Today, the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi is most recognised as a community centre for art and learning, but a new exhibition at the venue showcases its beginnings as a national library and research hub, hosting disparate social, cultural and even diplomatic functions.
Running until February 15, Al Mujamma tells the story of the Cultural Foundation through interactive archival footage and materials. The exhibition marks important moments, including the foundation’s history, from its conceptualisation by Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, and its establishment in 1973, to its official opening in 1981, closure in 2010 and then reopening in 2018, after extensive conservation and remodelling work.
“The intention of the exhibition is not to present a historical timeline of the Cultural Foundation,” says Aysha Al Hemeiri, who is part of the curatorial team behind Al Mujamma. “It is rather to showcase the interaction of the Cultural Foundation with the public. It also sheds light on how it was formed from a political sense, showing it had mandates from the government it was fulfilling.”
The foundation held a multitude of roles during its formative years, holding everything from book fairs and official meetings to live performances. Its multipurpose nature, Al Hemeiri says, is evident once we consider its former name.
“It was called the Centre for Documentation and Research, National Archive and Institution for Culture and Arts,” Al Hemeiri says. “It held that name since the idea was conceived in 1973. The concept was that it would hold these three divisions and work directly with the important mandates by the government.”
The centre was renamed the Cultural Foundation after its official opening in 1981. The building is regarded as one of the most noteworthy modern heritage developments typifying Postmodern architecture in the UAE.
Al Mujamma: a journey through history
Through archival video and photographs, Al Mujamma exhibition highlights some of the cultural experiences the venue presented in its earliest days, through its National Library, theatre, fine art exhibitions and public events.
The exhibition’s title, Al Hemeiri says, is a nod to the foundation’s current name in Arabic, and represents the communal principles with which it was founded.
“A lot of people think Mujamma means foundation, but the word implies bringing things together,” she says. “It had core mandates that it brought together.”
Commissioned installations by three Emirati artists highlight three time periods in the foundation’s history. Seven Birds by Mahmoud Al Ramahi reflects upon the foundation’s role in the 1980s. Made of steel, stones and 3D-printed material, the sculpture represents the seven emirates and the seven days in the week. The birds, the sculpture’s caption reads, represent the foundation’s role in providing “a central place for the community to fly”.
Jalal Luqman derived inspiration from the 1990s era of the foundation, creating the steel installation Cultural Tranquility that alludes to the trees and arches of the old Cultural Foundation.
Azza Al Qubaisi’s installation Ha’a renders the Arabic letter in stainless steel. The artwork, which explores the foundation in the 2000s, is “inspired by the journey of exploring Arabic alphabets through simple lines", the caption reads, “with the aim of building a better connection with the language for the younger generation”.
A series of six short films are also being shown as part of Al Mujamma exhibition. They highlight the history of art in the UAE and feature interviews with pioneering UAE artists including Al Ramahi, Obaid Suroor, Mohamed Yousif, Abdul Rahim Salem, Khulood Al Jabri and Mona Al Khaja, all of whom worked closely with the foundation early in their careers.
Experience Mars, an exhibition for children
The foundation has also launched an interactive children’s exhibition that celebrates the Emirates Mars Mission.
Experience Mars, also running until Tuesday, February 15, gives children the chance to venture to space themselves through an interactive experience that leads them to colonising the Red Planet.
Curator of the exhibition Khalid Abu Sharif says the exhibition was founded on the same pedagogical approach as the foundation’s Children’s Library.
“We believe in a learning from play approach,” he says. “We wanted to create with this exhibition the same kind of philosophy. We wanted to create a space that could educate but also be super fun.”
The exhibition begins in a spaceship cockpit replete with toggles and buttons. As the rocket ascends to space, visitors will be guided into the next room, where touchscreen displays will prompt them to build their own satellites, which they can then see projected as a hologram.
The exhibition’s final hall, a red-lit space alluding to Mars’s surface, is filled with interactive installations that will help visitors set up the first colony on the planet. The space also features a model colony, which was built based on discussions with children who took part in the foundation’s online programme.
“We talked to them about the design and what it would like,” Abu Sharif says. “But we also did storytelling. We discussed what people would need to live on Mars, how they would get there, who would those astronauts be.”
The model colony being exhibited, Abu Sharif says, is only the first prototype, with others being considered.
Mohammed Chabaa: a retrospective
Finally, the retrospective exhibition Mohammed Chabaa: Visual Consciousness will remain on display until December 19. Having opened earlier this year, the show presents more than five decades of work by the pioneering Moroccan artist, who is also a prominent figure in Global South modernity.
The collection highlights Chabaa’s ceaseless experimentation with Moroccan artisanal craft motifs as well as his subversive stance against established artistic precepts.
Noor Al Mehairbi, who was part of the curatorial team supporting curator Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa, says Chabaa also found inspiration in the Bauhaus movement, post-war abstraction and the avant-garde. He was part of the Casablanca Group with other pioneering Moroccan artists, including Farid Belkahia and Mohamed Melehi. The group pushed forward interdisciplinary ideas of pedagogy and creation, integrating painting, craft, architecture and design.
“We really felt it was important to exhibit Chabaa’s work as one of our first historical shows in the foundation because he played such a huge role in the development of Morocco’s modern visual language,” Al Mehairbi says. “And it really sets a precedent to a lot of growing art movements at the time.”
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Tuesday results:
- Singapore bt Malaysia by 29 runs
- UAE bt Oman by 13 runs
- Hong Kong bt Nepal by 3 wickets
Final:
Thursday, UAE v Hong Kong
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
EA Sports FC 24
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier
UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs
Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)
1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0
Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am
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FIGHT INFO
Men’s 60kg Round 1:
Ahmad Shuja Jamal (AFG) beat Krisada Takhiankliang (THA) - points
Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) beat Akram Alyminee (YEM) - retired Round 1
Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Bhanu Pratap Pandit (IND) - TKO Round 1
Men’s 71kg Round 1:
Seyed Kaveh Soleyman (IRI) beat Abedel Rahman (JOR) - RSC round 3.
Amine Al Moatassime (UAE) walk over Ritiz Puri (NEP)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
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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
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