This week’s editorial musings from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quote<\/mark><\/strong> This present moment was once the unimaginable future Stewart Brand<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Today\u2019s the day<\/mark><\/strong> Happening today (Thursday): Xposure<\/strong><\/a>, the region’s biggest and best festival of photography, running till next Wednesday in its hew Aljada home … a celebration of the embroidery crafts of Freej Al Murar at NYUAD’s Project Space<\/strong><\/a> … the brilliant Jesse Eisenberg movie A Real Pain<\/strong><\/em><\/a> at Manarat al Saadiyat for one night only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Openings<\/mark><\/strong> Two gallery shows opening this week that we’ll be checking out: Nadine Ghandour<\/strong><\/a> at Bayt AlMamzar, Hady Boraey<\/strong><\/a> at Fann \u00e0 Porter …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abu Dhabi on Sotheby\u2019s board<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong>\u00a0Last Autumn Sotheby\u2019s announced a $1 billion investment from ADQ, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. Part of the deal stipulated that three seats on the board would go to ADQ nominees;\u00a0ARTnews<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has confirmed that these are\u00a0Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi<\/strong>, CEO and MD of ADQ as well as UAE Minister of Investment;\u00a0Murtaza Hussain<\/strong>, formerly ADQ\u2019s chief investment officer and now a managing partner at Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Lunate (which is majority-owned by Sheikh Tahnoun\u2019s private investment firm Royal Group); and\u00a0Aziz Moolji<\/strong>, also a partner at Lunate and formerly the director of ADQ\u2019s M&A business. Members of Sotheby’s nine-person board vote on the auction house\u2019s financial decisions, not day-to-day operations\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learning creativity<\/mark><\/strong> The second Al Quoz Creative Entrepreneurship Forum<\/strong> had more than 700 attendees, and those we spoke to were enthusiastic about its value \u2013 especially but not exclusively for networking. A somewhat mixed bag of start-ups won the pitch contest, with first place going to Maysoon Al Shamsi for sustainable skincare brand Creams Botanics<\/strong><\/a>. Ghaleya Al Mansoori won second place for the UAE\u2019s first mobile art and crafts workshop, Kenaz Art Studio<\/strong><\/a>. And Rory McLoughlin took third for his Like Minds<\/strong><\/a> creative community …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skate away<\/mark><\/strong> Dubai’s JLT has a brand-new Skate Park<\/strong><\/a>, handily placed in Cluster O and well provided with ramps, half pipes and transitions. \u201cGood but not great\u201d said our skateboard correspondent, who probably wants dope Olympic-scale landscaping but will settle for a well lit, well laid out fun space with the shapes that form the JLT logo and cool graphics by Maddy Butcher. It\u2019s open 8am to 10pm …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top Arabic Fiction<\/mark><\/strong> The six-strong shortlist for the 2025 Arabic Fiction Prize<\/strong><\/a> includes authors from six different countries (Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Mauritania, Syria, UAE) \u2013 \u201ca shortlist to savour\u201d, said the chair of the trustees. The UAE contender is Nadia Najar\u2019s The Touch of Light<\/em><\/strong>, a sensitive story of a young blind woman exploring her senses while at the same time offering a panorama of the Gulf before and after the discovery of oil …<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA at SPAA<\/mark><\/strong> Sharjah Performing Arts Academy has introduced a new Master of Fine Arts<\/a><\/strong> (MFA) in Theatre and Live Performance. Its a two-year course with five specialised pathways: Costume Design, Directing, Producing, Sound Design, and Lighting Design. Fees are AED 90,000 per year but we\u2019re told loans and bursaries are available …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Art history<\/mark><\/strong> NYUAD\u2019s Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art<\/strong> is hosting an online symposium on 26 February under the title Generative Archive II: Art and Transformation<\/em><\/strong>; sessions will focus on conversations with artists who transform archives into artworks, blurring the lines between academic resources and artistic expression. The symposium runs 4-9pm GST, and registration is free here<\/strong><\/a> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are here<\/mark><\/strong> As of December 2024, the population of the UAE stood at 12.5m according to Global Media Insight<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 about 3.8m for each of Dubai and Abu Dhabi (with the latter adding a couple of million in a single year, presumably implying improved counting as well as a sudden influx of NYUAD students). Only 11.5% of them are Emiratis, with Indians predictably representing the largest single national group at 38%. There\u2019s a 70:30 male:female gender split, and nearly 9m fall in the 25\u201354 age group. Lots more fun stats here<\/strong><\/a> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understanding AI<\/mark><\/strong> Keen to get up to speed with AI? This<\/strong><\/a> is one of the best \u201chow does AI actually work\u201d primers we\u2019ve come across. It is long \u2014 yep, three and a half hours \u2014 but it is both really understandable and really deep, which is hard to pull off. And it\u2019s free …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong> Shuffle the rows and columns to find a word on one line. Do it here<\/a> <\/strong>…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong> Americans bet more than $140 billion on sports<\/strong><\/a> last year (only 60 of the 212 countries listed by the World Bank have a GDP higher than $140bn)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark><\/strong> horsegiirL : materiaL hor$e<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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