As one of the defining issues of our time, it’s no surprise that this year, the world of arts and culture was dominated by the issue of environmental sustainability. While the start of the year was marked by a nuanced exploration of art's relationship with climate change, over the summer, things escalated into a frenzy of activists gluing hands to frames and hurling food over masterpieces.
The actions of these environmental activists have sparked furious debates. The motives they express are myriad; but broadly, they’re presented as a form of anti-capitalist protest, designed to draw people’s attention to the entrenched global systems and frameworks propelling humanity towards an irreversible ecological tipping point.
Some see the actions as a form of performance art, engaging museums and artworks in new ways to express urgent ideas. Most, however, have run out of patience with a set of deliberately sensational and provocative acts, which are increasingly putting beloved works by the masters at risk.
The protesters argue that such perspectives are farcical; valuing paintings over the future of humanity. However, this is an oversimplification; as their critics usually say they do not take issue so much with their cause, but with their methods.
This debate comes at a time when the art world has turned inward and asked itself whether it was doing enough to combat climate change — the answer is, clearly, a resounding no. However, artists, curators and galleries alike are working to change this by measuring, studying and learning to mitigate the carbon footprint of the art industry.
On one hand, programming is increasingly becoming geared towards issues of sustainability — both Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah have hosted numerous shows about scarcity. Yet these institutions are also recognising that simply hosting exhibitions addressing the climate emergency is no longer enough — for the very act of mounting these shows, and moving the people and parts required, creates a massive carbon footprint.
Here in the UAE, Jameel Arts Centre, which in 2020 became the first institution in the Gulf to implement a carbon audit, hosted a further water usage survey this year. Both confirmed that the overwhelming majority of their emissions come from air conditioning and humidity control, which the centre has absorbed as part of a multifaceted attempt to address the climate emergency.
Similarly, Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi has introduced a policy where no more than half the material required for an exhibition, including the art itself, can be shipped in. Alserkal Avenue has also introduced solar panels and has piloted a scheme to reuse condensation from AC units in the common area washrooms.
These moves align with the efforts of the international Gallery Climate Coalition, a network of 800 members from 20 countries devoted to creating a road map for galleries to reduce their climate emissions by 50 per cent by the year 2030.
What is becoming most apparent is that while for many years, the West has been exporting and imposing its ideas on the rest of the world, here in the UAE, something fascinating is taking place. The country is beginning to reverse the tide by becoming a springboard for ideas from the region and the Global South, to be heard across the globe — as is evident from next year's Art Dubai programme.
No longer content to simply import models that do not fit the climates and landscapes they find themselves in, designers, architects and artists from these areas are coming to the UAE to share their thoughts on how best to adapt practices, materials and philosophies to suit their situations.
Drawing on older practices inherent in their various civilisations, they are pushing back at failing strategies with time-honoured approaches.
These ideas form the philosophical core not only at the coming Sharjah Architecture Triennial, but the UAE’s National Pavilion for next year’s International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale — both of which emphasise marrying traditional models of reuse and reappropriation with modern forms of technological innovation and collaboration.
Speaking with Sharjah Architecture Triennial's president Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi at an event this year, the triennial's curator Tosin Oshinowo said it was time to go beyond the buzzword of sustainability, and focus on renewal and regeneration. “If we go back to the simple principles of previous times, of being responsible to the environment, you start to see that before the last 400 years of man's mass development, man had been on this Earth and things functioned. We need to almost look back to look forward," she said.
Mirroring this, Faysal Tabbarah, the National Pavilion UAE's new curator for the International Architecture Exhibition at Venice Biennale 2023, said: "One of the primary aims of the project is to highlight this abundance of knowledge and find opportunities to integrate it with contemporary advances in technology, and by doing so, amplify the relevance of these practices at a time of increasing climate change.”
After all, few aspects of design have as immediate an impact on our ways of life, and subsequent footprints, than architecture. The spaces we live in determine how we live, and when it comes to designing a more sustainable future, any vision has to start there. Or, in Oshinowo's words: “Architecture has to be approachable, it needs to be a little bit more lifestyle driven."
The Arabian Peninsula is a region that historically always had to rely on making the most of very little; this philosophy is steeped in the very flora and fauna that somehow burst from its barren mountains and dunes. It is a mentality that for thousands of years fuelled and sustained the people of the region; and one that the rest of the world, steeped in the excesses of industrialisation and subsequent deindustrialisation, would do well to learn from.
The realms of art and design are where this spirit can be crystallised further into the concepts, philosophies and sparks of inspiration needed to propel this conversation forward. In order to meet the criteria laid down by the climate accords, and to tackle a global problem, archaic colonialist structures need to be deconstructed and rebuilt collectively by the entire world.
Along the way, we can only hope that the conversation also continues to broaden out to encompass the other elements of sustainability; including the social and economic dimensions too often left out of the conversation.
As one of the world’s cultural and economic centres, at the heart of the world, the UAE is in a very rare position of being able to host conversations by people from technical, geographic and philosophical boundaries, to generate the ideas of tomorrow. Such a space allows individuals to transcend their own intellectual and cultural boundaries, to become part of a more inclusive dialogue.
Fittingly, as the UAE gears up to host the monumental Cop28 event in 2023, we can expect the country’s arts and cultural spaces will continue hosting these conversations, and arriving at very real solutions, in the form of new ideas, partnerships and paradigms.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
UAE squad
Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
Australia (15-1): Israel Folau; Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Kurtley Beale, Marika Koroibete; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; David Pocock, Michael Hooper (capt), Lukhan Tui; Adam Coleman, Izack Rodda; Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson.
Replacements: Tolu Latu, Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, Pete Samu, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Jack Maddocks.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
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Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
Squads
Australia: Finch (c), Agar, Behrendorff, Carey, Coulter-Nile, Lynn, McDermott, Maxwell, Short, Stanlake, Stoinis, Tye, Zampa
India: Kohli (c), Khaleel, Bumrah, Chahal, Dhawan, Shreyas, Karthik, Kuldeep, Bhuvneshwar, Pandey, Krunal, Pant, Rahul, Sundar, Umesh
