A gallery worker poses with the work All the Flowers are for Me by Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha at Kew Gardens in London, on March 30. EPA
A gallery worker poses with the work All the Flowers are for Me by Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha at Kew Gardens in London, on March 30. EPA
A gallery worker poses with the work All the Flowers are for Me by Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha at Kew Gardens in London, on March 30. EPA
A gallery worker poses with the work All the Flowers are for Me by Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha at Kew Gardens in London, on March 30. EPA

Islamic cultural exhibitions to open at London's Kew Gardens


Soraya Ebrahimi
  • English
  • Arabic

Two exhibitions by female artists inspired by designs and plants significant in Islamic culture are to open this Spring at Kew Gardens in London.

Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha's All the Flowers are for Me and Plants of the Quran by botanical artist Sue Wickison will open on April 1 at the Royal Botanical Gardens in London.

All the Flowers are for Me by Agha shows contemporary steel sculptures including a large light box suspended from the gallery ceiling.

It features patterns inspired by Islamic art and architecture, with designs projected throughout the gallery space as shadows to allow visitors to become a “living, breathing part of the artwork”.

Alongside this will be Stealing Moments (After Morris and Durer) I and II, which will mark its UK premiere at Kew.

Built from mirrored stainless steel, this wall-mounted piece is inspired by Albrecht Durer’s watercolour Great Piece Of Turf, painted in 1503.

“As an artist who draws constant inspiration from the beauty, shapes and structures of our precious natural world, I’m delighted to be bringing my work to Kew Gardens for the first time this April," Agha said.

“Showcasing All the Flowers Are For Me and Stealing Moments (After Morris and Durer) I and II in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery Of Botanical Art will be a very special experience, and is one which I’m really looking forward to sharing with visitors.

“I invite people to take the time to pause and reflect on the themes of the art pieces during their time in the gallery.”

Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha walks through her work All the Flowers are for Me at Kew Gardens in London, on March 30. EPA
Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha walks through her work All the Flowers are for Me at Kew Gardens in London, on March 30. EPA

Wickison’s exhibition features 25 new botanical paintings of plants mentioned in The Quran.

The collection aims to “highlight the cultural, agricultural, and botanical significance of a variety of species” to allow visitors to “engage with often-everyday plants in new ways, exploring their cultural context alongside their role in modern medicine, as food sources and in gardens around the world”.

“After six years of researching, sourcing and illustrating the many plants which are described in the Koran, it’s wonderful to be able to celebrate the culmination of this work with this new exhibition," Wickison said.

“Having worked as a botanical illustrator at Kew Gardens for almost 10 years, I’m really thrilled to be showcasing these new paintings in a place which is very special to me, collaborating with Dr Shahina Ghazanfar on this unique project.”

Maria Devaney, galleries and exhibition leader at RBG Kew, said: “It’s wonderful to be able to welcome these two pioneering artists to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery Of Botanical Art.

“Whist their working styles vary hugely in terms of technique, both share a profound connection to nature, recognising the breadth of inspiration which can be drawn from the world around us.”

All the Flowers are for Me and Plants of the Quran are on show from Saturday April 1 to Sunday September 17.

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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

What can you do?

Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses

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The flights: South African Airways flies from Dubai International Airport with a stop in Johannesburg, with prices starting from around Dh4,000 return. Emirates can get you there with a stop in Lusaka from around Dh4,600 return.
The details: Visas are available for 247 Zambian kwacha or US$20 (Dh73) per person on arrival at Livingstone Airport. Single entry into Victoria Falls for international visitors costs 371 kwacha or $30 (Dh110). Microlight flights are available through Batoka Sky, with 15-minute flights costing 2,265 kwacha (Dh680).
Accommodation: The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel by Anantara is an ideal place to stay, within walking distance of the falls and right on the Zambezi River. Rooms here start from 6,635 kwacha (Dh2,398) per night, including breakfast, taxes and Wi-Fi. Water arrivals cost from 587 kwacha (Dh212) per person.

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

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The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

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How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

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The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

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The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.

The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.

Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.

However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.

Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.

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Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
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The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet

Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder

Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm

Transmission: Nine-speed automatic

Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km

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.
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Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)

Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack

Transmission: Single-speed auto

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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.
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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.

Neil Thomson – THE BIO

Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.

Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.

Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.

Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.

Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.

Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.

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.

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Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6

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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

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Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

Updated: March 30, 2023, 10:36 PM`