It took Joanna Marsh several years of research to condense a three-decade journey by the intrepid Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta into four short pieces of music that take 10 to 15 minutes to perform.
Deemed one of the greatest travellers ever, Ibn Battuta left home in 1325 at the age of 21. He eventually covered more than 120,000 kilometres, crossing most of the Islamic world, Europe and parts of China.
The Dubai-based British composer was first inspired by Ibn Battuta when she read his travel accounts in Rihla (The Journey). After a bit more exploring, she came across the Yemen-based Ibn Battuta scholar Tim Mackintosh-Smith at last year's Emirates Airline Festival of Literature and learnt more over a series of phone conversations.
"Ibn Battuta wrote remarkable tales which are a terrific read - full of picturesque scenes, opulence, beauty and a huge amount of cruelty," says Marsh. "I've selected a story from each of the kingdoms and the sultanates that he visited."
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London and an organ scholar of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, Marsh has called Dubai home for more than four years. Often drawing inspiration from historical events and figures, the composer has had several high-profile commissions in recent years, including one from the British embassy to write The Falcon and the Lion fanfare for the state visit of Queen Elizabeth to Abu Dhabi in 2010.
Marsh's latest piece, The Travels of Ibn Battuta, will be performed at The Fridge in Dubai's Al Quoz district this evening by one of the UK's leading string ensembles, the Maggini Quartet. The first violin Susanne Stanzeleit leapt at the chance to be involved with the project, explaining that what Marsh was trying to achieve was perfectly in tune with the group's vision. This afternoon the quartet - including David Angel on second violin, Martin Outram on viola and Michal Kaznowski on cello - will be joined by around 60 children between the ages of eight and 18 from Repton School.
"Even if the children are at a very basic level on the string instruments, there will be parts they can play, which is exciting," says Stanzeleit. "Introducing the medium of a string quartet to a wider audience is something close to our hearts, as we do a lot of educational work in the UK with children who haven't necessarily been brought up in the environment of classical music."
With Maggini's two violins, one viola and a cello, Stanzeleit says Marsh's composition takes into account the absence of traditional Arabian instruments in a piece spotlighting a regional hero.
"Jo has written some of the parts to create a sound similar to the oud, so we're hoping to achieve that," she says.
Marsh took about a month to perfect the piece, which she hopes will ignite the imaginations of children and adults alike, taking them on a whistle-stop tour from downtown Delhi to the bazaars of Baghdad.
"I've treated the narrative in different ways," she says. "In some ways it's very dark and then much lighter, and soulful in other places. The music is very descriptive and I would like people to find it intriguing, but also easy to understand."
Marsh hopes to export the multi-movement work with a "double life" to London this summer, after which she'll return to the Gulf to compose more pieces at her purpose-built studio in Dubai.
"I would really like to do something on Sinbad - he's fascinating," she says. "I might also explore some of the Arabian Nights stories, because there are some really great ones like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. There's some good fun to be had.
"I've been given the opportunity to live in the Middle East, so I think it's my responsibility to choose topics and ideas relating to that. I feel I have a debt to myself, to make use of the environment that I live in, and there's no point me writing English folk tunes while I'm here. While I'm living in Dubai it seems a good idea for me to make the most of it by finding subject matter and themes that are relevant to the people and the life here."
rduane@thenational.ae
The concert begins tonight at 7:30 at The Fridge, Al Quoz 4, Dubai. Entrance is Dh50 for adults and free for under-18s. For more information go to www.thefridgedubai.com or call 04-347 7793
Follow us on Twitter and keep up to date with the latest in arts and lifestyle news at twitter.com/LifeNationalUAE
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THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
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)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Results:
Men’s wheelchair 200m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 27.14; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 27.81; 3. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 27.81.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
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.”
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
The biog
Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
Age: 59
From: Laguna, The Philippines
Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips
Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
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6026 – Dh 200
