This week’s editorial musings
from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quote:<\/mark><\/strong> Literature has the same impact as a match lit in the middle of a field in the middle of the night. The match illuminates relatively little, but it enables us to see how much darkness surrounds it\u00a0William Faulkner<\/em> … <\/p>\n\n\n\n Symphonic<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0UAE National Orchestra<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has officially begun rehearsals in Abu Dhabi, with\u00a070 full-time musicians and 30 part-time choir members<\/strong>\u00a0selected from over 3,200 applicants. The official word is that the ensemble represents “a blend of Emirati talent and world-class performers from across the globe, embodying the UAE\u2019s spirit of openness and collaboration”. The plan is for an inaugural season that will see performances in all seven Emirates, though there\u2019s no word yet about where, when or indeed what \u2013 though we are promised \u201ca sound that is both contemporary and deeply rooted in heritage\u201d. There have been attempts to form a UAE NSO in the past, but this one is properly funded and features full-time musicians. Its repertoire will be interesting, and so will the sound that conductor\u00a0Amine Kouider<\/strong>\u00a0(formerly of the International Philharmonic Orchestra \u2013 Paris and the Algeria National Symphony Orchestra) comes up with …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy birthday LouvreAD<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> Louvre Abu Dhabi<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0celebrating its eighth anniversary<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0with exclusive after-hours access (to 1am) for all the galleries, the excellent\u00a0Mamluks<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0exhibition,\u00a0Art Here 2025<\/strong><\/a>, the Children\u2019s Museum and the\u00a0VR experiences. There’s also a free outdoor screening of Night at the Museum on the Auditorium Plaza at 7pm, but that was all booked up when we checked …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cumulative Qatar<\/mark>\u00a0<\/strong>Another plank in Qatar\u2019s ongoing bid to become a major art centre for the region: to go with\u00a0Art Basel Qatar<\/strong>\u00a0(Feb\u00a02026) and the country\u2019s first\u00a0permanent pavilion at the Venice Biennale<\/strong>\u00a0(May, and in the classy Giardini too), a quadrennial called\u00a0Rubaiyat Qatar<\/strong>\u00a0launches in November 2026 with 58 artists. Its four curators are of course art world heavyweights:\u00a0Mark Rappolt<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0ArtReview magazine;\u00a0Tom Eccles<\/strong>, executive director of the Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies in upstate New York;\u00a0Ruba Katrib<\/strong>, chief curator at MoMA PS1 in New York; and\u00a0Shabbir Husain Mustafa<\/strong>, a curator at the National Gallery of Singapore. Rubaiyat Qatar provides a non-commercial counterpoint to Art Basel Qatar and avoid direct competition with the Sharjah Biennial; still, it seems a less than confident move to go for intervals of four rather than two years\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design opps closing soon<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong> Two for regional\u00a0designers<\/strong>: applications to Tashkeel\u2019s reputedly excellent\u00a0Tanween Design Programme<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(a year of professional development for a UAE-based designer culminating in exposure and possible sales at Downtown Design 2026) closes\u00a016 Nov<\/strong>. And the\u00a0AlUla Design Award<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(SAR 30,000 plus a distribution deal for two winners, one in Fashion and the other in Product Design \u2013 no geographical restriction on entrants) closes\u00a021 Nov\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AI in UAE<\/mark><\/strong> People in the\u00a0UAE<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Singapore<\/strong>\u00a0are the most enthusiastic users of AI, with 59.4% and 58.6% respectively of the working-age population\u00a0using Al at least once a month<\/strong>\u00a0according to\u00a0research from Microsoft<\/a><\/strong>. That reflects the countries’ long-term investment in digital connectivity and skills, but basically AI is most popular in wealthy nations \u2013 though there are some surprising power users (Spain, France) and laggards (Saudi Arabia, USA) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fossil’s back, baby<\/mark><\/strong> Two years ago ADNOC head\u00a0Sultan Al-Jaber<\/strong>\u00a0led a climate summit that secured a commitment from nearly every country there to \u201ctransition away from fossil fuels in energy systems\u201d. A couple of days ago\u00a0at\u00a0ADIPEC<\/strong><\/a>, the world\u2019s biggest energy conference, he said that \u201cthe long-term outlook shows demand growth for every form of energy\u201d and that oil demand will stay at or above its current level until well after 2040.