When Sultan Al Qassemi was invited to teach a class at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation saw an opportunity to implement a unique educational exercise.
SOAS is renowned for having its own purpose-built modern gallery space, a distinct feature in London’s pedagogical landscape. This inspired Al Qassemi into refashioning his class into a workshop, which culminated with SOAS students curating an exhibition that featured works from the foundation’s collection.
The exhibition, Hudood: Rethinking Boundaries, running until September 21, is a landmark event for the Barjeel Art Foundation. It marks the first time that a show by the institution has been dedicated to Arab artworks produced from 1990 onwards.
Several factors inspired the focus on contemporary art, Al Qassemi says. Just last year, the Barjeel Art Foundation staged an exhibition at the Christie’s head office in London. The exhibition, titled Kawkaba, presented highlights from the foundation’s robust collection of modern Arab art. As such, Al Qassemi says he wanted to shift the focus to feature the contemporary works from the foundation that are “less seen by the public”.
“I should also say that most of these students are concerned about contemporary events,” Al Qassemi says. “I felt that this is important for them to engage with current events.”
Hudood: Rethinking Boundaries presents more than 40 works by Arab artists that were produced from 1990 onwards. These include a number of notable names, including Mona Hatoum, Hayv Kahraman, Larissa Sansour, Ahmed Mater, Manal Al Dowayan and Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim.
After weeks of readings, classroom discussions and guest lectures, the students pored through the foundation’s collection of contemporary artworks. The exhibition was a way to apply what they had learnt during the workshop. Yet, selecting works was not a straightforward task.
While the Barjeel Art Foundation is well known for its sprawling body of modern Arab art, it also has more than 700 contemporary works. “We were sifting through so much,” SOAS student Chloe-Kate Abel says. “The initial approach was to choose a set of five to eight works that we were drawn to. From there, we sort of came up with, a more cohesive theme that we could synthesise all the works within.”
The thematic thread that the students drew becomes clear when considering the exhibition’s title and its artworks. Hudood, which translates from Arabic to borders, examines issues related to belonging and the identities that seek to transcend the boundaries imposed upon them. These topics are addressed in various fronts, from the material and architectural to the metaphysical.
In Here and Now 2, for instance, Bashar Alhroub examines the tensions of being a Palestinian who has moved abroad.
The artist began the Here and Now series in 2010, when he was a student at the Winchester School of Art. He had sought to visually evoke the schism he felt after he relocated to the UK, where he was no longer subject to the Israeli checkpoints and travel restrictions he faced in Palestine.
The series features photographs of himself in landscapes with his head encased in a mirrored cube. In Here and Now 2, he is laying on a forest path, presumably at a park in the UK, with the cube reflecting the discoloured leaves on the ground. His body is anchored in the landscape. His mind, on the other hand, is elsewhere.
“We spoke about this concept of identity, and how, as a Palestinian artist, that is such an important theme to hold on to,” says student Safa Kamran, who interviewed Alhroub as part of Hudood’s research process and the exhibition’s accompanying publication.
Alhroub’s works have become more explicitly related to Palestinian issues since the Israel-Gaza war began in October. Here and Now 2 is more subtle, but still presents a facet of that tension, particularly reflecting the diasporic anxiety of existing in the present, while still embodying the identity and social issues of a homeland left behind.
“He kind of makes the point of not making Palestinian identity a main focus of his artworks, especially in his older work,” Kamran says. “He said that he didn't want to focus on that aspect of identity previously, but now he does.”
While Alhroub’s Here and Now 2 touches upon more nebulous notions of identity and the struggle for self-realisation in the face of borders, there are works within Hudood that address these issues in material terms. “When I was looking through the works [in the collection], two stood out to me the most, which is what my what my essay is about,” says student Shamsa Alnahyan.
Concrete Block II by Saudi artist Abdulnasser Gharem and Die Wahrheit Ist Konkret (The Truth is Concrete) by Egyptian artist Ganzeer address the implications of concrete but in very different ways.
