If you look at the grainy black-and-white images from the Emirates Fine Arts Society’s very first exhibition, in 1981, you will see paintings hanging from temporary walls and room dividers and people jostling for space in a crowded room.
This was the UAE’s art scene at a time when, although it had no international presence, it was thriving and buzzing regionally and many of today’s well-established artists were just beginning their careers.
It is scenes like this from which Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi took inspiration when curating artworks by Emirati artists for next month’s Venice Biennale, where the UAE has had a permanent pavilion in an ancient renovated building in the shipyard district since 2013.
Under the title 1980 – Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates, Sheikha Hoor, who is also president of the Sharjah Art Foundation, conceived the show as a retrospective of contemporary art exhibitions in the Emirates over the past 40 years, and selected from EFAS archives more than 100 pieces of art from 1968 to 2002.
The space
The artworks are all placed within a 250-square-metre space on a custom-designed grid of mobile, vertical walls and on an elevated floor – so that some of the work can be viewed through “windows”. The design will also incorporate sunken alcoves and pedestals for the many objects of art. “It is a visual presentation rather than a chronological one,” Sheikha Hoor says. “The timelines all cross over anyway and even though the artists were working together at the time, they had their own identity. I also noticed connections between a lot of the works that were unintentional, but it was something I wanted to explore as the curator.”
The artists
Fifteen Emirati talents will showcase their paintings, sculptures, ceramics, reliefs, photographs and even a collection of old notebooks from the veteran contemporary artist Hassan Sharif. Artists who have become renowned for a particular style will be presented through their much earlier works. Abdul Qader Al Rais, for example, best known for his landscapes and abstract paintings, will exhibit a series of figurative paintings, while Najat Meky, who works primarily on paper and canvas, will show sculptures.
The journey
“Nobody knows the scene in the UAE and I’ve grown up alongside it. It was a different landscape then. Everyone knew what the others were doing and it was very inclusive,” says Sheikha Hoor, adding that she even found pictures of her own paintings in the archives.
“However, not everybody has had the same opportunities so I wanted to present a lot of artists that maybe the younger generations wouldn’t know so well but who were working alongside the others at the same time. It is important people are aware of that.”
Despite being thorough in her research, Sheikha Hoor admits that the show is still far from being a comprehensive historical diary and has been, in many ways, a personal journey. “I was born in 1980, so for me it is almost like it is a lifetime of research and a personal reflection as well,” she says.
The support
The UAE pavilion is commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation. Its founder, Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, says she is “delighted” to be working with Sheikha Hoor. “Thanks to her vision and leadership we are able to share essential works from this key period in the UAE’s art scene and also to build links for future generations. “I applaud her contributions to the development and advancement of the larger discourse on art from the region.”
• The 56th Venice Biennale runs from May 9 until November 22 (the preview runs from May 5-8). The official opening of the National Pavilion of the UAE is on May 7 at 4.30pm. For more information, visit www.nationalpavilionuae.org
aseaman@thenational.ae
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
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The%20Specs%20
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
PRIMERA LIGA FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Atletico Madrid v Sevilla (3pm)
Alaves v Real Madrid (6.15pm)
Malaga v Athletic Bilbao (8.30pm)
Girona v Barcelona (10.45pm)
Sunday
Espanyol v Deportivo la Coruna (2pm)
Getafe v Villarreal (6.15pm)
Eibar v Celta Vigo (8.30pm)
Las Palmas v Leganes (8.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Valencia (10.45pm)
Monday
Real Betis v Levante (11.pm)
Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
THE BIO:
Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.
Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.
Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
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
