In the middle of busy Manhattan is the 9/11 Memorial, with two large waterfall pools encased by bronze parapets that bear the names of the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks and the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing.
On any given day family members and loved ones stop by to spend a few moments remembering those they have lost, often tucking flowers into the grooves of names. Surrounded by swamp white oak trees, it is a serene space that allows for people to come together and grieve.
Although grief is a basic human emotion and one that spares nobody, it is experienced differently and can often be a very lonely journey. Each person heals in their own way and at their own pace, but around the world a growing number of temporary and permanent structures are being built to provide space for people’s loss, offering a way for individuals to collectively process their emotions.
“Remembering our loved ones who have died, and having places to visit, contemplate, pray or just be present can be meaningful and healing for children, parents, and other family members and friends,” says Donna L Schuurman, senior director of advocacy and training at the Dougy Centre, Portland, Oregon.
“There are many examples of these hallowed spaces, often following large-scale tragedies, whether human-caused or natural disasters. As our societies often encourage us to ‘move on’, we also don’t want to forget – or have our loved ones forgotten. Visiting memorials like those built after 9/11 or those to victims of Japan’s 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, pays tribute to those whose lives were taken, and helps ensure that we honour their lives.”
While architecture caters to the functional aspect of creating spaces for living, working and recreation, today there is clearly also a need for it to provide catharsis. In the UK, a country that suffered many deaths caused by the pandemic, a national memorial is being built to the victims. The structure, called Sanctuary, will be built in Miners' Welfare Park, Bedworth and will be completed towards the end of this month. People will be able to visit the structure, grieve for their loved ones, leave behind notes or other objects associated with the person, and, after a week, the whole thing will be burnt on May 28 in an act intended to bring about emotional release.
American artist David Best, the man behind the structure, is not new to creating spaces that encourage people to express or even release their feelings. The artist, who lives in California, trained in sculpture at the San Francisco Art Institute, and his most well known works are intricately carved temples built as part of the annual Burning Man festival held in the Nevada desert, a community event that focuses on art that encourages self-expression and self-reliance.
Best's temples are collaborative structures made of scrap wood built by hundreds of volunteers. Having taken on a spiritual significance, people come to these temples to remember and honour their loved ones. It all started in 2000, when Best was working on a piece for the festival and a young volunteer, Michael Hefflin, was killed in a motorbike accident before it started. That year, Best's creation became a tribute to Hefflin.
The structure he made celebrated the loss of his friend, but many other people came by to leave notes for those who they had lost, too. By the end of the festival, the entire structure, with all the notes, offerings and mementos, was burnt to the ground. The organisers of Burning Man asked Best to come back the next year and build a similar temple. From then on, Best has built several structures that allow people to grieve. “When you make a structure with the intention to address grief, then people come with grief,” Best says.
Best's structures have no religious affiliation, but the intention behind them lends a sacred aura.
“We start with the idea that we are building a sacred structure. From the material used to the process, every step of the way we address it as a sacred project. Whether it is made out of wood, paper or glass, what matters is the intention behind it,” he says.
Structures such as Sanctuary and the 9/11 Memorial, or Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi, which commemorates Emiratis killed in the line of duty, serve a vital purpose, says Aisling Prendergast of the Raymee Grief Centre at The LightHouse Arabia. “There is a need to have somewhere you come just for yourself. At times we are holding on to not only our own grief but also holding someone else's grief and that can impact our ability to grieve.
“People are not able to express their own emotions if they need to take care of somebody else's. Even if we try to suppress grief, it's always there. It does not go away. It comes through in so many different ways. To be able to express those feelings and put them somewhere that's just for you is so important.”
Best has certain reservations about memorials that are permanent in nature, however. “What we build is imperfect. It's built to last for two weeks and it's then burnt. It's not valuable and it does not have to be better than the person coming into it. It's important that the structure allows the person coming into it to feel perfect. Part of the healing process is not having to have something permanently remind you of your loss but to help people go forward.”
Whether someone would be drawn to a permanent structure such as a memorial, or a temporary one similar to the temples Best creates, depends on the individual and how they process their grief.
But the growing need for spaces that offer solace and facilitate healing is not in doubt.
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
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]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The biog
Family: wife, four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren
Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies
Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan
Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India
Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy
RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Northern Warriors 92-1 (10 ovs)
Russell 37 no, Billings 35 no
Team Abu Dhabi 93-4 (8.3 ovs)
Wright 48, Moeen 30, Green 2-22
Team Abu Dhabi win by six wickets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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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.”
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
Where%20the%20Crawdads%20Sing
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AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
