This week’s editorial musings
from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quote:<\/mark><\/strong> Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Huxley …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Art Dubai intro info<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Art Dubai<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s 20th anniversary edition (17\u201319 Apr) \u2013 the first under new Fair Director\u00a0Dunja Gottweis<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 gets two new curatorial sections (Zamaniyyat<\/strong>\u00a0for Modernism,\u00a0Bawwaba Extended\u00a0<\/strong>for \u201cimmersive installations that might not fit in the conventional format\u201d) alongside the existing Bawwaba (solo presentations of new works by emerging to mid-career artists), the Art Dubai Digital, and the main Art Dubai Galleries section. Total is\u00a0100+<\/strong>\u00a0participants from 35+ countries \u2013 a bit down on last year, which had over 120 exhibitors. The full list of confirmed 2026 galleries is\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Venetian cookery<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0National Pavilion UAE<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0wound up its sixth participation at the Venice Architecture Biennale \u2013 Azza Aboualam\u2019s Pressure Cooker \u2013 with\u00a0a total of 74,000 visitors<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0since its 8 May opening. The Biennale Architettura as a whole was\u00a0the best-attended ever<\/strong><\/a>, with 298,000 tickets sold (+5% over 2023). More than a quarter of attendees were under the age of 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incidentally,\u00a0Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0of Amateur Architecture Studio and the Architecture Dept at\u00a0the China Academy of Art have been named curators of the 2027\u00a0Biennale Architettura …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nature on Saadiyat\u00a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> The\u00a0Natural History Museum<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is open, and by all accounts it\u2019s pretty stunning (a good museum shop too). Two T-Rexs fighting over a triceratops, the Murchison meteorite (contains the oldest material ever dated \u2013 7bn years old), a herd of five sauropods greeting visitors in the museum atrium … Many stories well told, plus a sensible awareness of climate change. Tickets are AED 70, under-18s free. Coming next:\u00a0 Hold the phone<\/mark>\u00a0<\/strong>GymNation<\/strong><\/a>, one of the largest fitness centres chains in the Emirates, has been\u00a0advertising in London<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for anyone \u201csick of phone theft\u201d to fly out to the Gulf Nation for a \u201cself-defence retreat\u201d (aka course) in Dubai. Phone snatching is indeed an issue in London, and apparently GymNation has had more than 600 sign-ups. The not dissimilarly named\u00a0Gym Nation<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in your actual London has apparently benefitted too …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Big deals in Abu Dhabi …<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong> Sotheby\u2019s Collectors\u2019 Week<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in Abu Dhabi \u2013 \u201cthe first ever luxury auction series and the most valuable to be staged in the Middle East\u201d \u2013 sees\u00a0$150m worth<\/strong>\u00a0of jewellery, watches, handbags (inc Jane Birkin\u2019s Birkin bag), cars (inc a 2026 McLaren F1 car, to be delivered in 2028), Colnago performance bikes, lots of diamonds, and two luxury homes, all going under the hammer on 5 Dec. Also on public show are\u00a0$1bn worth<\/strong>\u00a0of luxury items for private sale, \u201cthe most valuable fine art exhibition ever staged in the region\u201d, including a Rembrandt, Klimt\u2019s Lady with a Fan (probably his final portrait), and Banksy\u2019s shredded Girl Without Balloon. It\u2019s all on view\u00a02-5 Dec\u00a0<\/strong>at the\u00a0<\/strong>St Regis Saadiyat Island …<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0… and in New York<\/mark><\/strong> Sotheby\u2019s was also involved in selling\u00a0the most expensive work of modern art ever bought at auction<\/strong><\/a>, and so was\u00a0Klimt \u2013 his Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer went to an anonymous bidder at Sotheby\u2019s New York for $236m, a sale price only surpassed by (of course) the da Vinci (or not) Salvator Mundi. In the same auction Maurizio Cattelan\u2019s solid gold toilet attracted only a single bid at the $10m\u00a0asking price. Better than nothing at all …<\/p>\n\n\n\n SFP8 awards<\/mark><\/strong> The eighth\u00a0Sharjah Film Platform<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has just finished, with awards handed out in four categories \u2013\u00a0Best Documentary Feature<\/strong>\u00a0went to Marching in the Dark (dir Kinshuk Surjan, 2024);\u00a0Best Documentary Short<\/strong>\u00a0was Morgenkreis (Morning Circle) (dir Basma Al-Sharif, 2025);\u00a0Best Fiction Feature<\/strong>\u00a0was On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (dir Rungano Nyoni, 2024);\u00a0Best Fiction Short<\/strong>\u00a0was Le Diable et la Bicyclette (The Devil and the Bicycle) (dir Sharon Hakim, 2024). More info\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a> … True tickets<\/mark><\/strong> Dubai Opera<\/strong>\u00a0is warning that there are a number of fraudulent pages and resellers promoting counterfeit ticket links, presumably a phishing operation of some kind. The only official ticketing platforms are\u00a0DubaiOpera.com<\/a><\/strong> and\u00a0PlatinumList.net<\/strong><\/a>; the only official social media account is\u00a0@Dubaiopera<\/strong>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dune action<\/mark><\/strong> Liwa Festival<\/strong><\/a> returns to Al Dhafra, and more specifically Tal Moreeb<\/strong><\/a>, from 12 Dec to 3 Jan. Much pistonhead\u00a0action as usual \u2013 racing, drifting, stunts, dune driving (the big one, the Dunes Cars Championship, is 29-31 Dec) for both pros and amateurs \u2013 but also shooting, falconry and other testosterone-fuelled stuff; plus more family entertainment, performances, shops, F&B and other goodies in the pop-up Liwa Village, camping and glamping for overnighters. Loads of fun, and general admission is free …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top song<\/mark><\/strong> GEMS Premier Music Academy<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Festive Song Competition, open to GEMS school students aged 14\u201318, attracted 120+ entries; the winners, The Six Amigos<\/strong>, get a term\u2019s tuition at GEMS Premier Music Academy, a professionally produced music video, the chance to do their original song GEMS of the Night in public at Shangri La Dubai<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony<\/strong> on 9 Dec (6.30pm on) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awful user interfaces<\/mark><\/strong> Bad UX<\/a><\/strong> is an enjoyable contest to find terrible UX ideas. This year: \u00a0find out who made the worst date picker (and it really is<\/em> bad, a Tinder-swipe date selector) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n First Folio revisited<\/b><\/mark> We hear that the Shakespeare First Folio<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on sale for \u00a34.5m at Abu Dhabi Art has found a buyer. Seems it might be an individual collector rather than an institution …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Useful app of the week<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Stop typing “thanks!” and “got it!” for routine acknowledgments \u2013 DadReply<\/strong><\/a> adds a one-click thumbs-up emoji\u00a0next to your standard Gmail reply button. Works only with Gmail, sadly, and only in Chrome (or variants like Brave) but otherwise excellent …\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong> Learn Cryptic<\/strong><\/a> teaches you\u00a0how to do the cryptic clues in crosswords. One cryptic clue per day, up to two hints to help you get there;\u00a0try it here<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Dull<\/strong><\/a> in Scotland is twinned with Boring<\/strong><\/a>, Oregon. Every 9 Aug they celebrate\u00a0Dull and Boring Day, now renamed\u00a0Bland, Dull and Boring Day because\u00a0Bland<\/strong><\/a>, New South Wales, has joined in …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark> <\/strong>Lankum : Ghost Town<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Zayed National Museum<\/strong><\/a>, opens 3 Dec …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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