“I grew up in Dubai, and my whole life I've been, you know, kind of surrounded by all these concrete structures,” Alnahyan says. “Concrete was something that was always safe for me to be in. But then, concrete has also been used in not so positive ways … it creates apartheid walls. It creates refugee camps.”
In her essay, Alnahyan delves into how Gharem and Ganzeer reveal these qualities in their works. Concrete Block II recreates a roadblock using plywood. The surface of the work is covered in rubber stamps that hark back to the time Gharem was as a major in the Saudi army.
“As he sat on his desk for hours on end, the stamp became his weapon,” Alnahyan writes in her essay. “It was a gavel of sorts, stamping countless official documents in a binary manner: ‘stamp’ or ‘no-stamp’. Through this action, there is no in-between.”
The artwork highlights how concrete is utilised to fortify and materialise intangible boundaries. “It is a boundary building medium that is very much controlled by who wields it,” Alnahyan says. “If what's in their heart and what's in their mind is to control, block and censor. It's what they're going to use it for.”
While Ganzeer imparts a similar message, he does so in a very different way. In Die Wahrheit Ist Konkret, concrete is reclaimed as a tool for public interests. The work features a civilian armed with an outline of a rifle. He is smoking a cigarette and staring defiantly back at the viewer. The work’s title is sprayed in the foreground as graffiti.
The divisive power of construction echoes throughout several works in the exhibition. In Kader Attia’s Zene 4, the Algerian-French artist presents a cluster of apartment buildings hovering above a white space. The work alludes, Abel says, to the concrete modernist structures that are built on the outskirts of major French cities.
“Attia himself actually grew up in these buildings,” Abel says. “Zene 4 owes its name to being built on what’s called La Zone. Those [buildings] were actually where the medieval walls of Paris were once built. It then became this liminal space in this periphery zone where actually most of the immigrants coming from France’s former colonies are relegated to live. And it comes into this question of who can be French and who can’t.”
The work is displayed in conversation with Algerian artist Aicha Haddad’s Ghardaia, which is one of the two older pieces within Hudood. While the latter is colourfully rendered with thickly-set oil, Attia’s collage is starkly presented in monochrome, alluding to how the vibrancy of a culture is sapped in such housing projects.
Finally, Hudood brings its exploration of identity back to the Gulf region, and specifically Dubai, a city that student Elika Blake says “sits in this kind of liminal space between being extremely modern and also a traditional society. This condition argues that the society doesn't have to be either or, but can be both of those things at once”.
Several artworks by artists from the UAE reflect upon this in the exhibition. Some juxtapose the country’s concurrent nature of tradition and modernity explicitly, including Lateefa bint Maktoum’s Oral Tradition and Reem Al Ghaith’s photograph Frame 4 from her Held Back series.
Others take a more metaphoric approach, such as Farah Al Qasimi’s photograph Landfill Flowers. The landscape in the background is “foregrounded by this kind of new growth and this idea of prosperity,” Blake says. “This kind of contrast that was present in a lot of the works that I selected.”
Barjeel Art Foundation's Hudood: Rethinking Boundaries is running at the SOAS Gallery until September 21
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Result
UAE (S. Tagliabue 90 1') 1-2 Uzbekistan (Shokhruz Norkhonov 48', 86')
Mobile phone packages comparison
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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
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Read more about the coronavirus
Last 10 winners of African Footballer of the Year
2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2007: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla and Mali)
2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)
2009: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan and Cameroon)
2011: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2012: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2013: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2014: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund and Gabon)
2016: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City and Algeria)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
more from Janine di Giovanni
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Results
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions Dh90,000 2,200m
Winner: Mudaarab, Jim Crowley (jockey), Erwan Charpy (trainer).
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap Dh70,000 1,400m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Richard Mullen, Hassan Al Hammadi.
6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Salima Al Reef, Jesus Rosales, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige Dh100,000 1,600m
Winner: Bainoona, Ricardo Iacopini, Eric Lemartinel.
7pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Ladies World Championship (PA) Prestige Dh125,000 1,600m
Winner: Assyad, Victoria Larsen, Eric Lemartinel.
8pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Group 1 Dh5,000,000 1,600m
Winner: Mashhur Al Khalediah, Jean-Bernard Eyquem, Phillip Collington.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Results
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group 1 (PA) US$75,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Ziyadd, Richard Mullen (jockey), Jean de Roualle (trainer).
7.05pm: Al Rashidiya Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (Turf) 1,800m
Winner: Barney Roy, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm: Meydan Cup Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,810m
Winner: Secret Advisor, Tadhg O’Shea, Charlie Appleby.
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Plata O Plomo, Carlos Lopez, Susanne Berneklint.
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
9.25pm: Al Shindagha Sprint Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
Company%20Profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Lewis Hamilton in 2018
Australia 2nd; Bahrain 3rd; China 4th; Azerbaijan 1st; Spain 1st; Monaco 3rd; Canada 5th; France 1st; Austria DNF; Britain 2nd; Germany 1st; Hungary 1st; Belgium 2nd; Italy 1st; Singapore 1st; Russia 1st; Japan 1st; United States 3rd; Mexico 4th
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE%20ILT20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMarquee%20players%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMoeen%20Ali%2C%20Andre%20Russell%2C%20Dawid%20Malan%2C%20Wanindu%20Hasiranga%2C%20Sunil%20Narine%2C%20Evin%20Lewis%2C%20Colin%20Munro%2C%20Fabien%20Allen%2C%20Sam%20Billings%2C%20Tom%20Curran%2C%20Alex%20Hales%2C%20Dushmantha%20Chameera%2C%20Shimron%20Hetmyer%2C%20Akeal%20Hosein%2C%20Chris%20Jordan%2C%20Tom%20Banton%2C%20Sandeep%20Lamichhane%2C%20Chris%20Lynn%2C%20Rovman%20Powell%2C%20Bhanuka%20Rajapaksa%2C%20Mujeeb%20Ul%20Rahman%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInternational%20players%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ELahiru%20Kumara%2C%20Seekugge%20Prassanna%2C%20Charith%20Asalanka%2C%20Colin%20Ingram%2C%20Paul%20Stirling%2C%20Kennar%20Lewis%2C%20Ali%20Khan%2C%20Brandon%20Glover%2C%20Ravi%20Rampaul%2C%20Raymon%20Reifer%2C%20Isuru%20Udana%2C%20Blessing%20Muzarabani%2C%20Niroshan%20Dickwella%2C%20Hazaratullah%20Zazai%2C%20Frederick%20Klassen%2C%20Sikandar%20Raja%2C%20George%20Munsey%2C%20Dan%20Lawrence%2C%20Dominic%20Drakes%2C%20Jamie%20Overton%2C%20Liam%20Dawson%2C%20David%20Wiese%2C%20Qais%20Ahmed%2C%20Richard%20Gleeson%2C%20James%20Vince%2C%20Noor%20Ahmed%2C%20Rahmanullah%20Gurbaz%2C%20Navin%20Ul%20Haq%2C%20Sherfane%20Rutherford%2C%20Saqib%20Mahmood%2C%20Ben%20Duckett%2C%20Benny%20Howell%2C%20Ruben%20Trumpelman%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Match info
Manchester City 3 (Jesus 22', 50', Sterling 69')
Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 65')
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.6-litre turbo
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp
Torque: 240Nm
Price: From Dh89,000 (Enjoy), Dh99,900 (Innovation)
On sale: Now
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
BMW M8 Competition Coupe
Engine 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8
Power 625hp at 6,000rpm
Torque 750Nm from 1,800-5,800rpm
Gearbox Eight-speed paddleshift auto
Acceleration 0-100kph in 3.2 sec
Top speed 305kph
Fuel economy, combined 10.6L / 100km
Price from Dh700,000 (estimate)
On sale Jan/Feb 2020
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
