Frieze London kicked off on Wednesday with a surprisingly packed VIP preview, as throngs of visitors, collectors and curators floated down the halls of the fair’s more than 100 galleries. Now in its 19th year, the event had a relaxed atmosphere and galleries were, despite growing speculation over the oncoming recession, selling works.
As usual, several museums, galleries and artists have planned projects around the fair — here are eight to look out for.
Jeffrey Gibson
The Stephen Friedman booth is the fair's most striking, with intricately patterned paintings and beaded punching bags set against a patterned wallpaper. The solo booth is by Jeffrey Gibson, a New York artist who is of Native American Choctaw and Cherokee heritage, and shows his signature reworking of forms of patterns and motifs.
“I'm constantly reinventing and morphing my own language,” he tells The National. “The original inspiration was looking at geometric abstraction and tribal painting, going back hundreds of years — painting on hides and tepee covers.
"The difference being that modernist geometric abstraction is oftentimes about not having content, and then with indigenous geometric abstraction, it's all about how they can represent narratives and identities and plants and families and colour and shape. So I'm always thinking about how to inject some sort of content into this language.”
Stephen Friedman; Frieze London booth; until October 16
Indra’s Net
Frieze has tapped Sandhini Poddar, adjunct curator at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, for a curated section of the fair. Poddar used the idea of Indra’s Net, a Buddhist and Hindu term that gestures towards co-dependency and compassion, as her curatorial concept: a “gentler and more poetic” way to encapsulate the current moment, says Poddar, than terms like “planetary emergency”.
The 19 artists are shown in a special section of individual gallery booths, such as Martha Atienza’s exploration of indigenous fishing traditions in the Philippines, or Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s construction of a bodhisattva out of brass artillery shells found across Vietnam.
Indra’s Net, Frieze London, until October 16
Osman Yousefzada
Artist and designer Osman Yousefzada used the excitement around Frieze to raise money for Pakistan, which has been hit by devastating floods.
In a sprawling party at the Aubrey at Knightsbridge’s Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, he offered prints by 10 artists from Pakistan and its diaspora, including Shezad Dawood, Haroon Mirza, Faiza Butt, himself and others, for £100 ($112) each.
The initiative is still live, making it perhaps the only affordable art to buy in London right now, and an excellent way to support literary relief agencies in the South Asian country.
More information is available at @artists_emergency on Instagram
Sonia Balassanian
Ab-Anbar gallery, in a showing at Cromwell Place, presents a major survey of five decades of work by the Iranian-American artist Sonia Balassanian. Curated by Sharjah Art Foundation’s Omar Kholeif, the show encompasses her gestural, abstract paintings — evocative of minimalist compositions — as well as the work she made in response to the Iranian Revolution.
Politics entered the frame as she agitated for women’s rights, in a struggle that continues today. Though she has been often referred to in art histories of the region, the Ab-Anbar presentation allows for a chance to see the breadth of her work as it responded to art historical and social currents.
Sonia Balassanian: Five Decades in the Making, Ab-Anbar; Cromwell Place, South Kensington; until October 16
Maitha Abdalla
Tabari Artspace, in a pop-up venue at the gallery complex Cromwell Place, exhibits a substantial show of paintings by Emirati artist Maitha Abdalla.
The result of her three-month residency in London, supported by Admaf and An Effort studios, she shows major, confident new large-scale paintings, as well as a suite of newer, more intimate landscape scenes that suggest an air of deliberate intimacy.
Though her practice is now far advanced, there are sudden shades of Mohamed Al Mazrouei here, her old mentor who took her under his wing while she was still a student. Abdalla also introduces a new character into her cast of characters inspired by Arabian folklore: the donkey, who brays when the devil is around.
INT. The Body — Sunrise is at Tabari Artspace; Cromwell Place; until October 16
Jumana Manna
The London gallery Hollybush Gardens presents Foragers, by Palestinian artist Jumana Manna. The video follows local Palestinian villagers who collect akkoub, za’atar, and other wild herbs, while highlighting how these ancient practices have been criminalised by the Israeli government, which seeks to control the production and market of these goods.
It also explores how humans and the natural world depend on one another: the herbs need to plucked and won’t grow as tall without this human intervention.
Jumana Manna: Foragers; Hollybush Gardens; until November 19
Marwa Arsanios
The Mosaic Rooms is hosting Lebanese artist Marwa Arsanios’s first institutional show in London, presenting her works on social and ecological violence.
From Beirut’s rubbish crisis of 2015 to the invisible labour provided by the country's domestic workers, Arsanios highlights the difficult, uninviting work that is done at the margins to keep a society of consumption moving — and what happens when these systems fall apart.
Arsanios also shows the latest chapter in her quadrilogy, Who Is Afraid Of Ideology: Part 4 Reverse Shot, which looks at how the land can be used collectively rather than as the property of one person or entity. The work is part of a larger project which aims to facilitate the transfer of land in northern Lebanon to common ownership.
Marwa Arsanios: Reverse Shot; Mosaic Rooms; until January 22
Lawrence Abu Hamdan
Hot off his big Sharjah Art Foundation survey, the Lebanese-British artist debuts his latest film, 45th Parallel. The work, in Abu Hamdan’s signature mode of methodical, patient build-up, explores issues of national jurisdictions in prosecuting crimes.
What happens if a policeman stands in the US and shoots someone in Mexico? Is his bullet considered an extension of himself, despite its flight across a border? And what do these questions of liability mean for other examples of remote aggression, such as US drone strikes? Shown at Spike Island, in the western English city of Bristol, the video is yet another example of Abu Hamdan’s uncompromising, perspicacious eye.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan: 45th Parallel; Spike Island in Bristol; until January 29
Scroll through more images of Maitha Abdalla's London exhibition below
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
- 1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
- 2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
- 3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
- 4th ODI, Sunday, April 16
Squads:
- UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
- Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The five pillars of Islam
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
More coverage from the Future Forum
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
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6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Honeymoonish
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 258hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.1L/100km
Price: from Dh362,500
On sale: now
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
Read more about the coronavirus
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Afcon 2019
SEMI-FINALS
Senegal v Tunisia, 8pm
Algeria v Nigeria, 11pm
Matches are live on BeIN Sports
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Draw for Europa League last-16
Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen; VfL Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk; Inter Milan v Getafe
Sevilla v AS Roma; Eintracht Frankfurt or Salzburg v Basel; LASK v Manchester United
More on animal trafficking
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
