How can two people who live in the same city, even in the same house, occupy two very different spaces? The opening artwork of a new Ishara Art Foundation exhibition titled Sheher, Prakriti, Devi asks this very question.
Buildings and Trees presents a grid of 36 artworks by curator Gauri Gill and her mother, Vinnie. Gill’s photographs depicts structures across Delhi, many of which, with their post-globalist architectural tendencies, can perhaps be seamlessly transplanted anywhere else in the world. The monochrome archival prints are juxtaposed with paintings by Vinnie Gill. The works present blossoming trees found throughout the city and, having been painted with watercolours and pastels on rough paper, provide a sharp textural and colourful contrast to the photographs.
Both Gauri and Vinnie Gill have dedicated a significant part of their careers to studying Delhi within their respective art-forms. While Gill has been exhibiting internationally since 1995, and has participated in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions and arts event, including the Venice Biennale, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Tate Museum, her mother’s practice has been a relatively private one.
“[Vinnie Gill] has been a self taught and practicing artist for the past 40 years, but she’s never had gallery exhibitions or anything like that,” says Sabih Ahmed, head curator at Ishara Art Foundation. “She's a different kind of a practitioner, who's been studying the trees, flowers, birds, shrines of Delhi and wherever else she goes.”
Buildings and Trees clearly displays the diverging themes and practices of Gill and her mother. Their contrasting studies of Delhi, however, becomes all the more interesting when considering they live in the same house.
“Both of them are studying the city,” Ahmed says. “And I think what struck Gauri is how [they’re] seeing two completely different worlds in the same city. For Gauri, the city is [made up of] rigid lines, concrete forms, glass and metal. For her mother, it is generative, abundant, seasonal and colourful.”
This juxtaposition is a pivotal theme throughout Sheher, Prakriti, Devi – and it accounts for not just a human-centric perception of natural and urban spaces. The title of the exhibition is drawn from the Hindustani words for city, nature and deity.
Running until June 1, the exhibition marks Gill’s first major curation. The show draws from themes prevalent in her own practice, specifically from her documentation of urban and semi-urban spaces in India – a practice she began in 2003 and continues today. Depicting contrasting perspectives of lived spaces is a seminal preoccupation within Gill’s work.
However, between the varying mediums and methodologies of the 12 participating artists, Sheher, Prakriti, Devi presents a multifaceted perspective of urban and semi-urban environments, accounting for mystical as well as natural perceptions.
In Pigeon as Metaphor, for instance, Mariam Suhail depicts airborne pigeons across several pencil drawings. Suhail observed pigeons who occupied colonial homes across South Asia, and saw within them a sort of protest or takeover by nature. One drawing in the series, showing a flock of pigeons are taking flight along a long vertical space. The drawing reflects upon the tendency of pigeons to occupy the chute often found across colonial homes in South Asia.
“A lot of pigeons, uninvitedly, occupy these chutes,” Ahmed says. “A lot of times, they remain unclean and just birds inhabit them.”
Suhail’s drawing are displayed perpendicularly to a three panel work by Shefalee Jain. Entitled My locust with round cheeks Why don't you fly away now?, the work draws inspiration from a Hindi short story, where locusts witness a city under devastation. Jain’s pen-drawn panels depict bulldozers clawing at the earth, chimneys belching out smog, there are protesters rallying against the swathes of pollution, as well as construction workers and soldiers. Watching this mosaic of industrial destruction are giant man-faced locusts and flocks of birds.
“Shefalee is also an illustrator for children's books,” Ahmed says. “There's a language of really playing with drawing and illustration. What she's done quite remarkably here is shown an expansive view of the city where you’d have the shrine, factory owners deciding what to do, protesters, but what she’s done interestingly is, based on the different vantage point, the creatures seem bigger than the machines.”
As its title suggests, Sheher, Prakriti, Devi also takes the sacred into account. Hindu deities are found throughout several works. In Das Mahavidya (Ten Great Wisdoms), for instance, Chamba Rumal weavers employ a 17th century embroidery technique to depict each of the 10 tantric goddesses. The minute level of detail, as well as the scenes the silk embroideries depict, are striking. The works are displayed on a glass installation, making it possible to view from the other side and appreciate the nuances of the craft.
“In any weave, you have a lot of frayed threads coming out the back, this has none,” Ahmed says. “This weaving tradition has been developed in such a way that you take a thread and keep looping it, so that there are no frayed threads. It’s a tradition that began in the 17th century and was primarily led by women. It had sort of died out but in 1990s, it was revived again by the Delhi Craft Council.”
Hindu deities and the notion and nature of the sacred comes across several other pieces, such as the works of Emily Avery Yoshiko Crow, who depicts the goddess Tara in watercolours and natural pigments, whereas Chiara Camoni alludes to the mystical and the sacred with her Tent, an artwork that comprises large vegetal prints hanging in the centre of the exhibition space.
It is chiefly through how many of these works are displayed and contrasted between one another that the exhibition succeeds in revealing the kaleidoscopic nature of perspective. The focus and themes presented in Sheher, Prakriti, Devi effortlessly ripple beyond cultural and social boundaries so that as you leave the exhibition, you do so with a heightened awareness of the many eyes – human and non-human – that are watching over the space you are inhabiting.
In this way, Sheher, Prakriti, Devi is an almost transcendental exhibition that provides ample food for thought that you’ll find yourself nibbling at long after your initial visit.
Sheher, Prakriti, Devi is running at Ishara Art Foundation until June 1
Understand What Black Is
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(Studio Rockers)
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Juventus v Napoli, Sunday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Match on Bein Sports
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Results
6.30pm Madjani Stakes Rated Conditions (PA) I Dh160,000 I 1,900m I Winner: Mawahib, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm Maiden Dh150,000 I 1,400m I Winner One Season, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Maiden Dh150,000 I 2,000m I Winner Street Of Dreams, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8.15pm Dubai Creek Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,600m I Winner Heavy Metal, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm The Entisar Listed I Dh250,000 I 2,000m I Winner Etijaah, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson
9.25pm The Garhoud Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,200m I Winner Muarrab, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
10pm Handicap I Dh160,000 I 1,600m I Winner Sea Skimmer, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
SERIES INFO
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi Sunshine Series
All matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Test series
1st Test: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets
2nd Test: Wednesday, 10 March – Sunday, 14 March
Play starts at 9.30am
T20 series
1st T20I: Wednesday, 17 March
2nd T20I: Friday, 19 March
3rd T20I: Saturday, 20 March
TV
Supporters in the UAE can watch the matches on the Rabbithole channel on YouTube
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips for avoiding trouble online
- Do not post incorrect information and beware of fake news
- Do not publish or repost racist or hate speech, yours or anyone else’s
- Do not incite violence and be careful how to phrase what you want to say
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')
Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')
The 12
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
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Started: 2021
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Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
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Oppenheimer
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One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
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