\u00a0Hmm<\/strong>\u00a0…\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart Abu Dhabi Art<\/mark><\/strong> Abu Dhabi Art<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0continues to reinforce its community credentials, which hopefully won\u2019t be lost when it moves to Frieze branding next year:\u00a0ADMAF and Studio Salasil<\/strong>\u00a0will handle this year\u2019s\u00a0Community Projects<\/strong>\u00a0exhibition, Emirati artist and robotics engineer\u00a0Ahmed Al Attar\u00a0<\/strong>leads the 2025\u00a0Art+Tech programme<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(working with students to develop a kinetic installation) and the\u00a0Pavilion Prize<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0returns, with\u00a0Sara Alsehhi\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Sarvani Pagadala<\/strong>\u00a0announced as the winners of this edition of the design-a-pavilion initiative.\u00a0Abu Dhabi Art runs 19-23 Nov. More\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hello gallery<\/mark><\/strong> Dom Art Projects<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is a new commercial arts centre opening in Al Khayat Avenue at the end of the month \u2013 an exhibition space \u201cdedicated to presenting museum-grade exhibitions and installations by emerging and mid-career artists\u201d, three studios for artist residencies, a year-round educational programme with artist-led workshops, guided tours, and talks, and what is claimed to be Dubai\u2019s first dedicated art and culture bookshop (there are plans for publishing, too). Must be worth checking out\u00a0its opening weekend\u00a027-29 Nov<\/strong><\/a>, with an installation by\u00a0Michiko Tsuda\u00a0<\/strong>installation and a \u201cscience art object\u201d by\u00a0::vtol::<\/strong>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incidentally, there\u2019s a current\u00a0open call<\/strong>\u00a0in partnership with Bayt AlMamzar for\u00a0emerging UAE-based artists<\/strong>\u00a0to apply for one of those\u00a0residency studios<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 two studios available for two months each, apply\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by\u00a020 Nov<\/strong>\u00a0for a 25 Nov start …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doing DDW<\/b><\/mark> Dubai Design Week<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0opened yesterday and looks mighty impressive \u2013 it\u2019s claimed to feature\u00a0more than 1,000<\/strong>\u00a0designers, architects and creative practitioners from more than 50 countries, for a start, We\u2019d like to highlight the less well-known, particularly those in the\u00a0UAE Designer Exhibition<\/strong><\/a>, which this year focuses on mentorship opportunities as well as visibility for emerging UAE-based designers; and Tashkeel\u2019s\u00a0Tanweer<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0cohort \u2013 nine young designers who went through a year-long development programme for themselves and their products, the fruits of which feature in\u00a0Downtown Design<\/strong><\/a>. Our man particularly liked\u00a0Sarah Al Dulaimi<\/strong>‘s wall-mounted light made from layered chiffon offcuts;\u00a0Nasser Alghawi<\/strong>‘s chandelier of date stones in resin; and\u00a0Tasneem Al Nabhani<\/strong>\u2019s palmfrond-board console and mirror set …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last chance to see<\/b><\/mark> <\/mark>Shumon Basar’s terrific survey of\u00a0two decades of\u00a0The Third Line<\/strong><\/a>, featuring\u00a0every artist currently represented by the gallery:\u00a0Elias Izoli<\/a><\/strong>‘s circus-as-metaphor reflections on Syria:\u00a0Bernhard Buhmann<\/a><\/strong>‘s dangerously enticing look at decline …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Useful app of the week<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Move over, Adobe:\u00a0Affinity Studio<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is a redesign of the Affinity suite that is (a) much, much better than it was (b) literally does just about everything that\u00a0Photoshop<\/strong>,\u00a0Illustrator<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0InDesign<\/strong>\u00a0can do (c) does it in a single package (d) looks terrific (e) runs on Windows or Mac and (f)\u00a0costs absolutely nothing<\/strong>.\u00a0Yep, it\u2019s completely free, and they say it always will be (there\u2019s a cost if you use the pro AI integrations with Canva \u2013 the Canva folk bought Affinity last year). Compare that with the chunky monthly subscription that Adobe charges (and many Adobe package prices are going up before the end of the year). Prepare to be blown away once you\u2019ve downloaded Affinity Studio\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong> Baguette Sprint<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a new Google Arts & Culture game in which you gather baking ingredients in amiable French settings while avoiding local hazards. Each level is followed by a gratifyingly inane fact about France or baguettes, too.\u00a0Try it here<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0A\u00a0jiffy<\/strong>\u00a0really is quite quick: it’s the time it takes light to travel one centimetre in a vacuum, approximately\u00a033.3564 picoseconds\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark> <\/a><\/strong>The Hellp : Doppler<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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