Twelve public gardens in six countries will come together in September to stage one single show. How? Augmented reality.
As part of Seeing the Invisible, visitors download an app that will place the same works in front of them, whether they’re standing in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh or the Tucson Botanical Gardens in Arizona.
Veteran Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem will be one of the dozen artists participating in this new venture, alongside major artists such as Ai Weiwei from China, Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui and British video artist Isaac Julien.
“Coming out of the pandemic when outdoor experiences and nature have taken on a new meaning and gravity in our lives, this exhibition represents a fresh way for people to engage with art and nature simultaneously,” says the exhibition’s co-curator Tal Michael Haring.
“The interplay of these augmented reality works in vibrant natural settings breaks down the binary between what is often considered ‘natural’ versus ‘digital’, and in this way provides an exhibition experience that is much more connected to the way we live today.”
Seeing the Invisible was co-curated by Haring with Hadas Maor, both from Israel, and takes advance of AR technology to allow the artists to create the same installations in vastly different climates.
The show also points to botanical gardens as fascinating subjects in themselves; they became fashionable during European colonialism, and often host microcosms of biomes transplanted from elsewhere in the world – making them transnational entities in themselves.
The curators believe that the dislocation involved in seeing tropical plants in Cornwall, for example, will probably be deepened by the experience of seeing the virtual artworks across the global venues.
“There is exceptional potential for botanical gardens, with their deep expertise in engaging diverse audiences in their complex work, to lead the way in creating new models for visitor experiences of contemporary art,” says Hannah Rendell, executive director of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, which initiated the project with the UK organisation Outset Contemporary Art Fund.
Many of the artists have worked extensively to explore the borderlines between the digital and physical words, such as Pamela Rosenkranz and Timur Si-Qin. The technology is new for others, but many of the artists take globalism as a starting point.
Kazem, for example, is best known for his paintings and to a lesser extent his installations, both of which approach the world around him with a keen power of observation. El Anatsui, who lives in Nigeria, repurposes bits of metal packaging to create spectacular shimmering pieces of cloth that combine craft traditions with the geographic trajectory of consumer items that travel across the globe. Ai also investigates how objects accrue meaning, from one-off items to commodities, and how this status shifts in context in different locales.
It’s unclear whether the botanic gardens emphasise the continuity among their settings or the variations in their geographies, which are widely spread.
Participating venues include the Eden Project in Cornwall, the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Melbourne. What the artwork does in all these spaces is yet to be seen.
Seeing the Invisible is on view from September until August 2022. More information is available at seeingtheinvisible.art
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England's lowest Test innings
- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887
- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994
- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009
- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948
- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888
- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018
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Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
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Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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.
RESULTS
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
7.05pm: Meydan Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (Turf) 1,000m
Winner: Equilateral, Andrea Atzeni, Charles Hills
7.40pm: Curlin Stakes – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (D) 2,200m
Winner: New Trails, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
8.15pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Mnasek, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: D’bai, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Summer Romance, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
10pm: Al Shindagha Sprint – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Al Tariq, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
The years Ramadan fell in May
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THE BIO
Mr Al Qassimi is 37 and lives in Dubai
He is a keen drummer and loves gardening
His favourite way to unwind is spending time with his two children and cooking
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
