This week’s editorial musings from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quote:<\/mark><\/strong> A classic is a work which relegates the noise of the present to a background hum, without which at the same time the classics cannot exist\u00a0Italo Calvino<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Upcoming at The Arts Center<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0Arts Center at NYUAD<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0usually announces its next-season lineup at the end of the summer, but they\u2019d like you to book ahead so the full list is\u00a0up on the website now<\/strong><\/a>. We\u2019ll look at the full roster in more detail after our summer break, but as usual there are some impressive (and of course unexpected) bookings \u2013 like uber-cool hip-hop theatre pioneer turned award-winning photographer\u00a0Benji Reid<\/strong><\/a>, a couple of boundary-testing\u00a0dance performances<\/strong><\/a>, a\u00a0Tasty Biscuits<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0reunion\u00a0with a heap of musical friends, Lara Foot\u2019s much-praised decolonial adaptation of\u00a0Othello<\/strong><\/a>, and a season-ending return for Kid Koala\u2019s\u00a0Storyville Mosquito<\/strong><\/a>. The 29 August season opener with\u00a0Faraj Suleiman<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is already sold out, but you can browse the full list\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two-way WIP<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Karama Arts Club<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s latest wheeze is\u00a0Work in Progress<\/strong><\/a>, a public collaboration \/ advice \/ discussion\u00a0session where four creatives \u2013 artists, designers, writers,\u00a0musicians, illustrators, comedians, makers, etc \u2013 get constructive feedback in public on an idea, artwork, or project they\u2019re currently working on. It will all happen at\u00a0Hive<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in JVC on Thursday 31 July; if you think you might want to be one of the first four, there\u2019s info\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>. Apply by 20 July\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n What’s a city?<\/mark>\u00a0<\/strong>The third\u00a0Sharjah Architecture Triennial<\/strong><\/a>, opening in November, will have the theme\u00a0Architecture Otherwise: Building Civic Infrastructure for Collective Futures<\/strong>. As themes go, it\u2019s a bit more explicit than most: the chief curator,\u00a0Vyjayanthi Rao<\/strong>\u00a0(anthropologist, teacher at the Yale School of Architecture, specialises in urbanism in India and the States), talked about \u201cexploring architecture through the lens of anthropology\u00a0… We are especially interested in exploring migratory movement and the rapid extension and localization of urbanism as building blocks of contemporary social life\u201d. So not so much Guinness World Records and starchitects building luxury apartments for money launderers and oligarchs, more the local and global consequences of cities evolving into hyper-connected infrastructural networks\u00a0… The full curatorial statement is\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working with AI<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong>\u00a0Microsoft’s\u00a02025 Work Trend Index<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0outlines a new organisational blueprint called the Frontier Firm to blend humans and AI. The research suggests that companies achieving the best results from AI don’t eliminate human expertise; instead they reorganize around optimal \u2018Human-Agent Ratios<\/strong>\u2019. For content creation (like magpie?) the recommended HAR is 1:3 to 1:5, meaning humans should maintain significant creative control while AI handles scaling and optimisation. Good luck with that\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of the children<\/mark><\/strong> On the other hand, Anthropic\u2019s CEO has predicted that AI could kill\u00a0half of all entry-level white-collar jobs<\/strong>\u00a0over the next five years (which will include a lot of those internships and graduate entry schemes that give the young a foot on the ladder). Who better to launch\u00a0a new research and policy development initiative<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on AI\u2019s economic impacts to sit alongside the\u00a0Anthropic Economic Index<\/strong><\/a>, an initiative aimed at understanding the effects of AI (specifically, Anthropic\u2019s AI product Claude) on labour markets and the economy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get doodling<\/mark><\/strong> The\u00a0Louvre<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in Paris is looking for\u00a0a\u00a0design for a new entrance<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on the museum\u2019s east side, plus a separate viewing room just for the\u00a0Mona Lisa\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bar none<\/mark><\/strong> Other people\u2019s ideas of what constitutes an \u2018interesting\u2019 bar are on display at the conveniently named\u00a0Interesting Bars<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0website. It covers a lot of cities around the world, including\u00a0Dubai<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(but not Abu Dhabi). It doesn\u2019t seem to be AI-generated slop, instead apparently relying on opinions from Real People, though the six drinking holes listed include only one that would make it on to magpie\u2019s own list\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Red carpet architecture<\/mark><\/strong> There was a bit of an all-must-have-prizes feel to Design Middle East\u2019s\u00a0Architecture Leaders Awards 2025<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0gala last week, with dozens of awards and very few duplications among the recipients; but at least\u00a0Dewan Architects\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>got Architecture Firm of the Year and fast-rising\u00a0Soul Road<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0was named Boutique Architecture Firm of the year\u00a0..<\/p>\n\n\n\n Art for all<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> One show to recommend this time:\u00a0No Trespassing<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is Ishara\u2019s first summer exhibition, with six artists from the UAE and South Asia exploring their relationship with the street (opens 4 July). And\u00a0Efie Gallery<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is currently running a programme of Friday-evening films selected by Ose Ekore to support its current group exhibitiontime heals, just not quick enough<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(runs to 30 July); there are some great titles to see, not least Eltayeb Mahdi\u2019s\u00a0Al Mahatta<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and Kalatozov\u2019s seminal\u00a0I Am Cuba<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Useful app of the week<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Presentation makers sometimes include a crude timer, but if you really want to known how long it will take to read a speech or presentation you need this free (and basically idiot-proof) tool. Enter the word count \u00ad(or paste in your text and it will count it for you)\u00a0and\u00a0WordsToTime<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0will give you an estimate for both aloud and silent reading times based on slow, average, and fast reading speeds\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong> Unzoomed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0gives you\u00a0six tries to name the city from the satellite view. After each failure you\u2019re zoomed out to get more perspective, and you\u2019re told how far off your guess was. One city per day.\u00a0Try it here\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0average human body temperature<\/strong>\u00a0is traditionally put at 98.6o<\/sup>F, 37o<\/sup>C. But that was based on research done more nearly 200 years ago, since when health and lifespan have improved bigly.\u00a0So the average today is probably around a degree lower, but no-one really knows\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark> <\/a>Hannes : Friends<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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