This week’s editorial musings
from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quote:<\/mark><\/strong> Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that and just play | Charlie Parker<\/em> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Update<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Four weeks into the war, and now comes the rain and the promise of tornadoes … and postponements. Sharjah Art Foundation<\/strong> has suspended tours and public programming, including the annual March Meeting<\/strong><\/a> (postponed indefinitely). Culture Summit Abu Dhabi<\/strong><\/a>, normally\u00a0in April, is now scheduled for 8-10 December. Also in Abu Dhabi, Middle East Film and Comic Con<\/strong><\/a> moves to 11-13 September; and the Offlimits<\/strong><\/a> festival at Etihad Park (Shakira, Jonas Brothers) will now be 21 November. Other stars of yesteryear getting a raincheck include Christina Aguilera<\/strong><\/a> who will now be at Etihad Arena on 25 September (other Etihad Arena events seem to be running as scheduled) …\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fair\u00a0deals<\/mark><\/strong> Art Dubai<\/strong><\/a> had already flagged its new dates as 14\u201317 May \u2013 but hasn\u2019t yet said much about the \u201cmore focused and flexible format\u201d that we\u2019re promised. Presumably one factor will be how many galleries can\u2019t or won\u2019t make it; apart from anything else, many airlines have suspended commercial flights<\/strong> to the Gulf until the end of April to mid-May, which means people and freight can\u2019t get in (BA<\/strong> and Cathay\u00a0Pacific<\/strong>\u00a0among others have gone further and cancelled\u00a0Dubai\u00a0services\u00a0up to 31 May). The Art Newspaper<\/strong><\/a> reports that the dropouts will still be required to pay for their booths, with a spot reserved for them in 2027; while\u00a0galleries who do make it in May will not be required to pay booth fees \u2013 instead they\u2019ll be charged a percentage of their sales, capped at the booth fee equivalent …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to work<\/mark><\/strong> In normalcy news, the British budget garment retailer Primark<\/strong><\/a> opens a massive store in Dubai Mall today, the first of three in Dubai; and the\u00a0authorities have told private schools, nurseries, and universities<\/strong>\u00a0they can request a return to in-person learning \u2013 Taaleem<\/strong><\/a> schools got in early and will be back on Monday\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy birthday Dubomedy<\/strong><\/mark> Next month Dubomedy<\/strong> will be celebrating 18 years of comedy in the UAE \u2013 Ali Al Sayed and Mina Liccione<\/strong> founded the empire on (appropriately enough) April Fools Day 2008. At the time there simply wasn\u2019t a stand-up scene: Dubomedy came with\u00a0gigs, workshops, and festivals too. It\u2019s hosting a series of fun Sundays throughout April, with evenings that mix comedy, music, games, and interactive performances \u2013 starting with a free comedy workshop<\/strong><\/a> on 29 March (well, it\u2019s nearly April) and culminating on 26 April with a special Dubomedy alumni showcase, followed by a DJ set and party. Inbetween are the usual Sunday Night<\/strong><\/a> gigs \u2013\u00a0Social Distrikt\u00a07pm, free admission but you ought to buy something, RSVP if you want a seat because these evenings fill up fast)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sign here<\/mark><\/strong> Sharjah\u2019s newish Base.39<\/strong><\/a> \u2018creative district\u2019 is looking to build \u201ca supportive platform for self-expression, meaningful connections, and creative and artistic exchange across our events, cultural gatherings, and activations\u201d \u2013 and to that end it\u2019s putting together a register of performers (all genres) and \u201ccreative workshop practitioners\u201d. If you\u2019re interested, contact ajalrashid@srtip.ae<\/strong><\/a> with some details about yourself …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Write on<\/mark><\/strong> If you\u2019re interested in learning calligraphy, here\u2019s the registration link<\/strong><\/a> for a DiarBid\/Dubai Culture Arabic Calligraphy Program<\/strong> \u2013 \u201ca curated series of workshops and specialised classes designed to build real skill, confidence, and artistic direction in Arabic calligraphy\u201d. It\u2019s free, all materials are provided, and it runs Saturdays and Sundays (5-7pm) at Al Jalila Cultural Centre<\/strong><\/a>. Participants get the chance to exhibit their work at the end\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n D is for dirham<\/mark><\/strong> The UAE\u2019s dirham currency symbol<\/strong> wasn\u2019t ready for the last version of the Unicode Standard, which among other things decides what characters get included on keyboards. Looks like it will now be encoded in the September 2026 release, when the D-with-two-bars<\/strong><\/a> will replace the carat symbol currently above the 6 key. In the meantime we\u2019ll just have to carry on typing ‘AED’\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brand logic<\/mark><\/strong> This<\/strong><\/a> is such a good idea \u2013 scan or upload the label on a garment, or type in the details, and you\u2019ll get information about how the material will behave, age, and respond to care; you can also ask specific questions about the garment. It\u2019s from Casa Branda<\/strong><\/a> (a newly-launched “independent brand integrity index”), but it\u2019s the sort of thing a confident\u00a0retailer ought to be doing …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Job ops<\/mark><\/strong> Sharjah Art Foundation<\/strong><\/a> is recruiting for an Assistant Curator<\/strong><\/a> (Masters degree plus five years experience or Bachelors plus eight years) and a Senior Coordinator, Performance<\/strong><\/a> (experience working in festivals, performance venues, or cultural institutions). Get in quickly \u2013 they\u2019re both attracting a load of applications already …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speak LinkedIn<\/mark><\/strong> Translate English into LinkedIn-speak<\/strong><\/a>. Eg \u201cI have been running magpie weekly newsletter for more than 10 years\u201d translates into \u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud to have been leading and scaling the Magpie weekly newsletter for over a decade now. \ud83d\ude80 It\u2019s been an amazing 10+ year journey of consistent growth, community building, and delivering value every single week. #Leadership #Newsletter #Entrepreneurship #Consistency\u201d. Essential stuff (and the\u00a0website can also do more traditional\u00a0translation). Try it here<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A Picasso for \u20ac100<\/mark><\/strong> The charity raffle<\/strong><\/a> is back for a third time, offering the chance to win an original Picasso<\/strong><\/a> (T\u00eate de femme (1941), a gouache on paper valued at \u20ac1 million<\/strong>, provided by Opera Gallery) and research by Fondation Recherche Alzheimer. The draw takes place on 14 April; get your tickets here<\/strong><\/a> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Useful app of the week<\/mark><\/strong> Sava OS<\/a><\/strong> is a web browser extension (seems to work with most) that gives you a familiar desktop-like interface that is highly customisable \u2014 you can create dynamic layouts folders for links, notes, YouTube feeds, embeds, whatever; or go for a super-minimal uncluttered option. Bags of potential, and free (for now).\u00a0Try it here<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Your new essential timewaster: you have 100 jumps<\/strong><\/a> to get from one ledge to another. Length of press decides how far you jump. Simple, but addictive. Try it here<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Octopuses<\/strong> have three hearts<\/strong>: two pump blood to the gills,\u00a0the third pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. That third one\u00a0stops beating when an octopus swims, so they prefer crawling (swimming tires them out quickly)\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark> <\/strong><\/a>Barry Can’t Swim : Chala (My Soul Is On A Loop)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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