The Africa Institute has unveiled plans for its new, 32,000-square-metre campus in Sharjah, designed by Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye.
The institute is slated to welcome its first set of students in 2023, said Hoor Al Qasimi, who founded the organisation in 2018. It has been programming events and research seasons since that first announcement, but with the confirmation of plans for the building, moves closer to its full ambition of being a premier research institute for African studies.
The new site will house archives, a library, and lecture and performance halls, as well as host visiting scholars and fellows, and stage art and music events. As a degree-granting institute for students earning their master's and PhD qualifications, the institute will also effectively function as a university campus.
Adjaye, who recently designed the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, said he was inspired by North African domestic architecture for his latest creation. He proposed a campus composed of five tower blocks, with air circulating between these structures allowing for pools and gardens on the ground floor as places for scholars to talk and meet. The reddish-brick colour of the design is a nod to the iron oxide typically found in North African soil.
“In making a new institute, we wanted to make sure that we were rooting the discourse in the north of Africa and the Arab and Middle East peninsula,” said Adjaye in a press conference. “We wanted to understand the architecture of communities that were incubating all kinds of scholarly life and also agrarian life – and to think about the modernity of cities, and to see if we could create an architecture that would understand the history, but also look to the future, to create a new skyline.”
The design for the building is superb, departing from the glass and steel style of recent constructions in the Mena region, in favour of a more authentic regional vernacular. It is also enormous, and a testament to the investment Sharjah is making in this new centre of research.
The institute will sit next to Africa Hall, the lecture theatre that Sheikh Sultan Al Qasimi built in 1976 to host the Afro-Arab Symposium. That event was a product of the solidarity movements of pan-Arabism and pan-Africanism, and brought together important African and Arab scholars, economists and thinkers to understand how the two regions could collaborate. In invoking this legacy, Hoor Al Qasimi knowingly returns to a moment of transnational support among non-western nations, which the institute will explore in the realm of culture and social sciences.
The geographical position of the UAE, the institute director Salah M. Hassan noted, makes it a natural site from which to understand the crossroads of migration and trade that traverse the Arabian Sea.
“This area has had a host of different types of population mixing and linkages with Africa,” says the scholar, who is also a professor at Cornell University. “One of the major assets of this institute is that it will be exploring lesser-known diasporas of the Indian Ocean, in addition to those across the Atlantic, which is very well known.”
Al Qasimi also revealed that influential curator Okwui Enwezor had given his archives to the institute. Enwezor was an important influence on Al Qasimi, who established the Sharjah Art Foundation in 2009. She has often told the story of her being exposed to the potential of contemporary art after seeing his 2002 Documenta. That year's version of the event, an art exhibition held in Kassel every five years, is widely credited with introducing works from the Global South to the contemporary art world, and Enwezor became the leader in a generation that substantially revised art's geographical boundaries.
Born in Nigeria, Enwezor also helped to define the field of contemporary African art, and Hassan worked with him on the journal Nka, which the two founded with Nigerian-American artist Olu Oguibe. Enwezor will also posthumously curate the next Sharjah Biennial, which he had been due to direct, via a team of curators and scholars who will carry out his ideas. That biennial has been postponed to 2023, when the Africa Institute should also open its doors.
The donation of Enwezor's archive is a high-profile starting point for what will become an important aspect of the institute. African archives – the key to understanding the past – are mostly held in European or American museums and universities, or have not been properly catalogued, digitised or stored.
“There are so many archives of intellectuals and families of major thinkers in Africa that have been scattered or are in disarray,” says Hassan. "We are hoping to be part of them … This is part of our rethinking the ideas of postcoloniality and decolonisation.”
Al Qasimi described Enwezor's donation as a great honour. "As he said, the West doesn't have to own or to monopolise the archives."
Racecard
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
Playing records of the top 10 in 2017
How many games the top 10 have undertaken in the 2017 ATP season
1. Rafael Nadal 58 (49-9)
2. Andy Murray 35 (25-10)
3. Roger Federer 38 (35-3)
4. Stan Wawrinka 37 (26-11)
5. Novak Djokovic 40 (32-8)
6. Alexander Zverev 60 (46-14)
7. Marin Cilic 43 (29-14)
8. Dominic Thiem 60 (41-19)
9. Grigor Dimitrov 48 (34-14)
10. Kei Nishikori 43 (30-13)
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
Asia Cup 2018 Qualifier
Sunday's results:
- UAE beat Malaysia by eight wickets
- Nepal beat Singapore by four wickets
- Oman v Hong Kong, no result
Tuesday fixtures:
- Malaysia v Singapore
- UAE v Oman
- Nepal v Hong Kong
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company%20profile
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz S 450
Price, base / as tested Dh525,000 / Dh559,000
Engine: 3.0L V6 biturbo
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 369hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm at 1,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.0L / 100km
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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