Swiss wellness centre Clinique La Prairie has once again returned to host the Longevity Lounge at Art Dubai.
Conceived as space to rest, restore and recharge, the lounge offers healthy snacks at the Detox Bar and nutritional advice at the Holistic Health bar. It also offers massages in the Luxury Experience Room, given by therapists from the newly launched Dubai Longevity Hub, inside the recently opened One&Only One Za’abeel hotel in Dubai.
In keeping with the ethos of creativity at Art Dubai, however, Clinique La Prairie has commissioned an artwork around the theme of longevity by the Syrian multidisciplinary artist Sara Naim.
Living between Dubai and London, Naim's work deals with the concept of boundaries as points of connection.
"My practice is really interested in perception and its ability to shift through polarity. Within that, I've explored sea to landscape, ideal and real, and now birth and death through the materialisation of sunrise and sunset itself," she tells The National.
The site specific work Naim created is – as with many of her pieces – deceptively simple. A free-standing sculpture, it comprises a tall board held upright by sacks on the floor. A closer look reveals a multitude of materials and techniques including aluminium, epoxy resin, digital print and digital photography.
The board has an amorphous, rounded outline and is painted sea green. On it are five horizontal lines with semi-circles that seem to denote different phases of a setting or rising sun. Surrounding these are suggestions of images, that could be bubbles on the surface of the sea, light reflected in water, or even, perhaps, the sun itself. “You're not really sure if you're looking at the water, or the landscape, inside or outside,” Naim explains.
Naim's latest piece uses abstract imagery and deliberately oblique references to force the viewer into a new way of looking. “I have used minimalism as a way to simplify representation because I believe that that's a default setting in which we see. I would define [this work] as sculptural photography," she says.
The space around the free-standing artwork encourages the viewer to move around it, and observe it from multiple angles. “It's very four-dimensional because you have to operate around it. It was really important for me to have a front and back, although the image at the front and the back are mirroring one another. They are completely identical," she says.
The bags on the floor, she explains, are also printed with elements of the imagery, now heavily pixelated, thanks to magnification.
“I often use microscopy as a way to play with the dialectic of scale, as when you zoom in you expect that you understand something more clearly, but actually you sometimes get pushed into abstraction.”
The use of digital prints only emphasises this. “You get furthered by this kind of digitisation or glitch or pixelation. You kind of have a moving in and moving out."
While this is Naim's first time collaborating with Clinique La Prairie, it is not her first time at Art Dubai – she has exhibited her work across several seasons with the gallery The Third Line. On how this particular commission came about, she explains it was a simple process. "Clinique La Prairie approached Art Dubai, and Art Dubai then contacted me, I didn't apply for it."
Creating the work was equally straightforward, she says, with Clinique La Prairie careful to respect her integrity as an artist, never dictating what the final result should be. “They were very open and accommodating, and not limiting with what I was interested in or trying to say or trying to do, which was great.”
"Clinique La Prairie was so open, only telling me to play with wellness and longevity. I work with aspects of time, and deconstructing the notion of time, which for me is connected with longevity because I don't believe that there's a beginning, middle or end.”
Art Dubai 2024 takes place at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, from Friday to Sunday. More information is available at www.artdubai.ae
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Three-and-a-half stars
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THREE
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
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Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Greatest Royal Rumble match listing
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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MATCH INFO
Austria 2
Hinteregger (53'), Schopf (69')
Germany 1
Ozil (11')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
heading
Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.
A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.
The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.
Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani