Arabs & Arabian Records Aggregator. Chronicler. Milestones of the 25 Countries of the Arabic Speaking World (official / co-official). AGCC. MENA. Global. Ist's to Top 10's. Records. Read & Enjoy./ www.arabianrecords.org
Nawal El Moutawakel’s most notable achievement is winning the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Former Moroccan Olympic champion Nawal El Moutawakel was elected Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the 142nd IOC session in Paris on Wednesday.
El Moutawakel, alongside Argentinian Gerardo Werthein, will begin their terms on August 10, following the conclusion of the 142nd session. They will succeed Australia’s John Coates and Singapore’s Ser Miang Ng, whose terms are ending, according to an IOC statement.
El Moutawakel previously held this position from 2012 to 2016 and has served on the IOC Executive Board during two terms, from 2008 to 2012 and from 2020 to 2023.
She made history as the first Moroccan and Arab woman to win an Olympic gold medal, achieving this feat in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
In addition, El Moutawakel dominated the Moroccan national championships in the 100m, 200m, and 400m hurdles in the late 1970s and was a top competitor in the Arab region for the same events. She claimed the African championship in the 400m hurdles in 1983 and won the US championship in the same event in 1984.
She also earned gold medals at the Mediterranean Games in 1983 and 1987 and secured a bronze medal at the World University Games in 1985, followed by another gold medal in 1987.
Her contributions to sports have been significant, including her involvement in various Olympic committees and promoting women’s participation in athletics globally.
Born on April 15, 1962 in Casablanca, El Moutawakel pursued athletics at a young age and quickly rose to prominence. Her success on the track paved the way for her to become a prominent figure in international sports administration.
Beyond her administrative roles, she has been an outspoken advocate for promoting women’s participation in sports and has been involved in various initiatives to support athletes worldwide.
The 13th edition of the African Games will end next Sunday, 23 March, with an absolute domination by Egyptian athletes, who top the medals table with 76 gold medals.
Egypt is the biggest sporting power in Africa, as the African Games medals table shows. The Mediterranean country arrived to Accra 2023 having won a total of 650 gold medals and 1,635 total medals in the previous 12 editions of the continent’s premier event.
Nigeria is second with 470 gold medals (1,326) and South Africa is third with 397 (1,054). Algeria is fourth with 310 gold medals, but has won more medals overall (1,084).
The North African country topped the medals table with 17 gold medals at the first edition of the African Games in Brazzaville in 1965, when it competed as the United Arab Republic (including the occupied Gaza Strip and Syria), as well as in Lagos in 1973 (25), in Nairobi in 1987 (31), in Egypt in 1991 (90), in Algiers in 2007 (74 after a battle with hosts Algeria, 70), in Brazzaville in 2015 (85) and in the latest edition in Rabat in 2019 with a record of 94 gold medals.
With just over a week to go until the end of this 13th edition, Egypt are closing in on an astonishing milestone: 100 gold medals at an African Games. With 83 gold, 33 silver and 28 bronze medals – 144 in total – Egypt leads the medal table by a huge margin, more than tripling the tally of the three nations vying for second place: Nigeria (25), South Africa (24) and Algeria (22).
The biggest star of the first two weeks of competition is the swimmer Marwan Elkamash. The two-time bronze medallist at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain, and 200m freestyle and in 4x200m freestyle champion at the 2019 African Games, has broken all the records with five gold medals at Accra 2023: 200, 400, 800, 1.500 and 4×200 freestyle.
With four gold medals, Farida Osman, one of Africa’s most important swimmers, won the bronze medal in the 50m butterfly at the 2017 World Championships behind two icons such as Sweden’s Sarah Sjöstrom and the Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo. She won the 50m and 100m butterfly, the 50m freestyle and the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay in Accra.
Amin Bassem, ranked 62nd in the FIDE World Chess Ranking, also won four gold medals: Men’s Rapid Individual, Men’s Blitz Individual, Mixed Team Rapid and Mixed Team Blitz, the last two making pair with Shahenda Wafa (a three-time women African champion). She also has a gold medal in the Women’s Rapid Individual and a silver medal in the Women’s Blitz Individual behind 21-year-old Algerian Lina Nassr.
ADNOC announced today the use of RoboWell, an artificial intelligence-powered system developed by AIQ, to control automated wells in its operations at the Nasr offshore field, for the first time in the world in offshore operations.
This step confirms ADNOC’s benefit from applying the latest advanced solutions and technologies to enhance efficiency and ensure the provision of safe and reliable energy supplies in a responsible manner.
ADNOC implemented the RoboWell system in partnership with AIQ, an Abu Dhabi-based AI company that provides quality solutions for the energy sector. The system uses cloud-based AI algorithms to operate wells automatically, so that they self-adjust according to changing conditions.
The use of this system contributes to enhancing the safety and security of well operations, increasing efficiency, reducing work trips to the site and the need for human intervention, and reducing emissions.
Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy, CEO of ADNOC’s Exploration, Development and Production Directorate, said: “The deployment of RoboWell at Nasr offshore reflects how ADNOC is leveraging AI capabilities to support its efforts to responsibly meet the world’s growing energy demand. This is part of our drive to become the world’s most AI-enabled energy company, integrating AI solutions and technologies into all aspects of our business, from control rooms to executive boardrooms, to drive efficiency and automate operational processes.”
Al Kindi added: “Through our partnership with AIQ, we are leveraging the UAE’s world-leading expertise in the fields of energy and artificial intelligence to contribute to achieving the energy transition in the future.”
Nasr field is located 130 kilometers northwest of Abu Dhabi, and is an offshore field that employs digital technologies in all its operations, using technology solutions to increase production and reduce emissions.
The RoboWell system has been initially implemented across 10 wells in the Nasr field, and ADNOC is also set to implement AI solutions across more than 300 wells across its onshore and offshore operations this year.
“AIQ leverages AI and machine learning solutions that deliver value across the entire energy value chain,” said Dr. Christopher Cooper, CEO of AIQ. “RoboWell has already proven to improve lift gas consumption by up to 30% and operational efficiency by up to 5%. This large-scale deployment is a significant step forward for AIQ and ADNOC.”
He added that AIQ, through this pioneering technology, contributes to enabling ADNOC to achieve maximum value from its resources and enhance its operational processes.
RoboWell was developed by AIQ and ADNOC’s Thamama Centre of Excellence, which leverages big data, digital solutions and smart analytics to enhance access to hydrocarbon resources and unlock greater value from existing reservoirs.
The system was first used in 2023 in the Bab North East onshore field, which is the first of ADNOC’s smart fields to achieve excellence in applying artificial intelligence and advanced technology techniques and tools pioneered in the energy sector.
Kingdom has now won 77 awards in total at the annual mathematics competition.
The Kingdom won six medals at the 65th International Mathematical Olympiad 2024 held from July 15 to 21 at the University of Bath in the UK, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
The annual competition had teams of up to six contestants attempting to solve three complex problems in two exams of 4.5 hours each, over two consecutive days.
Hadi Al-Aithan from the Al-Ahsa education department won a silver medal. Bronze medals were won by Youssef Bakheet (Yanbu), Mohammed Rabie (Madinah), Muath Al-Qahtani (Eastern Province) and Ahmed Al-Shehri (Riyadh).
Mohammad Al-Ghamdi from the Eastern Province received a certificate of appreciation.
The Saudi Arabia team participated under the auspices of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, or Mawhiba, and the Ministry of Education.
Saudi Arabia’s participation is a part of the Mawhiba International Olympiad program, one of 20 initiatives offered annually based on advanced curricula and other development programs.
These initiatives offer gifted students an opportunity to develop their skills in collaboration with local and international partners, the SPA reported.
Saudi Arabia has now won 77 awards at the annual competition including 12 silver and 46 bronze medals, and 19 certificates of appreciation.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
__________
Saudi Arabia’s participation is a part of the Mawhiba International Olympiad program. (X: @mawhiba) _________________
With shows that range from political stances to introspective research, Doha’s Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art proves itself to be one of the most authoritative voices for Arab narratives and the Global South in art.
The first impressions viewers get when walking inside the space set up like a unitary installation by Algerian artist Kader Attia, are a big haunting archive, a disquieting museum storeroom. It’s called “The Repair from Occident to Extra-Occidental Cultures” at this particular museum in the Qatari capital. A number of cabinets on the perimeter of the room showcase objects from colonial times: photographs of French admirals and Arab royalty, plus memorabilia, knives, cutlery and weapons.
Pinned rather aggressively on the shelves with metal rods are books from 1800-1900, like La France d’Outre Mer, Occident Noir and The Age of Napoleon, alongside satirical illustrations from magazines. A particularly disturbing one depicts a naive white nurse taking care of wounded African soldiers, who are depicted with malicious grins on their faces. Whether it’s the representation of racist stereotypes, anthropological studies or orientalist perspectives, the selection of materials by Attia shows different aspects of the relationship between coloniser and colonised, and how models of thought carried on in both Western and non-Western cultures.
Among the more harrowing pieces in the installation are several heads sculpted in wood, reminiscent of African statuettes. The features of these faces are distorted, reminding the viewer of the cubist or expressionist effect, that Picasso, Bacon or more recently Marlene Dumas have largely employed in their work. Looking at the anatomy and war surgery books on the shelves — which explain how to reconstruct exploded faces damaged during WW1, and how to attach prostheses — it seems clear that the distortion in the faces references the war wounded. The artist is hinting at the process of repairing historical wounds and abuses by the West towards its colonies, something central to the postcolonial conversation.
The presence of books like Primitive Art and Psychoanalysis summarises one more aspect of the artwork: how the encounter with the “other” is sublimed and transformed in art, and the deep psychological underpinning which lies behind every form of orientalism.
