; \u201capplicants must actively engage in activity within the cultural and creative industries\u201d, but that covers a very wide range from architecture to fashion, archaeology to e-gaming, podcasting to gastronomy \u2026 Here\u2019s the link<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emirati creativity<\/mark><\/strong> Applications are open for the 2024 ADMAF Creativity & Visual Arts Awards<\/strong>. You need to be an Emirati (or for the Creativity award, could be a group with at least one Emirati member) and aged 18 to 35. For the Creativity<\/strong><\/a> slot you should be able to offer an \u201cexceptional\u201d performance piece \u2013 could be music, dance, or theatre \u2013 with finalists getting the opportunity to perform and hope for the opportunity to showcase their winning project during Abu Dhabi Festival 2025 and compete for a cash prize of 20,000 AED. The Visual Arts Award<\/a><\/strong> for \u201coutstanding creativity in any visual art form\u201d has a AED 10,000 prize. Deadline for both is 15 November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earbud essentials<\/mark><\/strong> We\u2019ve been getting into The Great Women Artists<\/strong> Podcast (link here<\/a><\/strong>) \u2013 interviews with artists on their career, or curators, writers, or art lovers, on the female artist who means the most to them. It\u2019s from Katy Hessell, who is also the author of The Story of Art without Men<\/a><\/strong> which is newly in paperback and got an Observer review which called it an inspiring, beautifully written corrective. Our copy is on order \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jewelled<\/mark><\/strong> Meanwhile the 2024 ADMAF Design Fund Award<\/strong> for emerging jewellery designers in the UAE, run in partnership with Van Cleef & Arpels\u2019 L\u2019\u00c9COLE Middle East School of Jewelry Arts, went to Shamma Al Hammadi<\/strong> from the University of Sharjah for a project using pearls; she gets AED 50,000, a five-day trip to Paris for courses at L\u2019\u00c9COLE Europe, and a showcase at the Abu Dhabi Festival 2025. Runners-up were Shamma Al Falasi<\/strong> from ZU in Dubai and Alya Al Zaabi<\/strong> from ZU Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Table talk<\/mark><\/strong> Dubai Design Week<\/a><\/strong> is coming up (5-10 Nov) and so is the Omani design studio Altqadum<\/strong>; it\u2019s won DDW\u2019s Urban Commissions annual design competition, which this year asked for \u201cinnovative community furniture\u201d which make the most of tables (\u201ctaking the table beyond its form and how it can be used as a facilitator of exchange, tradition and communal experiences\u201d). We don\u2019t know what it looks like \u2013 presumably it won\u2019t be revealed until nearer DDW\u2019s opening in November \u2013 but Altqadum says its TukTukDum proposal takes inspiration from the Gulf\u2019s musical culture \u201cthat encourages communal experiences and exchange, inviting audiences to gather as performers and as an integral part of the table itself\u201d. An integral part of the table? Hmm \u2026 The DDW website is here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The business of art <\/mark><\/strong>London\u2019s annual Art Business Conference<\/a><\/strong> last week attracted some of the industry’s leading market specialists and professionals. Guillaume Cerutti, chief executive of Christie\u2019s, gave a keynote that attributed the market\u2019s downturn to the three Ms \u2013 macro environmental factors, such as political instability; money matters, including high interest rates; and the prevailing mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mind you, he then said Christies is seeing its best-ever private sales figures even while the auction business is slipping. What\u2019s more, he predicted a general bounceback in 2025 because (a) downturns historically never last more than two years and (b) buyers are particularly keen in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other takeaways: Brexit has made the UK a less desirable place to buy and sell art (who knew?), Europe as a whole is doing less well than the Americas and Asia, the new Labour government could improve the UK art market but the government needs to address the funding crisis at British museums, and there will be some new professional art market qualifications \u2013 one titled \u2018art market co-ordinator\u2019, with a syllabus based on Christie’s apprenticeship programme; and a new one-year MA in Art and Business at the Courtauld Institute. Both start next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re taking over<\/mark><\/strong> Paul Marshall, the hedge fund tycoon who co-owns the right-wing television channel GB News in Britain, has acquired Apollo<\/em> magazine<\/a><\/strong>, one of the UK\u2019s most established art journals. It is part of a \u00a3100m deal completed earlier this week for The Spectator magazine by Marshall\u2019s company Old Queen Street Ventures (OQS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try a game for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong> Ephemeral tic-tac-toe: each player’s moves disappear after four turns. It’s here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brainstretcher<\/mark><\/strong> ——, had, inland, ran, man, pain<\/strong>. Which six-letter girl\u2019s name would begin this list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know, no.94<\/mark><\/strong> Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Or, if that doesn\u2019t float your boat, it\u2019s also National Butterscotch Pudding Day. Apparently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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