Ziad Al Najjar’s first solo exhibition, Under Your Eyes, is more than a suitable title.
The Emirati artist’s body of work — displayed at Tabari Artspace in the DIFC until January 27 and comprising of silkscreen prints and works on canvas — insinuates much more than the eye can see.
His pieces are a collection of large and small works, connected through a soft, earthy and pastel colour palate, with free, emerging, organic shapes and compositions.
Pigments, stains and swaths of colour are layered over each other with images emerging through Al Najjar’s subtle technique of light, shadow and mark-making. The works emanate energy on closer observation — conventionally feminine, rooted in nature, connected to concepts of spirituality and dual perception.
Each work looks like an accumulation of thoughts and imagery rather than a constructed pictorial field. With no hard lines or a directed pull within the frame, Al Najjar’s work is complex in its organic nature, a manner of creating art that feels instinctual rather than formulaic.
“I don't have a preconceived idea of how it's going to be or what the painting is,” Al Najjar, 21, tells The National.
“It’s a very 'call and response' thing. I'll be working and then, unless I have a very clear idea about what the next step is, I'll take a moment to think because, if I force it, it shows.”
Al Najjar explains that he often works on more than one painting at a time. He switches between pieces of unstretched canvas when it feels he’s reached a stagnant point with one work. It’s an attempt to refresh his train of thought, with his instincts guiding him as he works.
“The approach to each of these paintings is very intuitive,” he says.
“I like to think of them as a very natural process. I'm also constantly exploring what new things I can do, new techniques, figuring things out, expanding on them as I work.”
It is, in itself, an art, following and honing in on and allowing intuition to guide art-making. This cerebral, intangible process may seem natural, but it is challenging and a testament to Al Najjar’s maturity as an artist for someone so young.
“I took a leap into it and embraced it,” he says on how he learned to follow his instincts when working.
“It's a difficult process, because sometimes … I know I have a process, I have a technique and I know the way I approach things, but what I'm going to make next, for example, I'm not exactly sure.”
Set to graduate from his bachelor of fine arts degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in May, Al Najjar explains that his aesthetic was very different four years ago. His work was hard-edged and representational, influenced by the Chicago art scene and wider community.
As his own style started to take shape from within the scope of his immediate environmental influences, Al Najjar found himself looking to the past as another source of inspiration.
While the body of work in Under Your Eyes may at first feel like a free-flowing accumulation of colours and shapes, very quickly, images appear. Outlines of skeletal forms, profiles of bodies, shapes of flowers, petals flying, bird and dog-like silhouettes, simplified motifs appear and disappear from beyond the layers, within the spaces, through the colours, semi-recognisable, instinctually familiar.
During his studies, while learning about western art history, Al Najjar searched for a period of history he connected with.
He became interested in Islamic art produced between the 13th and 17th centuries, including Persian miniature depictions of animal forms and natural elements. These motifs struck a chord for their simplistic rendering yet their deep significance across cultures.
In varying shapes, sizes and forms, these images found themselves in his organic, cellular, abstract compositions. While not directly creating a narrative, they infuse his work with associations and references for the viewer to surmise and feel in tune with.
“I’ve always had animals and I feel a certain connectedness with them,” he says.
“They are a different way of looking at our ecosystem or the world. Rather than looking to other people, you're looking at these animals, which we can only have so much of an interaction with.”
More than any other animal, the goat frequently appears across many of the works. Aloof, powerful and submissive, the goat in many scales and poses, seen through a veil of colour and layers, appears as more than one symbol, if any at all.
“Culturally, they are very significant animals,” he says.
“There's a lot of context behind goats and in my own experience, they are such a goofy animal. They are so funny yet they are also so significant in other ways. And then also the nuances of how they're used … they are a representation of Satan, for example, and here they are a sacrifice during Eid.”
Obvious, hidden and stylized, the free-flowing patterns, the forms and shapes that float and bleed into one another, create a soft and almost perfect symmetry, a field where some subconscious part of the viewer can visually play.
“There's definitely images or illustrations I have in mind, which I do kind of want to use in paintings here and there,” Al Najjar says.
“I always make sure not to make something too obvious. I like to leave enough breathing room for someone to potentially see that or see something else.”
Ziad Al Najjar's exhibition Under Your Eyes is running until January 27 at Tabari Art Space in the DIFC
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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.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
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EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Jetour T1 specs
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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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
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Short-term let permits explained
Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
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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
