This week’s editorial musings from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spoiled for choice<\/mark><\/strong> As usual there’s a lot going on this weekend, but we’ll be making time for\u00a0The Ice Hole<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(best play of the year so far?) and\u00a0Mute<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on stage,\u00a0Kes<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Dancing Pina<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on screen, and\u00a0Rand Abdul Jabbar<\/a><\/strong>andFariba Boroufar<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0on a gallery wall near you. And this weekend it’s Alserkal Avenue’s two-day celebration of all things edible,\u00a0What the Food<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Book ahead<\/mark><\/strong> Diary dates this month \u2013 \u00a0Blackadder Goes Forth<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Singin’ in the Rain<\/a>,\u00a0The Streets<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to front<\/mark><\/strong> RCR Arquitectes has designed a 380m-high tower for recently-launched developer Muraba that will only be 22.5m wide \u2013 that\u2019s one apartment wide, so with views on both sides. Lots of other goodies in the building, including (we\u2019re told) an art gallery, but the main aim is to produce \u201ca daring, stop-you-in-your tracks spectacle, even in Dubai’s supercharged architectural vista\u201d according to RCR.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n City breaks<\/mark><\/strong> Dubai retains its position as the leading MENA entry on Kearney\u2019s\u00a0Global Cities Index<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(\u201cassesses the extent to which cities are able to attract, retain, and generate global flows of capital, people, and ideas\u201d). It ranks 24th globally, down one spot from last year; Abu Dhabi was 59th, up 7 on 2023. Both are down on Kearney\u2019s other metric, the Global Cities Outlook ranking; they score well on \u00a0economics (GDP, long-term investment potential) but slip up on \u2018personal wellbeing\u2019 (which includes the environment) and \u2018innovation\u2019 (incubators, patents etc).\u00a0Read more here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Media artists wanted<\/mark><\/strong> Saudi\u2019s Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) will be the region\u2019s first dedicated New Media and Digital Art hub when it opens later this year; but it\u2019s already inviting applications for its inaugural\u00a0Mazra\u2019ah Media Art Residency<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 runs for three months (February to April 2025), separate \u2018streams\u2019 for artists and scholars, provides access to studios and production labs plus a production budget. Deadline is 20 January; there\u2019s more information\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Capital bargains<\/mark><\/strong> Abu Dhabi Film Commission is looking to boost filmmaking in the Emirate with an increased cashback rebate for qualifying productions. The current rebate is 30%; from 1 January it will start at 35%. Seems that for every dirham paid out by the scheme, more than three comes back into the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NYC reined in<\/mark><\/strong> New York\u2019s much-loathed Vessel, the pointless Hudson Yards open air observation carbuncle designed by Heatherwick, has been closed for three years after four people died by suicide.\u00a0It\u2019s now reopened<\/strong><\/a>, this time with suicide prevention nets. Hooray!\u00a0 Artificial unintelligence<\/mark><\/strong> “Personally, I am not against AI. AI is not going to destroy any middle class jobs.” Disgraced former British prime minister B Johnson was speaking at the AIM Summit in Dubai earlier this week. No, we have no idea why. But maybe it\u2019s good to have it confirmed that this man thinks people without middle class jobs are basically expendable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong> Match the reviews to the album<\/a>. <\/strong>Surprisingly compelling …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong> The Line<\/strong>\u00a0megacity project in the Saudi desert is using\u00a0one fifth<\/em>\u00a0of the entire world’s currently available steel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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