This week’s editorial musings
from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quote<\/mark><\/strong> It\u2019s through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good\u00a0Paula Scher<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n ZNM opens RSN<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0Zayed National Museum<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0will open its doors to the public\u00a0on 3 December<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 more than 3,000 artefacts in the collection, 1,500 of them on display in the six themed permanent galleries. There will be \u201ca varied programme of performances, workshops, tours and activities will provide visitors opportunities to explore the museum and take part in this milestone\u201d; there\u2019s also \u201cfirst of its kind sensorial integration\u201d \u2013 multisensory elements (soundscapes and music) that will amplify the visitor experience, and if you want to smell like the museum there\u2019s a new scent for it by Casa de Oud too. Onsite F&B options include caf\u00e9s and a fine dining Emirati restaurant. The museum will be open daily from 10am to 8pm; tickets are bookable for one-hour timeslots at\u00a0AED 70<\/strong><\/a>, with the usual free admission options (eg Emiratis and UAE residents under 18 or over 60, and \u2013 hooray! \u2013 \u201cjournalists on assignment\u201d) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top cities (and Dubai)<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> Kearney\u2019s annual\u00a0Global Cities Report<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 which reckons to assess “the extent to which cities are able to attract, retain, and generate global flows of capital, people, and ideas” \u2013 has some movement for the Gulf cities, though maybe not as such as you might expect. The top 10 are the usual suspects (New York, London, Paris etc) and remain the same as last year, with a couple of position changes.\u00a0Dubai<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the only UAE city included \u2013 is at 23, one up from last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in the accompanying\u00a0Global Cities Outlook<\/strong>\u00a0listing, which looks at\u00a0how\u00a0the world\u2019s top cities are shaping up for future success,\u00a0Dubai has leapt up<\/strong>\u00a0from 44 last year to 25 in 2025. Read more\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plots uncovered<\/mark>\u00a0<\/strong>Did you ever wonder what was going on in\u00a0Inception<\/strong>\u00a0and why it ended like that? Worry no more \u2013 here\u2019s\u00a0Plot Explained<\/strong><\/a>, which does exactly what it claims to: tells you what\u2019s going in films so that you don\u2019t have to sit through the whole 90 minutes again to find out for yourself …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Getting creative<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong> The third\u00a0Al Quoz Creative Entrepreneurship Forum<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0runs this weekend at Al Khayat Avenue, aimed as always at \u201centrepreneurs, startups, investors, and professionals interested in the cultural and creative industries\u201d. We\u2019re a bit short on hard information about what happens when, as is\u00a0the forum\u2019s website<\/strong><\/a>, but the basic objective is to promote entrepreneurship in the creative sector \u2013 so there will be\u00a0keynote speeches\u00a0(well, ok),\u00a0panel discussions\u00a0(usually v good),\u00a0practical workshops\u00a0(esp good for nuts-and-bolts stuff like sources of finance and getting business licences), and the\u00a0Al Quoz Creative Entrepreneurship Competition\u00a0\u2013 seven finalists from 120+ submissions pitch their ideas in public for a chance to win AED 160,000 (in prizes, not in cash). Registration is free \u2013\u00a0sign up here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Collectable apartments<\/mark><\/strong> Founded by French entrepreneurs Ilan Amar and Michael Cohen in partnership with Richard Orlinski, a French sculptor and neo-pop artist whose first career was in real estate, the brand new\u00a0Orlinski Realty Group<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0promises \u201ca new era of art-driven hotels and branded residences … Each project signed by Richard Orlinski will transform living spaces into immersive works of art, where emotion becomes a way of life … Every hotel and residence is designed as\u00a0a collectible masterpiece<\/strong>, authored, signed, and authenticated as part of Orlinski\u2019s creative legacy\u201d. In practice this seems to mean a distinctive design language and an \u201cexperiential lifestyle\u201d realised through owner-only events, art exhibitions, and clubs. Naturally handovers will use NFT authentication. Seems there aren\u2019t any live projects yet; but if this\u00a0could<\/em>\u00a0work, it would only be in Dubai …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phoning in<\/mark><\/strong> \u201cTELEPHONE<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is a game played by artists. It works like the children\u2019s game of the same name. A message is whispered from person to person and changes and evolves as it is passed from player to player. In our case, we pass a secret message from art form to art form, so a message could become poetry and then painting and then music and then film, throughout all possible forms of art. We also assign each finished work of art to two or three other artists, so the game branches outward exponentially like a family tree …\u201d This is the third iteration of the game, which stopped at 1,395 individual, interconnected and original works by artists\u00a0from 930 cities in 65 countries (none in the Gulf). Fascinating stuff, great fun to wander around, and eminently borrowable …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crispy<\/mark><\/strong> Saturday 25 October\u00a0is\u00a0Crisp Sandwich Day<\/strong>, an annual celebration of the magic that happens when crisps are placed between two slices of\u00a0bread. Best crisps to use: Walkers (aka Lay\u2019s).\u00a0Here\u2019s Nigella Lawson\u2019s take on it<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fine parking<\/mark><\/strong> Dubai Police<\/strong>\u00a0and parking provider\u00a0Parkin<\/strong>\u00a0are\u00a0connecting their systems<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u201cto manage traffic and parking more effectively\u201d. The link between their systems should help in planning and managing traffic flow. The kicker: it will also identify vehicles with outstanding fines …<\/p>\n\n\n\n No surprises<\/mark><\/strong> Dubai-based Telegram founder\u00a0Pavel Durov<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>said he is\u00a0ready to buy the jewels stolen from the Louvre in Paris<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and donate them to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which he says is better protected against theft. The robbery, he reckons, is \u201canother sad sign of the decline of a once-great country, where the government has perfected the art of distracting people with imaginary threats instead of facing real ones\u201d \u2013 like those relating to\u00a0his arrest in August 2024<\/strong><\/a>, when the French authorities detained him for four days over accusations about criminal activities facilitated through his messaging platform. Durov expressed disbelief at being held accountable for the actions of people who misuse\u00a0a messaging service characterised by end-to-end encryption and self-destructing messages …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last chance<\/mark><\/strong> The rather wonderful\u00a0Slava\u2019s Snowshow<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is on the last few performances of its run at New Covent Garden Theatre.\u00a0And the eye-opening\u00a0World Stage Design<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0comes to an end this weekend; catch the exhibition while you can …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Useful app of the week<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Leave Me Alone<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0lists all of your newsletters in one place and lets you unsubscribe from them with a single click. The free version is good for just 10 unsubscribes, but for \u00a315 you can have unlimited unsubs for seven days to get your mailboxes under control. Please don\u2019t use it for this newsletter …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong> Lunch Rush<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0an arcade-style puzzler where you rearrange the board to make the falling ingredients land where they’re needed to create burgers. Not as easy as it sounds\u00a0…\u00a0Try it here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a050 Cent<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0adjusted for inflation would be\u00a0109 Cent<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark> <\/a><\/strong>Lady Leshurr \/ Skunt : FUBU<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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