David Lepeska Foreign Correspondent Doha // It looks set to be the exclamation point at the end of Doha's year as the UN-designated Arab Capital of Culture. Qatari officials have announced that the Arab Museum of Modern Art, or Mathaf, will open December 30. The museum will feature dozens of contemporary artists and may ultimately house what is likely the world's largest collection of modern Arab art - 6,000 works from the past 150 years.
"Arab artists are now receiving unprecedented visibility and support, in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world," Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammad bin Ali al Thani, vice-chairman of the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), said in news release this week. "By making public a century's worth of distinctive artworks, Mathaf will deepen the conversation about Arab art and help advance the creativity of the Arab world."
Sheikha al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, QMA chair, added: "With the opening of Mathaf, we make Qatar the place to see, explore and discuss the creations of Arab artists of the modern era and our own time." Mathaf (museum) will be temporarily housed in a 59,000 sq ft former school building in Education City and include two galleries, a shop, library and cafe. Plans for a permanent home are in the works.
The acting director Wassan al Khudhairi, formerly of the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, will oversee a collection that ranges from the 1840s to the present and features more than 100 artists from across the Arab world. Four artists from the Gulf - Jassim al Zainy and Yousef Ahmad from Qatar and Faisal Samra and Abdullah al Muharraqi from Bahrain - are also included. The museum's inaugural exhibition, "Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art", will present highlights from the collection.
The museum "can truly flourish only if the artists themselves and their collectors, curators and audiences are able to connect today's activities to yesterday's achievements," Mr al Thani said. Paired with the Museum of Islamic Art, which opened two years ago, the new museum may make Doha home to the leading institutions dedicated to Islamic and Arab art. dlepeska@thenational.ae
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Honeymoonish
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
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.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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