Art exhibitions were a rarity in Amman when the Romanian wife of Jordanian civil engineer Hasan Wahbeh took him with her to one such event in the mid 1980s.
He bought two landscape paintings by the Jordanian artist Mohammad Boulis. They became the nucleus of his collection, comprising hundreds of Arab contemporary works.
“They were not strong paintings, but they were my start,” says Mr Wahbeh.
Part of the collection that he and wife Ica, a veteran journalist, have amassed since then was put on public display for the first time this month at the European Union mission in Amman.
The idea came from EU Ambassador Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas, a friend the couple who believed it would be a way for the hundreds of people who come to the building every month to be exposed to Arab art.
The year-long exhibition offers clues about how Jordan became a destination for Arab artists despite the late development of art in the kingdom compared to the rest of the Levant.
In Lebanon, and even socialist Syria and Egypt and Iraq, exposure to the West, particularly in the aftermath of the Second World War, helped develop art movements and move artists from mainly calligraphy and the drawing of icons to abstract and other schools.
Before the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990, Beirut, with its open society and location on the Mediterranean, was the cultural capital of the Arab Middle East, attracting the area’s top artists and writers, as well as inflows of hard currency from the Gulf.
Art culture was so ingrained that Youssef Beidas, the country’s top financier, invited Helen Khal, a pioneer of Lebanese modern art, to exhibit at his Intra Bank in the early 1960s.
Several women artists feature in the exhibition of works from Hasan and Ica Wahbeh's collection. Among them is Olfa Jomaa, from Tunis, whose painting of an olive tree appears to be growing from and into infinity . Maha Ibrahim, from Egypt, painted a mangled aftermath of a war in green camouflage colours.
Jordan, in comparison to Lebanon, lacked the purchasing power and an established arts culture. The kingdom's society is also traditionally more religiously conservative, and more so since the 1980s, although there were private efforts to develop the arts.
But an influx of Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese artists over the past four decades – fleeing upheaval, dictatorship, or both, in their homeland – has improved the kingdom's art environment sharply.
“The internal situation in these countries turned Jordan into an important centre of Arab art,” says Mr Wahbeh.
Many of the Iraqi painters who came to Amman after the 1990-1991 Gulf war sold their works cheaply as they tried to raise funds to emigrate to the West, he says.
“In a few years many of these painters had left to Europe."
One of the first efforts to spread the arts in Jordan was in the early 1950s, by Hanna Qayyaleh, an ophthalmologist.
He set up a small arts and music centre in Amman and brought in Armando Pron, a violinist and self-taught painter, to teach there.
One of Pron’s students was Mohanna Durra, the son of a prominent Lebanese immigrant, who in addition to becoming one of Jordan’s most beloved painters served as an ambassador in Moscow and other countries.
The exhibition features one painting by Durra, in shades of blue, depicting a village, rocks and sky, a typical theme of his work.
Mr Wahbeh, who was friends with Durra, says he was a funny, entertaining conversationalist whose knowledge went vastly beyond art.
"He was a great personality,” he says.
Mr Wahbeh studied engineering in Romania in the late 1970s before returning to Jordan and setting up his own construction firm. His business enabled him to finance his collection, although he has sometimes borrowed money to buy pieces.
“I became addicted,” he says
The collector has built personal ties with most of the artists whose work he has bought. Many painters in Jordan and who come to the kingdom call him to help chose works for exhibitions they are preparing.
Mr Wahbeh also sponsors symposiums and artist residencies in Jordan, in partnership with the Rowaq Al Balka art gallery, in the Amman suburb of Fuheis.
The gallery is run by Jordanian painter Fadi Daoud, who has two works in the exhibition. One of them depicts the biblical characters Cain and Abel eating watermelon.
Daoud’s work developed significantly after he obtained a master's degree in Florence, says Mr Wahbeh, who considers him one of the top living Jordanian painters.
Among Arab artists who came recently to Jordan was Khalid Al Shatti of Kuwait. He was among 12 painters Mr Wahbeh invited to Fuheis in December to produce work about the Gaza war, on the condition that the paintings do not depict bloodshed.
Mr Al Shatti painted a two-tone work, with a black sky, and figures on rooftops of buildings. People area standing in an empty landscape.
He has another work on display, of a blue horse with a black head, and only two long, thin legs, against an orange backdrop.
“It is Surrealist. The horse is shown as having pride," says Mr Wahbe.
In a painting by Saudi artist Abdullah Al Ahmari, the lower half is black while the top half is densely packed with depictions of a city, trees, and mountain. Mr Al Ahmari has his own gallery in Riyadh.
After a long period of closure to outside cultural influences, the situation "has been reversed 180 degrees" in Saudi Arabia, because of opening initiated by the Crown Prince, Mohamed Bin Salman, Mr Wahbeh says.
"They started spending heavily on the arts," says Mr Wahbeh.
He predicts that the next Middle East art boom will come from Saudi Arabia, after prices of Levant modern art skyrocketed in the last 15 years.
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Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
THE SPECS
Range Rover Sport Autobiography Dynamic
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 518bhp
Torque: 625Nm
Speed: 0-100kmh 5.3 seconds
Price: Dh633,435
On sale: now
The five pillars of Islam
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Key developments in maritime dispute
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
Company profile
Company name: Nestrom
Started: 2017
Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi
Based: Jordan
Sector: Technology
Initial investment: Close to $100,000
Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors
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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
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
88 Video's most popular rentals
Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
No.6 Collaborations Project
Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Fiorentina v Torino (8pm)
Hellas Verona v Roma (10.45pm)
Sunday
Parma v Napoli (2.30pm)
Genoa v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (8pm)
Juventus v Sampdoria (10.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Bologna (10.45om)
Playing September 30
Benevento v Inter Milan (8pm)
Udinese v Spezia (8pm)
Lazio v Atalanta (10.45pm)
