The value of a beautiful coffee table book cannot be understated.
Like a work of art or an installation, a book or a bookcase can offer a window into someone’s cultural journey.
Luxury publisher Assouline's new flagship store in That Concept Store in Mall of Emirates, Dubai, is sure to be exciting news for bookworms and collectors alike.
“Our publications and our books are real, high-end, luxury creations,” Alex Assouline, chief of operations, brand and strategy, tells The National.
“When you look at one of our books, it's really the right images, the right text, the right point of view. You come into it, through the beautiful objects and packaging which makes a great home decor piece, gifting or a piece of cultural education.”
Collecting books is not dissimilar to collecting art, and Assouline has been a testament to this since it was founded in Paris in 1994.
The new store includes a wall of bookshelves displaying their intricately crafted books, aiming to inspire visitors about how they can incorporate book displays and collecting into their spaces.
“It’s education, emotion, intellect and inspiration blended together through the text and images,” says Alex, who is the son of founders Prosper and Martine Assouline.
“We work on 100 books every year, along with a lot of other projects. So that aspect of education for us, as well, it's very interesting. We learn from different subjects that we work on.”
Prosper and Martine positioned Assouline as the first luxury brand on culture.
Since its founding, Assouline has produced more than 1,700 titles across four main collections – Icons, Classic, Legend and Ultimate. Their books cover an array of topics in art, architecture, fashion, history and many other facets of culture, collaborating with renowned brands, writers, artists, photographers and designers.
Alex, who lives in New York, joined the family business in 2016 starting out as a graphic designer. He started working on other departments of the business, gaining an understanding of the different facets of Assouline, including how the luxury brand can exist and grow in an overwhelmingly expanding digital world.
“When you go online and search Andy Warhol on Google, you're going to find thousands and thousands of images and information," he says. "But we come with a point of view, with that authority that we find through the author or the curator that's going to select the best and the right aspects of curation.”
Alex elaborates that in a society that is becoming more digital, it only reaffirms Assouline’s position as a luxury publishing brand that can utilise what it needs from the online world.
“The aspects of digital that we're going to start using and utilising more is additional content,” he says.
“So you will be able to access in the future more content, unlocked content from the book on the screen, but it's never going to replace it. We're a tangible brand.”
The brand has also delved into the Middle East over the years exploring both historical and contemporary cultural topics pertaining to the region.
Books on the UAE include Dubai Wonder; Expo 2020 Dubai: The Definitive Edition; Sheikh Zayed: An Eternal Legacy; and Dubai Mall: A Mall Like No Other. To date, Assouline has published 18 books focusing on Saudi Arabia including Saudi Dates: A Portrait of the Sacred Fruit; Saudi Arabia: Flower Men; and Saudi Coffee: The Culture of Hospitality.
“There's are a lot of stories to be told from the Middle East,” Alex says.
“It's an ever-growing region, fast-paced, but also one that has a lot of heritage. There are not a lot of people worldwide who don’t know about that. So, we're here to work with every government or country to shine lights on specific topics that are important and deserve their own publication.”
That is one aspect of Assouline’s future that Alex is most excited about.
“It's been very exciting and inspiring as well because there's so much to cover and there's so much to learn from in this region,” he says.
“These doors are starting to open and I want to be able to tell these stories as well, because each country has its own, interesting factors.”
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MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 1 (Carroll 82')
Leicester City 2 (Maddison 55', Tielemans 72')
Man of the match James Maddison (Leicester)
The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
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About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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More on animal trafficking
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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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.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
SHAITTAN
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How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
THE%20SPECS
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Have you been targeted?
Tuan Phan of SimplyFI.org lists five signs you have been mis-sold to:
1. Your pension fund has been placed inside an offshore insurance wrapper with a hefty upfront commission.
2. The money has been transferred into a structured note. These products have high upfront, recurring commission and should never be in a pension account.
3. You have also been sold investment funds with an upfront initial charge of around 5 per cent. ETFs, for example, have no upfront charges.
4. The adviser charges a 1 per cent charge for managing your assets. They are being paid for doing nothing. They have already claimed massive amounts in hidden upfront commission.
5. Total annual management cost for your pension account is 2 per cent or more, including platform, underlying fund and advice charges.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
THE BIO
BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Poacher
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RESULT
West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' )
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72')
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RACE CARD
4pm Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m
5.10pm Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
