Expo 2020 Dubai runs on a note of spectacle – light shows, gargantuan screens and fantastical architecture. But it’s worth seeking out the public art programme that was commissioned for the event. The works are easy(ish) to find: most of them lie alongside one of the circuits surrounding Al Wasl Dome, recognisable by the fluttering cut-outs of birds above, and they’re all marked on Google Maps.
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The public art programme was put together by Tarek Abou El Fetouh, an Egyptian-born curator known in the Gulf for his work with the Sharjah Art Foundation and for organising Abu Dhabi Art’s performance programme Durub Al Tawaya.
Abou El Fetouh set the standards for the Expo programme concept intellectually high – tackling the idea of how one imagines the world in its entirety – and worked carefully and closely with local and international artists.
The resulting exhibition of contemporary art snakes through the site like a low, twangy bass line.
'A point in time' by Khalil Rabah
For A point in time (2021), Palestinian artist Khalil Rabah researched three objects invented by the 11th century Persian scholar Al Biruni to measure latitude. He enlarged them to life-size proportions – rescuing them from the dusty footnotes of history and turning them into playful forms that beckon the public’s engagement.
A small black circle embedded in the platform signals Dubai’s position in the map they create, and a rectangular window is cut out in the hollow brass-coloured cone; children have been spotted popping into the structure, hiding out in the achievements of Arab history.
It sounds corny to say that the Expo 2020 Dubai programme, as it developed from idea to actual installation, has come “down to earth” – but that is what it has done, in artworks that draw their strength from interaction with the world around them.
'Garden' by Hamra Abbas
Hamra Abbas’s Garden (2021) is a near one-square-metre installation of inlaid marble. The design for the piece comprises personal memories and historical examples of gardens, in particular of the Mughal era. The inspiration for the marble inlay technique comes from South Asia, where it was brought to the Mughal court by Italian craftsmen.
Garden’s mountains, trees, river and greenery are global in specific ways: a cherry tree was inspired by one in Abbas’s garden when she lived in Boston; the banyan tree is from her home in Lahore. And the job of assembling the marble is a story of the world not in abstraction but in its real, politics-riven life.
The banyan’s soft pinkish marble comes from India, but Abbas was unable to source any new material because of the trade difficulties between India and Pakistan. This tree represents her entire reserve of the stone, depleted for Expo. The river in the composition, meanwhile, uses five tonnes of lapis lazuli, sourced from Afghanistan, with some negotiation.
'Terhal' by Abdullah Al Saadi
Abdullah Al Saadi, a reclusive, near legendary Emirati artist from Khor Fakkan, has three large maps on display. Al Saadi was part of the so-called Five who coalesced around Hassan Sharif, but he retreated from his relative fame and has rarely exhibited despite the high esteem in which he is held.
For his work Terhal (2021), Al Saadi took as his canvas enormous rocks the colour of sand in the rain, and painted diagrams of local villages on them, complete with houses, mosques, roads and rivers. To see these petroglyphic renderings among the built environment of Expo is a portal to the expanse of the UAE beyond its cities, which continue to be lived in despite the attention of the world elsewhere.
'Chimera' by Monira Al Qadiri
Monira Al Qadiri is showing Chimera (2021), the first in what she hopes will become a Gulf-wide series of public sculptures of enlarged drill bits. The bit branches off into five nobbled sections, each designed to wick away sand from the bottom of the ocean as it bores down towards the oil.
At Expo, the work’s iridescence, influenced by the time of day or the surrounding lights, becomes a game to play, as visitors crane their necks this way and that to watch the hues shift.
The inability to make sense of the entire object is perhaps a metaphor for perception: how can we see things that surpass our own vantage point, except through our imagination?
'Sonic Planetarium – Dripping Lunar Sextet' by Haegue Yang
Haegue Yang’s Sonic Planetarium – Dripping Lunar Sextet (2021) comprises six orbs inspired by planets in the solar system. Yang added tendrils of jingly-jangly bells on to them, giving the work the appearance of a band of diva-like comets, clamouring for attention as they sail through the sky.
Since her earliest works, one of the Korean artist’s greatest strengths has been her exploitation of all the senses – not only vision – to create meaning behind her pieces. In one early commission she used the scent of flowery perfume and gunpowder to suggest the assassination of German activist Petra Kelly by her lover (Lethal Love, 2008). Here, she uses sound. After Expo and its throngs of visitors end, the six spheres will become mobile, with users able to rotate them like whirlabouts in playgrounds, creating a ringing, clacking cacophony of the world.
'Distorted Familiarities' by Asma Belhamar
Exhibitions of public sculpture are rare but not unprecedented, and most of the works at some point reflect on the tricky medium itself: the work has to be accessible to a wide audience and endure past the elements and art's own faddishness. Asma Belhamar’s sculpture Distorted Familiarities (2021) takes on precisely the question of the longevity of Dubai's built environment.
Though a stand-alone work, Belhamar's sculpture could be read as part of a trio, tucked away near the park in a triptych about time, which would include Afra Al Dhaheri’s marble Pillow Fort Playground (2021), her attempt to render her childhood memories permanent, and Shaikha Al Mazrou's The Plinth (2021), a site for future artist commissions.
Al Dhaheri often works with more organic, supple material, such as hair or clay, and her trompe l'oeil rendition of something soft in a hard marble feels wonderfully close to Al Mazrou's signature visual language – flecked more with questions of memory, but a silent connection nonetheless. These three works’ air of monumentality, even of being old before their time, bends in their favour – they are betting on outlasting the spectacle.
Expo 2020 Dubai is on until March 31, 2022
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
The flights: South African Airways flies from Dubai International Airport with a stop in Johannesburg, with prices starting from around Dh4,000 return. Emirates can get you there with a stop in Lusaka from around Dh4,600 return.
The details: Visas are available for 247 Zambian kwacha or US$20 (Dh73) per person on arrival at Livingstone Airport. Single entry into Victoria Falls for international visitors costs 371 kwacha or $30 (Dh110). Microlight flights are available through Batoka Sky, with 15-minute flights costing 2,265 kwacha (Dh680).
Accommodation: The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel by Anantara is an ideal place to stay, within walking distance of the falls and right on the Zambezi River. Rooms here start from 6,635 kwacha (Dh2,398) per night, including breakfast, taxes and Wi-Fi. Water arrivals cost from 587 kwacha (Dh212) per person.
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.9-litre%20twin-turbo%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E536hp%20(including%20138hp%20e-motor)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E750Nm%20(including%20400Nm%20e-motor)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C380%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs: Audi e-tron
Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)
Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Power: 408hp
Torque: 664Nm
Range: 400 kilometres
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.
