This week’s editorial musings
from magpie’s nest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quote:<\/mark><\/strong> We hardly ever realise that we can cut anything out of our lives, anytime, in the blink of an eye |\u00a0Carlos Castaneda …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n SB17 first look<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> Sharjah Art Foundation<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has announced the title, curatorial framework, and artist list for\u00a0Sharjah Biennial 17<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(runs 21 Jan to 13 June 2027). Title is \u2018What remains, sits restive<\/strong>\u2019; the co-curators,\u00a0Angela Harutyunyan<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Paula Nascimento<\/strong>, have chosen as their theme the capacity of the past to animate the present, and each is organising their own approach to this \u2013 with 55 artists for Harutyunyan and 54 for Nascimento …<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI all over<\/mark><\/strong> The UAE plans to deploy agentic AI across\u00a050% of federal government sectors, services, and operations<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0within two years, making it the first government in the world to operate such systems at this scale. (Agentic AI means\u00a0systems that can make decisions and execute tasks without requiring human intervention at each step) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Works on water<\/mark><\/strong> The\u00a0Jameel<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is inviting just five participants to join\u00a0The Water Diviners<\/strong>, an immersive storytelling project by Palestinian artist\u00a0Jumana Emil Abboud<\/strong>\u00a0that explores the magical and spiritual significance of wells and springs. There are five sessions between 12 May and 14 June (and commitment to all five is mandatory).\u2060\u00a0Info here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intern op<\/strong><\/mark> Rizq Art Initiative<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in Abu Dhabi is looking for \u201cdedicated interns to support our work in Arts Management, Production, Curatorial Practice, and Sales … Develop your skills within a dynamic environment at the intersection of art and industry\u201d. Interested? Send your CV to\u00a0info@rizqart.com<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n More Adobe alternatives<\/mark><\/strong> Adobe\u2019s\u00a0Creative Suite<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0ruled the design roost for some years, but maybe that\u2019s changing. We\u2019ve extolled the virtues of\u00a0Affinity<\/strong><\/a>, a free but very comprehensive Photoshop\/InDesign\/Illustrator alternative from the Canva people. Now comes\u00a0DaVinci Resolve 21<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0from Blackmagic Design, a direct competitor to Adobe Lightroom and Capture One:\u00a0most features are free. And while After Effects remains the deepest, most integrative compositing and industry-standard tool, it is definitely heavier and slower for some motion\u2011design tasks (and costs money) so let\u2019s hear it for two new recently announced freebie alternatives:\u00a0Cavalry<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/strong>from the Affinity stable, and Maxon has revived the much-lauded but previously pricey\u00a0Autograph<\/strong><\/a>. (And if you want an alternative to Canva, check out\u00a0Avnac<\/strong><\/a>: free, open-source, local-first design in the browser for layouts, posters, and graphics) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n … More beach<\/mark><\/strong> The\u00a0property boom<\/strong>\u00a0may have slackened a bit but developers seem to be betting\u00a0that demand will pick up quickly \u2013 especially for\u00a0luxury beachfront properties<\/strong>. No beachfront left? No problem.\u00a0Palm Jebel Ali<\/strong>\u00a0is adding\u00a0another 90km of coastline to Dubai; and this week, the government-owned\u00a0Nakheel<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0awarded\u00a0contracts worth AED 3.5bn<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for 544 villas there \u2013 completion by 2028 …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Summer studio space<\/mark><\/strong> For the summer\u00a0NIKA Project Space<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is again giving its Al Khayat Avenue gallery over as studio space to three artists. You get it 8 Jun to 28 Aug, there\u2019s a modest stipend for materials, and NIKA will put on an exhibition in Sept for you.\u00a0Apply by 17 May<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wartime spirit<\/mark><\/strong> Open call for\u00a0Creating in Times of War: Responses from the UAE<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 AED 5,000 + resource support to produce a new work (any creative medium) that responds to the war through your own experiences: work to be completed during June 2026. A\u00a0Fiker Institute<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Dirwaza Lab<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0project.\u00a0Apply by 14 May<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Numoo named<\/mark><\/strong> Following an open call, the Arts Center at NYUAD\u00a0has announced the 12 participants for the fourth edition of\u00a0Numoo<\/strong><\/a>, its professional development accelerator for UAE-based performing artists. It’s a satisfyingly broad mix: definitions are inimical, but we count four from theatre, two singers, two dancers, two musicians, one from film and one storyteller …<\/p>\n\n\n\n OPEC exit<\/mark><\/strong> After 60 years\u2019 membership, the UAE\u00a0will quit OPEC<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on 1 May \u2013 \u201cthe time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates\u201d says\u00a0the official statement<\/strong><\/a>. This is a big deal; the UAE is currently the fourth largest oil producer in the group, and reportedly it has long chafed at Saudi Arabia\u2019s restrictions\u00a0on global prices and production volumes. Saudi wants to keep prices high and volumes restricted: the UAE has been keen to expand production (from the OPEC-mandated 3-3.5m barrels a day to more like 5m by 2027) and sell more at lower prices. There\u2019s also talk of a new Hormuz-bypassing\u00a0pipeline across the desert<\/strong>\u00a0from Abu Dhabi\u2019s oilfields to Fujairah port to speed the flow …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sockpuppetry<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> Apologies if you\u2019ve been trying to register on the website\u00a0to post comments<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 we\u2019ve been spam-bombed again with several hundred bot registrations so temporarily we\u2019ve turned off the facility. If you want to comment on something, or just to reach us, email\u00a0editor@magpie.ae<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0..<\/p>\n\n\n\n Useful app of the week<\/mark><\/strong> Sinceerly<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is an anti-Grammarly tool, a Chrome extension for Gmail that makes your writing sound more like a real person rather than AI-generated. Choose from three levels of adaptation (subtle\/human\/CEO); Sinceerly fillets\u00a0em dashes, undoes those annoying phrases that AI uses, and can even add some typos (“because humans make mistkaes”). $4.99 a month.\u00a0Try it here<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0With\u00a0Wordsnake<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0you find the words by dragging a \u2018snake\u2019 around the grid of nine letters. Really quite hard (well, it was for us).\u00a0Try it here<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0There are approximately\u00a0three trillion trees<\/strong>\u00a0on Earth \u2014 more than\u00a0stars in the Milky Way<\/strong>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark> <\/a><\/strong>Sprints : Need<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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