It’s precisely the link between all these seemingly distant concepts that make Kader Attia’s installation so powerful.
The artist leaves it to the viewer to come to terms with that thick, inextricable matter where racist stereotypes, modernism, colonialism, tribal art, sexuality, anthropology, war, imagination and the subconscious meet in a dangerous mix.
The intention of the work, however, is clear. He is examining this magma with a critical eye, in order to move forward and heal the historical wounds from these power dynamics.
Attia’s work is just a small part of the large and rich collection at Mathaf, but it contains one of its most fundamental themes: the creation of an alternative to the non-Western narratives and discourses for history and art history. This seems to be the main mission that the museums in Qatar are highlighting. While in the Western world museums as institutions are increasingly losing their relevance, in the Global South — namely, the parts of the world previously excluded by a Western narrative — museums are fundamental parts in the development of their own art system. In fact, it’s up to these institutions to construct alternative narratives to the West’s by using museums as a central tool.
The permanent collection of Mathaf is a case in point. Offering an excellent survey of 20th and 21st century modern and contemporary art from the Arab world and the Middle East (which is tellingly called “West Asia”), it is highlighting the strong connections of local Qatari and Arab artists with the wider world in Africa, Asia and Europe.
The permanent collection has evolved from an initial donation of a thousand works collected over the past 25 years by Sheikh Hassan Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Thani. Today, it’s continuing to grow, and hosts more than 9,000 artworks by pioneer Arab artists.
A particularly interesting section of this collection is dedicated to women artists, that has works like “Icons of the Nile” by Egyptian artist Chant Avessidian. This consists of a series of prints and paintings on cardboard representing, in a stylised way, Egyptian icons from modern times, including a number of iconic women.
At the moment, Mathaf is also hosting a temporary exhibition called “Arab Modernism”, which looks at how this current is being articulated in Arab countries, compared with its counterparts around the globe. In the show, we can see not only how Arab artists took visual elements, and techniques from the rich and diverse heritage of the Arab-Muslim world — particularly calligraphy and ornamentation — but also how they mused on the concept of Tajreed. The Arabic term for abstraction, in fact, also means “to strip away” and “purify”, referring to a process of revealing and clarifying through the artistic process itself.
In one room with ochre walls, we can observe how the calligraphic sign was declined to break the division between word and image, opening a space between calligraphy and geometric abstraction. We also find beautiful abstract patterns that intermingle in a big painting by Algerian artist Rachid Koraichi, which is almost tribal in its use of the calligraphic sign and the juxtaposition of primary colours. Etel Adnan, on the other hand, has a much smaller work, part poem, part drawing, where words on paper become abstract lines.
Palestinian Samia Halabi has one painting on show called “The Red One”, an exquisite juxtaposition of touches of colour, which are melodious and musical. Egyptian artist Mounir Canaan, meanwhile, plays on the cubist and modernist usage of pieces of cardboard and wood to create a vibrant image where different plans intersect, creating an effect which is at once aggressive and dynamic.
One of the most beautiful works in the show, though, is by Iraqi artist Hanaa Malallah.
“Secret of Fold Up Squares”, as the name suggests, consists of a series of folded pieces of canvas, burned at their centre. In one of these small squares, almost hidden in the canvas, is a piece of gold, a visually striking and highly evocative detail.
The show lets us observe how shared linguistic and cultural foundations in the Arab world generated a kind of abstraction in the region that stretches far beyond the Western definition of it, or as a simple reaction to academism and realism in art.
A smaller show, “Introspection as Resistance”, is collateral to the Abstraction exhibition. It is dedicated to the mathematical and geometrical work of Iraqi artist Mehdi Moutashar. He has been known as a poet of exactitude and rigour, and his work has been inspired by Abstraction, Minimalism, Op Art and the work of Klein – in its usage of his trademark blue – which is again blended with calligraphy and Arab ornamental patterns.
Overserving graphic motives on the hyper-white walls of the museum, brightly lit, the viewer gets the impression of being catapulted into a different dimension that doesn’t belong to this world, but to computer intelligence.
An early experimenter in geometric abstraction, Moutashar’s work brings mathematical precision and science into art. Looking at the mathematical principles of the universe is, for the artist, a form of introspection. It’s an introspection that bypasses individuals, to connect us with some sort of spiritual truth, a universal order. The artist exemplifies an incessant inquiry and a tireless resistance towards the disorder of the world.
In this sense, the show represents the perfect counterpoint of Kader Attia’s work. Where one acknowledges the impossibility of neatly separating history, imagination, wounding and the mending of wounds, Moutashar launches himself into a Sisyphean attempt to order the work through mathematics.
With these shows, Mathaf proves itself to be one of the most authoritative voices in the Gulf when it comes to speaking about Arab art and its original trajectory. A process of reparation – at least for the art – seems to be possible. One exhibition at a time.
