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
The sixth Jameel Prize winner is artist Ajlan Gharem from Saudi Arabia, recognised for his work Paradise Has Many Gates, an installation from 2015 of a mosque structure constructed from chain-link wire and thereby resembling a cage.
The Jameel Prize is a collaboration between Art Jameel in Riyadh and the V&A in London. It recognises contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition. This year’s prize was announced via a virtual ceremony on Wednesday, with Fady Jameel, chairman and founder of Art Jameel, presenting the award.
Gharem was among eight finalists shortlisted from more than 400 applicants.
Born in Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia, in 1985, Gharem lives in Riyadh and works as a mathematics teacher. He and his brother Abdulnasser, who is also an artist, founded the non-profit arts organisation Gharem Studio in 2013 to bring young artists in the kingdom together.
source/content: thenationalnews.com
_________
Ajlan Gharem’s monumental wire structure ‘Paradise Has Many Gates’ is now at Gharem Studio. Photo: Gharem Studio / pix: thenationalnews.com
The Sharjah Fencing Club (SFC) was crowned champion of the Arab Fencing Clubs Championship (AFCC).
The Clubs’s winners won 17 medals, including 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 8 Bronze in two categories, which included the General Category and the Young Category for Men an Women under the age of 20.
211 male and female players representing 12 clubs from 6 Arab countries participated in the AFCC Championship.
The club’s fencing players took first place in the foil and épée weapons, as well as second place in the sabre weapon, in the men’s category. In the foil and sabre weapons, the young division took first place, as well as third place in the épée.
The Championship was hosted by the Al Thiqa Club for the Disabled in Sharjah.
Bayan Yassin, 27-year-old conceptual artist and writer, illustrates the Saudi culture, heritage in her work.
Each of her artworks embodies the deep emotional side of the Saudi community’s daily life, interpreted into a magical swirl of artistry portraying characters, events and stories.
Yassin illustrated the full series of the Saudi children book “Habib the Camel,” where she created the two main characters. “I am so proud and happy to see my characters turning into dolls.”
Yassin is currently working collaboration with Dar Waraqa, a creative publishing house based in Saudi Arabia, on a book about how to have a strong heart and face one’s fear.
She is also working on a new board game and three children’s books.
Each of her artworks embodies the deep emotional side of the Saudi community’s daily life, interpreted into a magical swirl of artistry portraying characters, events and stories. (Supplied) / pix: arabnews.com
HIGHLIGHTS
• Bayan Yassin showcased her art gallery at Medd cafe in Jeddah.
• One of her artworks was displayed on a 36-floor skyscraper in Dubai Festival City.
• She participated in national shows between 2005 and 2011.
• She worked on many projects for the Saudi public sector, including a story for King Khalid Foundation and a children’s book about the Saudi customs titled ‘The Customs Champion.’
• Yassin sells her posters via her Instagram page @unique.beno, represented by @radishhouseagency, and will soon have an online shop to display all her artwork.
___________
Yassin sells her posters via her Instagram page @unique.beno, represented by @radishhouseagency, and will soon have an online shop to display all her artwork. She is also planning several workshops about enhancing art through the use of color.
source/content: arabnews.com
_________
In my art, you will see family warmth, love, and devotion presented as these are the daily treasures that I am fond of and that feed my inspiration. / Bayan Yassin / pix: arabnews.com
Razan Al-Mubarak. Founding Managing Director, Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. Head of Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD). Managing Director, Emirates Nature (NGO).
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has named an Emirati woman as its new president at its World Conservation Congress in Marseille.
Al-Mubarak is the founding managing director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, which under her leadership has supported more than 2,000 species conservation projects in more thsn 160 countries.
She is also the head of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the managing director at Emirates Nature, an NGO affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund.
Members elect the chairs of IUCN’s commissions, which bring together 18,000 volunteer experts from around the world in a range of disciplines from species conservation to environmental law and protected area management.
IUCN is a union that brings together some of the world’s most influential organizations and experts to conserve nature and accelerate the transition to sustainable development.
source/content: arabnews.com
___________
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has named Razan Al-Mubarak as its new president. (IUCN) / pix: arabnews.com
UAE President’s Cup World Series for Purebred Arabian Horses in Russia.
The horse, “Saahar,” born in 2017 and owned by Edward Modrovic, won the UAE President’s Cup World Series for Purebred Arabian Horses held in Russia.
The series is continuing its impressive successes in Europe, amidst the distinguished participation of Russian owners, as well as a considerable public presence and widespread media attention.
The event was held under the patronage of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan , supported by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan , Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and monitored by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, in line with the vision and legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to promote purebred Arabian horses globally.
The race, which took place as part of the first category of races, witnessed the participation of nine purebred Arabian horses, with prizes amounting to €50,000.
Faisal Al Rahmani, General Supervisor of the President’s Cup Series for Arabian Horses, attended the event and crowned the winners.
‘Lamat Shaml’ wins 28th edition of UAE President’s Cup World Series for Purebred Arabian Horses in Germany.
