“Gulf individuals want to be seen for who they are,” says Bahraini curator Latifa Abdulrahman Al Khalifa. “They don’t want to be categorised under rigid, archaic views of religion, oil or politics; after all, that’s not how one sees people from other parts of the world.”
With her show Imprint: Re-Imagining Identity for the Misk Art Institute in Riyadh, Al Khalifa has collected work in film and video by 17 artists from the Gulf, who address khaleeji identity. The issue has been foremost in cultural work, particularly in Saudi Arabia recently, as artists navigate a shift from the country's restrictive social policies to its embracing of creativity.
The picture they offer is deliberately heterogeneous. Saudi artists use the past to reflect on the present, drawing on different tribal or historical practices to show the country's contemporary diversity. For Thad (2018-2020), Moath Alofi shot drone imagery of geoglyphs – drawings carved into the earth – near his home town of Madinah, which were made 2,000 years ago by the Thamud tribe. The geometric forms and, in an accompanying video, sandstone-coloured dwellings show evidence of ancient civilisations whose stories were left out of official Saudi history until recently.
In Al Fulle (2019), Reem Al Nasser documents the jasmine flowers that brides weave into their hair in the southern province of Asir, capturing the women in the midst of a traditional dance in blurred, low-exposure photographs. The obfuscation of the women's faces here is key, and many artists use technologies to quietly signal what is allowed and not allowed to be seen – and how this too is changing. Maha Malluh's photo series Tradition and Modernity (2008) juxtaposes different items from her house, putting her mobile phone on a par with a dalla, or traditional coffee pot, as emblematic of Saudi life. In its subject matter, it acknowledges the development of Saudi Arabia, while its technique evokes an atmosphere of surveillance, with the photogrammed items pictured as if they are in an X-ray machine at an airport.
Like Malluh's exploration of everyday Saudi life, vernacular practices are also foregrounded elsewhere. Looking to the wisdom of the many, Ajlan Gharem's sprawling, multi-photo installation Mount of Mercy (2012) shows images of the votive goods left on Mount Ararat by pilgrims during Hajj.
If some of the images look outward to emblems of Gulf life, others look inward, in an introspective, emotive tone. A beautiful, if slightly retro series of surrealistic self-portraits by the Kuwaiti artist Maha Alasaker – Self Still Life, (2019) – plays with the symbolism of gestures, foods and fragmentation, as she obscures and reveals her face behind lace veils, collages and scattered sand.
The Key is to Meat in the Middle (2017) by Bahraini artist Mai Almoataz, shows a series of outstretched hands, dangling across three frames in a gesture of openness that carries shades of violence."Someone is trying to connect with people and is not able to. There still exists a stigma against mental health around the world. Mai suggests that you have to compromise, break yourself down even, to connect with others," says Al Khalifa.
Imprint is on show at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Fine Arts Hall, an exhibition space dating back to 1985, which Misk recently refurbished and reopened to the Riyadh art scene. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition is also in digital form, in a 3D viewing room on Misk's website that has been visited 100,000 times since it launched on October 4.
In Bahrain, Al Khalifa operates Too Far, a curatorial agency that promotes Gulf artwork, and runs educational programmes to support emerging Arab artists. This is the first exhibition she has curated in Saudi, though she has collaborated with the country's art community before. In 2013, in London, she curated In the Open, an exhibition on Bahraini art for the Saudi organisation Edge of Arabia. In many ways Imprint has come full circle from her first engagement with Gulf art, which the curator speaks about in terms of identity and recognition. Recalling her experience visiting Edge of Arabia's well-known show of Arab artists, #ComeTogether at the Truman Brewery in East London in 2012, she says: "It was a first for me to see myself and my culture up there on the walls. It felt incredible because it is a form of recognition, an acknowledgement and an appreciation of existence."
Imprint is on show at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Fine Arts Hall in Riyadh until January 28 and online at www.miskartinstitute.org
What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
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Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
England Test squad
Ben Stokes (captain), Joe Root, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
The five pillars of Islam
The five pillars of Islam
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- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
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- 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
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
Poacher
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