As Parisians prepare to be treated to a spectacular European farewell from the celebrated artist and sculptor Christo, Abu Dhabi’s Liwa desert awaits its own last demonstration of his genius.
For 16 days from September 18, the Arc de Triomphe will be swathed in silver-blue rope and fabric, as meticulously planned by Christo before his death in May last year.
It will be the realisation of an idea that came to him in the early 1960s, using 25,000 square metres of fabric and 3,000 metres of red rope, all recyclable.
But the artist, born Christo Vladimirov Javacheff in Bulgaria, had one more unfulfilled dream: the construction of the world’s biggest sculpture in the UAE, a country he fell in love with in 1979.
Once the Arc de Triomphe’s temporary cloak has been carefully removed in time for November’s Armistice ceremony marking the end of fighting on the Western Front during the First World War, attention will turn to Abu Dhabi and Christo’s long-planned mastaba.
As long ago as 1977, the artist envisaged a sculpture 150 metres high and 300 metres long using 410,000 multi-coloured oil barrels in what Christo's website describes as a “mosaic of bright sparkling colours echoing Islamic architecture, The Mastaba [being] an ancient and familiar shape to the people of the region”.
Valdimir Yavachev, Christo’s nephew and project director for both the Paris and Liwa initiatives, believes the sculpture could become reality in between five and 10 years.
“My uncle used to talk about the software and hardware stages of a project,” he tells The National. “Software was when it was in the hearts and minds of the team, hardware was as we moved on and started physically building.
“So The Mastaba is still at the software point. But we have done all the engineering, we have the location and we are ready to go.”
Christo and his French wife Jeanne-Claude, an important collaborator in his work, first visited the UAE in 1979 – two years after the artist came up with the idea of The Mastaba – and their introduction to the country was followed by many more trips.
They identified a site in Gharbia, near the oasis of Liwa and approximately 160 kilometres south of Abu Dhabi city.
“Christo was a very visual artist,” his nephew says. “He found a very strong connection with the quite incredible, stunning beauty and light changes of the desert, but he also had a great relationship with the people he met in Abu Dhabi.”
Yavachev says his uncle was “very much with it” until his death last year, aged 84. Jeanne-Claude – “a very critical collaborator with an eye for the smallest detail” – died 11 years earlier.
The Arc de Triomphe project, first mooted by Christo in the early 1960s, has been delayed twice. France’s Bird Protection League asked for a postponement because a kestrel falcon was nesting inside the monument; “we are quite used to bird-related issues”, Yavachev says. Then, the Covid-19 pandemic forced a further delay.
Philippe Belaval, president of the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, a French government body that conserves historic buildings and manages the monument, has acclaimed the posthumous Christo project as “an event of global resonance”.
No public funds are involved. The £12 million ($16.9m) cost was met from the proceeds of sales from Christo's work. Similarly, the Liwa mastaba will be self-financed.
“The Eiffel Tower was also self-financing and cost about the same at today’s prices as will be the case with The Mastaba,” he explains.
“Just as the Eiffel tower is a symbol of Paris and France, The Mastaba can become a symbol of Abu Dhabi.”
Christo and his wife are celebrated for other major international works, including wrapping the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995, four years before the building became home to the German parliament, and Paris's oldest standing bridge, the Pont Neuf, 10 years earlier.
“I’m 48 so would like to think The Mastaba will be completed in my lifetime,” Yavachev says.
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Remaining fixtures
- August 29 – UAE v Saudi Arabia, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
- September 5 – Iraq v UAE, Amman, Jordan (venue TBC)
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Usain Bolt's time for the 100m at major championships
2008 Beijing Olympics 9.69 seconds
2009 Berlin World Championships 9.58
2011 Daegu World Championships Disqualified
2012 London Olympics 9.63
2013 Moscow World Championships 9.77
2015 Beijing World Championships 9.79
2016 Rio Olympics 9.81
2017 London World Championships 9.95
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
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
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
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Founded: 2013
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Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
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What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
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Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Specs
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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
