Detail from the work of Moroccan calligrapher Noureddine Daifallah featuring Arabic letter forms on show during the 2017 Shubbak Festival. Stephen Lock / The National
Detail from the work of Moroccan calligrapher Noureddine Daifallah featuring Arabic letter forms on show during the 2017 Shubbak Festival. Stephen Lock / The National
Detail from the work of Moroccan calligrapher Noureddine Daifallah featuring Arabic letter forms on show during the 2017 Shubbak Festival. Stephen Lock / The National
Detail from the work of Moroccan calligrapher Noureddine Daifallah featuring Arabic letter forms on show during the 2017 Shubbak Festival. Stephen Lock / The National

London festival awarded Unesco Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture


Taylor Heyman
  • English
  • Arabic

London’s Shubbak festival has been awarded the Unesco Sharjah prize for Arab Culture in recognition for its outstanding contribution to promotion of Arabian art and culture.

The festival was founded in 2011 and is held every two years.

Named after the Arabic for "window", it gives British people insight into the Arab world through visual arts, film, music, theatre, dance, literature and debate. It is now the largest festival of Arab culture in Europe.

Organisers say this year’s festival, which will run between June 28 and July 14, will feature more than 150 artists and collaborate with institutions including the British Museum, British Library and Southbank Centre to host installations and performances.

Highlights will include Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger's latest show, journalist and novelist Leila Slimani talking about Arab feminism, and the UK debut of documentary Of Sheep and Men by award-winning Algerian director, Karim Sayad.

“We are very grateful to Unesco for this Award,” said Eckhard Thiemann, Shubbak’s artistic director.

“Our ever-growing range of partners in London and beyond shows there is a real hunger and interest to hear Arab artists’ take on our times and the world we live in.

"The beauty of our festival is that we can boldly show many of these views, often creatively contradicting each other, but enriching us with powerful emotion and sharp insights.”

The festival shares the $60,000 award with Samandal Association, a collective of comic book artists from the Arab region based in Lebanon.

The prize will be awarded by Unesco director general Audrey Azoulay in a ceremony at the agency's headquarters this year.

The Unesco Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture was first proposed by the Ruler of the emirate, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, to commemorate the designation of the city as Cultural Capital of the Arab Region in 1998.

Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.

Based: Riyadh

Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany

Founded: September, 2020

Number of employees: 70

Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions

Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds  

Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler

Price, base / as tested Dh57,000

Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine

Transmission Six-speed gearbox

Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm

Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km

CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES

Mar 10: Norwich(A)

Mar 13: Newcastle(H)

Mar 16: Lille(A)

Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)

Apr 2: Brentford(H)

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Scoreline

Swansea 2

Grimes 20' (pen), Celina, 29'

Man City 3

Silva 69', Nordfeldt 78' (og), Aguero 88'

The finalists

Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho

Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson

Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)

Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid

Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola

Spec%20sheet
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UAE v IRELAND

All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi

1st ODI, Friday, January 8

2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10

3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12

4th ODI, Thursday, January 14

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.

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In numbers

- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100

- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100

- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India

- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100

- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth

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University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China

Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai

Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China

Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs

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The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe


Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
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Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km

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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
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Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Reputation

Taylor Swift

(Big Machine Records)

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