This week’s editorial musings from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quote:<\/mark><\/strong> If a book is tedious to you, don\u2019t read it; that book was not written for you\u00a0Jorge Luis Borges<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Join the club<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Karama Arts Club<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has finally got its licence to operate as Dubai\u2019s first ever non-profit arts social club \u2013 \u201ccreated for independent creatives looking for a low-key, welcoming space to connect”. There\u2019s a meet-the-club doc\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>, and it\u2019s relaunching on\u00a0Wednesday 25 June<\/strong>\u00a0somewhere in Al Barsha (which is nowhere near Karama, of course, but practicalities apparently got in the way). They\u2019re looking for simpatico sponsors, and hopefully they won\u2019t feel the need to load up with attention-seeking luxury brands …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biennial goodbyes<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Sharjah Biennial 16<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0closes this weekend. It\u2019s been one of the best that magpie has encountered, packed with good stuff \u2013 too much to see on one visit and with multiple locations to check out, so maybe get along to it before the doors close on\u00a015 June<\/strong>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n UAE\u2019s Guinness World Record no.94<\/mark>\u00a0Warner Bros World<\/strong>\u00a0on Yas Island has officially broken the Guinness World Record\u2122 title for the\u00a0Longest Cheeseboard or Platter<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 30m long, holding around 345kg of cheese. The Warner Bros suit described it as \u201ca truly momentous occasion to celebrate the enduring appeal of Tom and Jerry\u2019s 85th anniversary\u201d\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Residency terms<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong>\u00a0NIKA Project Space<\/strong><\/a> has named its first Open Studio<\/strong><\/a> residents \u2013 Zahra Jewanjee, Yasmine Al Awa <\/strong>and Ahed Al Kathiri<\/strong>. Selected through an open call, they will be developing projects ion the ground floor of NIKA\u2019s Dubai gallery in a space that remains accessible to the public throughout the residency. It all culminates in a September exhbiition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incidentally, our Opportunities<\/strong><\/a> page lists a current residency open call, at Rizq Art Initiative<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in Abu Dhabi. It\u2019s a fully-funded 12-week residency for three artists and one curator or researcher to develop new work, do some networking, and generally advance their professional development. Details here<\/strong><\/a>; apply by 1 July<\/strong> …\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Park ‘n’ fly<\/mark><\/strong> Long-term parking at DXB<\/strong> is being discounted until the end of the month \u2013 three days for AED 100, seven for AED 200, 14 for AED 300, all valid at Terminal 1 Car Park B, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Book here<\/strong><\/a>. (Hopefully there will be similar cuts later in the summer \u2013 last year the deals were in August and September.) AUH sometimes does similar deals, but we haven\u2019t noticed any as yet …<\/p>\n\n\n\n More Arabic<\/mark><\/strong> Abu Dhabi is increasing the number of hours of mandatory Arabic language tuition for preschoolers. For the 2025-2026 academic year children aged three to six will receive four hours a week of Arabic, increasing to five a week from August 2026. Makes sense to us, given that we\u2019re in an Arabic country …<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI comes to court<\/mark><\/strong> A landmark case about AI and image copyright<\/strong> got under way in London this week. Getty Images<\/strong> alleges the London-based Stability AI<\/strong><\/a> used around 12m copyrighted images without permission or payment to train its text-to-image tool Stable Diffusion<\/strong><\/a>. Stability argues its use of Getty\u2019s content is protected under \u201cfair dealings\u201d exceptions in copyright law. Getty filed a parallel suit against Stability in the US in early 2023, one of several pending cases that could have massive implications for the copyrightability of images and artworks …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intern in Abu Dhabi \u2026<\/mark><\/strong> Abu Dhabi\u2019s Creative Media Authority<\/strong><\/a> has a couple of internship opportunities \u2013 one described as a Creative Industry Internship<\/strong> (pretty vague, but says you will \u201cgain hands-on experience and a unique opportunity to develop essential skills that will help you build your career in the creative media sectors\u201d) and the other a much more explicit Production Internship<\/strong> (work in pre-, post- or production in TV, video, film:). The commitment seems to be one to three months, unpaid (though there\u2019s a daily allowance of AED 120 for on-site work for production interns) \u00a0More info here<\/strong><\/a> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n … Laugh in Abu Dhabi<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> There’s a hectic round of comedy shows and standup gigs in Abu Dhabi over the next couple of weeks. Check the listings in the Agenda<\/strong><\/a>, but we’d recommend trying some of newer venues to see how they work. We have our eyes on the Black Tap<\/strong><\/a> in Mamsha al Saadiyat, which is hosting 1 Minute to Krushit<\/strong><\/a> on 17 June\u00a0\u2013 comics get one minute at the mic, the audience votes. Fast, raw, unpredictable: what more could you want from a Tuesday evening in Abu Dhabi?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The value of money<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> 1 pixel wealth<\/strong><\/a> demonstrates graphically how rich the rich really are (1px = $1000). Prepare to be appalled \u2013 and to realise how the wealth of the top 400 billionaires could solve most of humanity’s challenging problems while still leaving them as billionaires<\/em>. Incidentally, this is a way-back-when (Covid-era?) demo \u2013 it has Jeff Bezos as worth $139bn, an unimaginably massive number, but duck.ai tells me<\/strong><\/a> he\u2019s currently good for $220bn<\/strong>. And Zuckerbuck and Mush are still way ahead of him …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong> The Incredible Shrinking Goalie<\/strong><\/a> is\u00a0very simple, very silly, very fun: you are a small goalkeeper, and your job is to stop the ball hitting the floor. But every time the keeper touches the ball, you get very slightly smaller …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Fingernails <\/strong>really do grow faster in the UAE (well, in hot places generally). It’s probably due to increased blood supply to the fingertips, though maybe some people do less fingernail-abrading manual labour here …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark><\/strong> The Tibs : Narcissist<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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