The oases of the UAE and their legacy of building communities will be the focus of an exhibition at Tokyo’s Atelier Muji Ginza.
The exhibition, titled New Circulation, will take place between November 29 and January 26. It will comprise artworks, photographs, videos and maps that explore several aspects of oases, from the many uses of the date palm to the irrigation system known as the falaj.
New Circulation is the first exhibition at the Atelier Muji that looks towards the UAE and the Arabian Peninsula. The gallery space highlights the ethos of Muji and its parent company Ryohin Keikaku. The brand has long been known for its recycling and sustainable production practices, and the exhibitions at Atelier Muji seek out ways to carry that vision into the future.
In the context of New Circulation, the exhibition will reflect upon the communal essence of oases, suggesting how their customs and technologies have the potential to inspire novel ways of thinking about sustainability.
The exhibition is curated by urban researchers Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib. The brothers are perhaps best known for being the founders of Brownbook, which examines cities around the world while highlighting points of cultural intersection. Their research, meanwhile, often focuses on concepts of sustainability gleaned from vernacular architectural practices.
One example of this is The Anatomy of Sabkhas. The publication accompanied the 2021 National Pavilion UAE at the Venice Architecture Biennale. The pavilion won the Golden Lion Award, the event's highest honour, and suggested how the country’s salt flats, if tended to, could be an important instrument in the fight against climate change.
Last year, the brothers collaborated with the luxury brand Cartier to present an installation that reimagined the manama. An elevated plinth that is designed to promote airflow during summer, the manama uses sustainable forms of construction to keep the temperature cool. The brothers suggested the traditional architectural form, with its passive cooling system, makes it ideal to use in public locations, including bus stops or rest areas.
In 2015, during the Milan Expo, the brothers created an exhibition for the National Pavilion UAE that looked at how dates, the palm tree and the falaj system produced a social and environmental ecosystem.
As such, New Circulation feels like a natural extension of the brothers’ research. However, it also aims to address a gap in their work.
"A lot of the research that we've been doing around urbanism is really narrowed down towards the topic of ecology, specifically ecology within desert landscape,” Rashid says. “One angle that we missed a lot is drawing out the topic of community within ecology. This is where the exhibition really fills the void.”
New Circulation, Rashid says, examines how social and cultural traditions formed around an ecological reality. In this case, the oasis and the falaj. An ancient system of irrigation, the falaj features hand-dug channels where water is transported from mountains and springs to nourish farms. The irrigation technique is included in the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
“What can a falaj inform us today?” Rashid says. “Why does it continue to exist when there are other ways of irrigation and networking?” It is a question that aims to traverse beyond nostalgia.
“Do we relinquish the centuries-old tradition of making aflaj, or do we have them in tandem as a form of natural intelligence?” Ahmed says.
This question will be represented within the exhibition through illustrations by Laith Khalifa. The Omani artist will depict the ancient irrigation system by charting its starting point in the mountains before it waters areas of date palms.
A series of archival photographs will also depict the significance of oases and the falaj within UAE history. One in particular stands out. It depicts the Bin Shabib brothers’ grandfather, Mohammed Saeed Al Mulla, sitting in a manama by a falaj, alongside UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the former Ruler of Dubai.
While the falaj has a starring role in New Circulation, the exhibition highlights it as a vital component of an oasis rather than exclusively looking at the water system. “We’re also talking about the material recycling from palm trees, and these resources that can become seating, social gathering spaces and architectural elements,” Rashid says.
He adds it aims to show how the desert is a resource, and contrary to its reputation of barrenness, it has a bustling ecology, full of life. A section will showcase this lushness. A series of maps will be pinpointing oases and falaj networks across the Hajar mountain range.
The maps will be complemented by a series of photographs by Shinsui Ohara. The Japanese photographer visited various locations across the country, including Al Ain Oasis, the Hatta Dam and its surrounding mountains, the Fujairah desert as well as Al Dhayah Fort in Ras Al Khaimah. While the maps offer a meteorological and topographical perspective of oases and falaj systems in the UAE, Ohara’s work will provide another interpretation of the landscape in a section aptly labelled East Meets East.
Other components of New Circulation will include a majlis area, where discussions around topics presented at the exhibition will take place, as well as a section dedicated to Brownbook.
Furthermore, Toraya Confectionary, a company known for its traditional Japanese sweets, will provide a lighthearted cultural fusion at the exhibition, presenting wagashi made with dates, instead of red bean paste. The sweet comes as a merry way of pondering the possibilities of new circulation, and how different cultures can come together to produce something that, though grounded in their disparate traditions, is entirely new.
Ahmed says he hopes the exhibition puts forward “this idea that although the region is going through an economic transformation, we're still rooted in our core identity".
However, as keen as the Bin Shabib brothers are to present facets of UAE culture to Japan, they are interested in seeing how audiences at the Atelier Muji respond to New Circulation.
“It will also help us reshape this presentation into a contemporary form,” Ahmed says, hinting that the New Circulation might grow to become a travelling exhibition, introducing the oases and aflaj of the UAE to other countries around the world.
"So at the same time, although we're really interested in looking at what we're taking from here there, but we're equally interested in looking at how they're going to respond, and also help us to shape this presentation into a contemporary form."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Why does a queen bee feast only on royal jelly?
Some facts about bees:
The queen bee eats only royal jelly, an extraordinary food created by worker bees so she lives much longer
The life cycle of a worker bee is from 40-60 days
A queen bee lives for 3-5 years
This allows her to lay millions of eggs and allows the continuity of the bee colony
About 20,000 honey bees and one queen populate each hive
Honey is packed with vital vitamins, minerals, enzymes, water and anti-oxidants.
Apart from honey, five other products are royal jelly, the special food bees feed their queen
Pollen is their protein source, a super food that is nutritious, rich in amino acids
Beewax is used to construct the combs. Due to its anti-fungal, anti-bacterial elements, it is used in skin treatments
Propolis, a resin-like material produced by bees is used to make hives. It has natural antibiotic qualities so works to sterilize hive, protects from disease, keeps their home free from germs. Also used to treat sores, infection, warts
Bee venom is used by bees to protect themselves. Has anti-inflammatory properties, sometimes used to relieve conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, nerve and muscle pain
Honey, royal jelly, pollen have health enhancing qualities
The other three products are used for therapeutic purposes
Is beekeeping dangerous?
As long as you deal with bees gently, you will be safe, says Mohammed Al Najeh, who has worked with bees since he was a boy.
“The biggest mistake people make is they panic when they see a bee. They are small but smart creatures. If you move your hand quickly to hit the bees, this is an aggressive action and bees will defend themselves. They can sense the adrenalin in our body. But if we are calm, they are move away.”
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
THREE
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if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
Biography
Favourite book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Holiday choice: Anything Disney-related
Proudest achievement: Receiving a presidential award for foreign services.
Family: Wife and three children.
Like motto: You always get what you ask for, the universe listens.
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
SEMI-FINAL
Monterrey 1
Funes Mori (14)
Liverpool 2
Keita (11), Firmino (90 1)
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
Napoleon
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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
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
