The UAE’s ambassador to the UK has praised the works of Emirati artists on display at Cromwell Place, London’s latest art hub.
Abu Dhabi Art chose the new exhibition space to host its first fair abroad showing pieces by rising UAE-based artists in the UK capital.
Speaking to The National at the end of a tour of the fair, His Excellency Mansoor Abulhoul called the exhibition "enlightening and inspiring" and said he was pleased to see a strong artistic representation from the region.
The Dubai-based Lawrie Shabibi gallery is displaying the works of Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, a self-taught artist whose work is closely related to the landscape where he grew up in the east coast UAE fishing village of Khor Fakkan.
Mr Abulhoul said the pieces evoked memories of his own experiences. “He considers himself a land artist and as someone who enjoys the UAE, where I cycle a lot and I’ve been to Khor Fakkan, it resonated with me.”
Gallery co-owner Will Lawrie explained how Ibrahim, who will be representing the UAE in next year’s Venice Biennale, created brightly coloured sculptures that reflected the artist’s isolated upbringing.
"Being in Khor Fakkan, sandwiched between the mountains on one side and the sea on the other, you never get to see a sunset and [Mohamed] still remembers very vividly the first time he went outside his village and saw these bright colours," Mr Lawrie told The National.
Exploring the forms of labour undertaken by mothers, Lebanese artist Aya Haidar displayed hung baby clothes, hand-stitched with chores she had done during the pandemic. By sewing in words like "read story" and "feeding", her Highly Strung installation is an expression of the mundane acts comprising her everyday life as a mother, wife, carer and woman.
Mr Abulhoul said the work had made him reflect on his own young family and the responsibilities of parenthood, particularly with the difficulties of Covid-19 restrictions.
"We feel sometimes time has been stolen from us because we want to see family members," he said of the difficulty of lockdowns.
Haidar’s artwork evoked the difficulties of not seeing loved ones over such a prolonged period, he said, while underlining the idea that “we have to remain positive and persevere”.
The ambassador previously expressed his disappointment that the UAE remained on Britain's travel red list despite its highly successful vaccination and testing campaigns.
This year’s annual Abu Dhabi Art, organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, is the first art fair to collaborate with Cromwell Place, the membership organisation that opened in west London in October. Three of the emerging UAE artists included in the exhibition, Hind Mezaina, Afra Al Dhaheri and Afra Al Suwaidi, were supported by curator Maya El Khalil.
Dyala Nusseibeh, director of Abu Dhabi Art, said the exhibition would kick-start a year of “adaptation and growth”.
"The community models emerging from a challenging year of the pandemic for artists, galleries, curators and even fairs are here to stay and this is a positive new development for the wider art market," she said.
The artwork will be displayed among presentations of UAE-based galleries Tabari Artspace, Lawrie Shabibi, Third Line Gallery and Isabelle Van Den Eynde at Cromwell Place until June 13.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
Read more from Johann Chacko
HAJJAN
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ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
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.
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
more from Janine di Giovanni
SPECS
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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
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
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
- Discuss your financial situation regularly: Ensure your spouse is involved in financial matters and decisions. Your ability to consistently follow through with what you say you are going to do when it comes to money can make all the difference in your partner’s willingness to trust you again.
- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Kandahar%20
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Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
