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Dubai\u2019s cultural sector ambitions<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0The newly announced\u00a0Dubai Cultural Strategy 2033<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 part of an\u00a0AED 18bn package of initiatives<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that also include cutting red tape for new businesses, setting up an Islamic finance technology centre, and building an elevated highway parallel to Sheikh Zayed Road (!) \u2013 aims to make the city \u201ca global cultural reference<\/strong>, rooted in the UAE\u2019s heritage, pioneering innovation and talent\u201d. There are four pillars, 40 initiatives, 23 KPIs, and specific goals that include support for 6,000+ local talents, attract another 6,000+ international creatives, increase Dubai\u2019s cultural asset footprint by more than 200%, raise the sector\u2019s GDP contribution to 5.4% (the last number we could find was 4.6%, back in 2022) and grow the value of public-private partnerships in the sector to AED 2.75bn. We\u2019ll report more when we can get some detailed information\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christo Award<\/mark><\/strong> Winners of the 14th\u00a0Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0($10,000 production grant plus exhibition at Frieze Abu Dhabi) are\u00a0Noora Jabir and Moufida Mohideen<\/strong><\/a>, 2024 graduates of NYUAD and U Sharjah respectively. Inspired by the prehistoric site of\u00a0Tell Abraq<\/strong><\/a>, their project\u00a0Everyday Artifacts looks at how local knowledge and contemporary livelihoods can inform the interpretation of historical artifacts and sites \u2013 taking as its starting point a partially buried fishing hook that connects past and present livelihoods in the UAE\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work at Tashkeel<\/strong><\/mark> Tashkeel<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has added a Workspace & Events offering at its Nad Al Sheba campus \u2013 meeting rooms, event spaces and flexible workspaces for hire. This makes sense, broadening the basic studios-plus-members-club setup (it plans to grow from 19 studios now to 58 in 2027) \u201cto support both creative production and professional enterprise within a single, considered ecosystem\u201d. Prices look ok for no-contract drop-ins: Flexidesk spaces are\u00a0AED 160 per 10-hour day<\/strong>, a group of four spaces is AED 320, and you can get a four-seater enclosed \u2018Quiet Pod\u2019 for AED 500.\u00a0Book here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tiny plug<\/mark><\/strong> Nominations for this year\u2019s\u00a0Tiny Awards<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 for creative, non-commercial websites built in the past 12 months \u2013 have just gone live. A shortlist will be picked by judges, then in Sept the public get to vote. The winner gets a small prize and a small handmade trophy. Well worth supporting, so\u00a0nominate anything you like<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(or have made) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Input to LitFest<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Emirates LitFest <\/strong><\/a>is looking for input to help shape \u201cfuture Festival communications, programme formats and audience resources\u201d. It\u2019s a 5 min survey to be completed by Friday 10 July; five respondents will get a LitFest merch packs (content and value unspecified). Here it is<\/strong><\/a> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gallery moving \u2026<\/mark><\/strong> Aisha Alabbar Gallery<\/a><\/strong> shut its doors on 30 June at warehouse 19 Alserkal Avenue and will be moving to warehouse 50 (next to Concrete: used to be part of Alserkal Foundation\u2019s Project Space) \u2013 \u201ca refreshed environment that will continue to host the artists, exhibitions, and conversations that shape our programme\u201d. No word yet on the reopening schedule, but there should be a new Gallery Director<\/strong><\/a> and Marketing Manager<\/strong><\/a> in place\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 Gallery gone<\/mark><\/strong> Mondoir<\/strong><\/a> is closing its gallery in Downtown Dubai<\/strong><\/a>, but this one looks more permanent \u2013 owner\/founder Amir Soleymani<\/strong> told us they were being evicted. He said he hopes to open another space “dedicated to art and culture” at some time in the future; and in the meantime, Mondoir\u2019s online presence<\/strong><\/a> and activities continue as before …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Master design<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0DIDI\u2019s new\u00a0Master of Design in Creative Leadership (MDes)<\/a><\/strong> is a one-year hybrid programme (weekends and evenings) that claims to equip both non-designers and designers with the leadership skills to drive innovation across industries. The usual AED 75,000 fee is being discounted to AED 60,000+VAT<\/strong> for the inaugural cohort (starting Sept 2026) …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Job share<\/mark><\/strong> Hoor Al Qasimi<\/strong> has added the chairpersonship (or presidency: WAM<\/strong><\/a> and her PR agency seem to disagree here) of Sharjah Museums Authority<\/strong><\/a> to the many jobs she already has \u2013 including heading the Sharjah Architecture Triennial<\/strong><\/a>, The Africa Institute<\/strong><\/a>, Global Studies University<\/strong><\/a> and the University of the Arts Sharjah<\/strong><\/a> as well as last year’s Aichi Triennale <\/strong><\/a>and the 2026 Biennale of Sydney<\/strong><\/a> plus\u00a0(of course) her main role as head of Sharjah Arts Foundation<\/strong><\/a> and the Sharjah Biennial<\/strong><\/a> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZNM research grants<\/mark><\/strong> Researchers from around the world are invited to apply to the 2026 Zayed National Museum Research Fund<\/strong><\/a> for research projects contributing to the preservation, advancement of knowledge and understanding of the heritage and culture of the UAE and wider region. On offer are 10 small grants (max AED 70,000 each) and two large ones (max AED 150,000 each). Submit applications by 20 Aug; more info here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be surprised<\/mark><\/strong> Taken<\/strong><\/a> is a free privacy tool that reads everything your browser gives away the moment you land on it, from your location to your screen to your battery, then shows you exactly what it learned and how it did it … all without asking you. Didn\u2019t get it quite right for us \u2013 said we had Safari not DuckDuckGo, located us 125 miles away \u2013 but otherwise quite scarily accurate: depending on the browser, Taken reported between 32 and 39 \u2018data points\u2019 extracted in the first few milliseconds. It’s here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n More media mingle<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong> We\u2019ve been told about another get-together for media types \u2013 The Edit<\/strong>, a weekly media industry night on Wednesdays at Observatory Lounge <\/strong>on top of the Dubai Marriott Harbour. Simply show a company ID or business card to get in \u2013 unlimited drinks for AED 99<\/strong> plus 50% off food throughout the evening …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shop M39<\/strong><\/mark> Madar_39<\/strong><\/a>, the coworking-plus space in Abu Dhabi\u2019s Mina Zayed, has opened a \u201cconcept retail space\u201d (aka “shop”?) called Al Maisan<\/strong><\/a> for work from members \u201cand the wider creative community\u201d. It looks good\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Choose your news<\/mark><\/strong> This is an interesting idea \u2013 \u201cthe world\u2019s first reliable chatbot for news\u201d. Newsguard<\/strong><\/a>, an organisation which deals with countering misinformation, has launched its own LLM to source information solely from its own list of approved sources (12,000 news outlets rated as reliable and regularly matched against 60,000+ instances of provably false claims circulating online). Worth a try<\/strong><\/a> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sikka open call<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Dubai Culture is seeking participants for next January’s\u00a0Sikka Art & Design Festival<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 deadline 17 Aug \u2013 for visual arts, drawing, sculpture, photography, design, murals, multimedia, culinary arts, interactive workshops, musical performances, talks \u201cand more\u201d. There\u2019s a theme: The Return, because Sikka 2027 includes some events in its original home of Al Fahidi as well as Al Shindagha. At present it looks as though only artists can apply (\u201cother categories to be announced soon\u201d). Register here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Useful app of the week<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Tinkerfont<\/strong><\/a> is a\u00a0Chrome and Firefox add-on for designers\u00a0who want to see how different\u00a0fonts look on real websites: detect the fonts on any page, swap them with candidates from Bunny Fonts or your own uploads, and see the result on layout and content\u00a0\u2013 all before you touch CSS or whatever.\u00a0Find it here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Something for the weekend<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0Hamster Run<\/a><\/strong> is a\u00a0simple game in which your hamster has to jump over rocks as it runs across the screen for 60 seconds. The catch: the hamster eats the sunflower seeds it encounters, and they make your rodent faster and so harder to control.\u00a0Try it here<\/a>\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Things we didn\u2019t know no.94<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0The surveyors who first calculated Everest’s height<\/strong> in the 1850s measured it as exactly 29,000 ft<\/strong>, but thought that no one would believe that it wasn\u2019t simply rounded to the nearest thousand. So they added 2ft<\/strong><\/a> and officially recorded 29,002 ft. An Indian team surveying more accurately in 1954 found the mountain actually to be 29,028 ft, so the oldsters weren\u2019t too far off\u00a0…<\/p>\n\n\n\n A poll!<\/mark><\/strong> How did you like this edition of the newsletter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earworm of the week<\/mark> <\/a><\/strong>Mitchum Yacoub : When I\u2019m With You<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\n\n\n\n![\"laugh\"](\"https:\/\/sendy.magpie.ae\/js\/ckeditor\/plugins\/smiley\/images\/teeth_smile.png\" "\\"laugh\\"")
It was excellent<\/a>![\"smiley\"](\"https:\/\/sendy.magpie.ae\/js\/ckeditor\/plugins\/smiley\/images\/regular_smile.png\" "\\"smiley\\"")
Pretty good<\/a>![\"indecision\"](\"https:\/\/sendy.magpie.ae\/js\/ckeditor\/plugins\/smiley\/images\/whatchutalkingabout_smile.png\" "\\"indecision\\"")
Not so good<\/a>![\"sad\"](\"https:\/\/sendy.magpie.ae\/js\/ckeditor\/plugins\/smiley\/images\/sad_smile.png\" "\\"sad\\"")
It was poor<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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