A river of what appears to be oil and blood cascades down a cast-iron staircase. A swarm of plastic dragonflies homes in on a neon model of the World Trade Centre. Junk-shop ornaments are arranged into mysterious structures. A scrambled, seething series of images plays on a group of monitors. The stills on the walls are no easier to parse - a toy robot, plastic fangs, a water sprinkler on a lawn.
"The aesthetic comes from the city, in a surreal way," says Mamali Shahafi, the curator of and contributor to IU Heart, the Third Line gallery 's all-Iranian summer show. "If you have a big quantity of ugly and trashy things together, it makes something extraordinary. That's why I like living in Tehran." I laugh politely. Shahafi doesn't.
"For me, everything is horrible in Tehran," he says. "But when you have more than three or four elements every day where a horrible thing happens, you think, oh wow, this is really great, actually, because it's something unique, something original."
Whether or not it's unique or original, IU Heart is certainly very striking, and very thoroughly Iranian. Shahafi, a young artist trained in Tehran and Paris, contributed the videos. The iron stairs (titled Mother of Nation) are by Mahmoud Bakshi, a Tehrani who recently exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery.
"This stair could be the stair of the mullah going up to give you a lecture, and also the stair of the plane Khomeini comes down," says Shahafi. "This aesthetic of the stair reminds us of lots of different religious elements."
The towers are by Shahab Fotouhi. Vahid Sharifian, one of the stars of the recent Iranian show at the Farjam Collection, contributed the strange ornamental works.
The stills are from Arash Hanei, sampled from earlier, more lucid series and jumbled up because, as he apparently told Shahafi: "In this moment I don't want to say anything serious, and I find if I mix the things together nobody can understand the message."
The show, or a version of it, was originally intended to take place in the Iranian capital, a celebration of Tehran's rising generation of artists, the children of the 1979 revolution. But, wouldn't you know it, something horrible happened. The government, always nervous around cultural activities, blocked the exhibition shortly before its scheduled opening.
"It was right before the election," Shahafi sighs. "We were all kind of confused, and we were going to cancel this show. We were already thinking what we could do because we could not have permission in Tehran. Then the election happened, and for two or three months we were all really busy."
More than a year on, an adapted version of the show has finally found an audience.
The original plan had been to present the distinctive sensibility of Shahafi's own artistic peers. Yet political circumstances suggested that something more pointed was called for, however oblique that may be.
"My problem was that most curators who work with Iranian artists, they don't try any theme or any subject," he recalls. They prefer, in his experience, to show off their local discoveries.
"Let's say I find this old lady, I find this young guy doing graphics. You want to show them all together because you found them," Shahafi says sourly.
He decided he could do better himself and put together a show that was unified by a generational outlook and a "special relationship", so to speak, with America.
The five artists gathered in IU Heart were all born between 1977 and 1982. "All of us had our childhoods during the war," says Shahafi.
"After, when we were teenagers, it was during the Khatami period when we had some more freedom to talk and for ideas. After that, when we started mostly as artists, it was when Ahmadinejad started."
Along with the same set of historical reference points, they also share a certain ambiguous sensibility - disaffected, weary of politics and yet compelled to address their times, drawn to fantasy yet conscious of its inadequacy.
Of the first draft of the show, Shahafi remarks: "I found the art was completely like a fun-fair. That was an interesting point for me, because that was the feeling of the young generation. They were avoiding this politics stuff. They wanted to basically just live in a world that they had created and just replace it with more colour, light, alive things." Neon crops up often - "a really American element", says Shahafi.
All the same, there was, he says, "something not completely joyful", even "deeply sad", about the work. Vahid Sharifian, for instance, retreats into a world of retro kitsch, of sculptures and tableaux assembled from gleefully saccharine mass-market ornaments.
"When you go to his studio you have a feeling you are in the 1970s, kind of a New York flat," says Shahafi. "Everything, old LPs, Elvis Presley ... He's really in this universe, you know?"
In his personal statement for the show, Sharifian imagines a sardonic dialogue between himself and an uncomprehending questioner. "I say: Iranian politics has nothing to do with my life," he writes. "They say: 'How is that possible? Don't you live in Iran?' I say: 'No, I live in my own house'." But he also lives in Iran, of course.
One reason he could not come to the Third Line opening was, Shahafi says, that "he cannot come out of the country because he did not do his military service." Even so, "he's always also having this American dream".
The theme of engagement with America emerged organically as the show was coming together. "I started the studio visits to select the artwork," Shahafi explains, "and just accidentally I found that the artists, now I'd selected them, they all had in their work something about the US, and international politics in general. And that was really interesting for me because I never thought all these artists had some work about the subject."
However, following the contested Iranian election and the violence that attended it, Shahafi decided that the work he had selected was no longer equal to the moment.
"I wasn't happy any more with the subject," he explains. "For me, this show was showing a reaction, a social, political reaction, of this young generation. But this election was a big shock. Then I didn't want to show again the same artwork."
He invited his artists to submit alternative pieces. He also added a new piece of his own, titled IU Heart: a wall of light-boxes displaying the stars of the American flag against a green background.
"Green in Islam is a very symbolic colour", he says carefully. "The meaning of green changed in Iran a lot, and people can look at it also as like the Green Movement. This is the interesting thing about political work. It could change easily by day with the political situation."
Despite the ambivalence of his peers, Shahafi wants his work to address the world as it is now. "You cannot always be thinking, okay, I'm doing art and I want to keep it in art history," he says.
Admittedly, the price may be that he will be "completely forgotten" in a generation. "Lots of people think this is the bad thing about political work," he admits, "but I think it's always important to make something for the time." What else is there to say, except: catch the show now.
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
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
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
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Results
Men's finals
45kg:Duc Le Hoang (VIE) beat Zolfi Amirhossein (IRI) points 29-28. 48kg: Naruephon Chittra (THA) beat Joseph Vanlalhruaia (IND) TKO round 2.
51kg: Sakchai Chamchit (THA) beat Salam Al Suwaid (IRQ) TKO round 1. 54kg: Veerasak Senanue (THA) beat Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) 30-25.
57kg: Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) RSC round 3. 60kg: Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 30-27.
63.5kg: Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE) 29-28. 67kg: Narin Wonglakhon (THA) beat Mohammed Mardi (UAE) 29-28.
71kg: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) w/o Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ). 75kg: Youssef Abboud (LBN) w/o Ayoob Saki (IRI).
81kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Khaled Tarraf (LBN) 29-28. 86kg: Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Emil Umayev (KAZ) 30-27.
91kg: Hamid Reza Kordabadi (IRI) beat Mohamad Osaily (LBN) RSC round 1. 91-plus kg: Mohammadrezapoor Shirmohammad (IRI) beat Abdulla Hasan (IRQ) 30-27.
Women's finals
45kg: Somruethai Siripathum (THA) beat Ha Huu Huynh (VIE) 30-27. 48kg: Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Colleen Saddi (PHI) 30-27.
51kg: Wansawang Srila Or (THA) beat Thuy Phuong Trieu (VIE) 29-28. 54kg: Ruchira Wongsriwo (THA) beat Zeinab Khatoun (LBN) 30-26.
57kg: Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Zahra Nasiri Bargh (IRI) 30-27. 60kg: Kaewrudee Kamtakrapoom (THA) beat Sedigheh Hajivand (IRI) TKO round 2.
63.5kg: Nadiya Moghaddam (IRI) w/o Reem Al Issa (JOR).
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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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
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