“Lamat Shaml,” owned by Walid bin Zayed, galloped to win the Cup.
Evsheim grass track in the German city of Baden-Baden hosted the seventh leg of the global series of races, in one of the largest confrontations and the most important races on European tracks.
Since 1994, the UAE President Cup Series has put Arabian horse racing in the spotlight on some of the biggest stages in the world.
The first Omani to obtain a volunteering passport from the Arab Union for Voluntary Work, Bakheet al Amari is proud to be able to contribute to the global humanitarian effort to make the world a little bit better.
Through the volunteering passport, Bakheet will be able to travel to perform hours of service for civic, charitable or humanitarian efforts — something that the world badly needed right now especially that many countries all over the world especially the developing ones are suffering from refugee and humanitarian crisis.
“I received many awards, the latest of which was from the Ministry of Social Development. I was honoured among the most prominent volunteer figures in the Governorate of Dhofar’’, Bakheet shared. These accolades inspire him to work harder to make a big difference.
“I volunteered with the Executive Office of the Ministers of Labour Council and the Council of Ministers of Social Affairs in the GCC countries. I obtained the Volunteering passport from the Arab Federation for Voluntary Work to be the first Omani to obtain this passport. The work doesn’t really stop and the more people freely volunteer their time, experience and knowledge, the better it is for the world’’, he said.
A new e-book ‘Marine Mammal Atlas of Oman’ released by the Environment Society of Oman (ESO).
Produced by Five Oceans Environmental Services LLC, with sponsorship from Renaissance Services SAOG and supported by the Environment Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources and the Natural History Museum, this full-colour photographic book is the culmination of 20 years of scientific research, providing a thorough geographical representation of the Arabian whales and dolphins that call the Northern Indian Ocean their home.
‘Marine Mammal Atlas of Oman’ is freely available online on the following link: www.eso.org.om/index/images/file/2021-08/MarineMammal_2_.pdf
Abdulla Sultan Alaryani . Rifle Shooting. Athlete.
UAE’s Abdullah Sultan Alaryani won the country’s first gold medal in the men’s 50m rifle at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
It is the two-time world champion’s second Paralympic title; he won the gold in London in 2012 and a silver at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. For Alaryani, it is his fifth games medal.
Sultan Alaryani’s gold came after Mohamed Al Hammadi won a bronze in the men’s 100m T34 at the Tokyo Games.
Hanging on the wall of a museum in Dubai is a simple notice in black and white.
Dated August 1966, and signed by the director of Dubai Municipality, Kamal Hamza, it states that at 5am on September 1, Dubai will switch to right-hand driving.
Roundabouts would now move counter-clockwise and drivers overtake on the left.
“All drivers are requested to co-operate with police and to follow all instructions and directions which are issued to them,” it states.
Fifty-five years on, the switch may seem mundane. Traffic, the road network and the amount of cars was nothing like the dizzying, relentless pace of Sheikh Zayed Road today.
But the decision spoke to just how fast Dubai was transforming and why 1966 was a pivotal year.
US oil company Continental had discovered oil in commercial quantities in Dubai that year.
British exploration companies had spent many frustrating years in the search and now an American company had seemingly delivered the goods.
“That summer was [one of the most] optimistic moments in Dubai history,” said Todd Reisz, architect and author of Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai.
“It seemed the oil that had transformed other Gulf countries was now coming to Dubai.”
Sheikh Rashid, Ruler of Dubai, had already embarked on a huge modernisation of transport links the year before. An airport opened in 1960 and the emirate got its first asphalt road the same year. Major roundabouts such as Deira’s Clocktower and the Flame Roundabout – built to celebrate the arrival of oil – stitched these new networks together, making connections to areas once considered remote and only accessible by 4×4.
“Everything done before 1966 was defined by the hope oil would happen to Dubai,” said Mr Reisz.
Now, with the discovery of oil, schools and housing were planned for American families set to stream into the 70,000-strong city. Dubai already had the busiest roads of the Trucial States and American cars such as Chevrolets and AMC Ramblers became popular. More traffic was inevitable, so what better time to make the switch?
“With fast-build, single-family homes extending across the district of Jumeirah, the city’s future already looked more American, and therefore suitable for the greatest American pastime – cruising in big shiny American cars,” said Mr Reisz. “By then, US-made cars dominated Dubai imports, and that was one reason the switch to the right lane made sense.”
There was no record of protest from the British at Dubai’s change to an American system.
“There was no sense of any nationalist response from British authorities at the time,” said Mr Reisz. “They respected Sheikh Rashid.”
Sheikh Rashid had proposed the driving change to the Trucial States Council, a group of the seven rulers established by the British to encourage co-operation. The notice stated that the switch was to be introduced across the Trucial States on September 1 apart from Abu Dhabi, which was “expected to implement it soon”. The motorway between Dubai and Abu Dhabi was still several years away.
The change came into effect at 5am that Thursday. Until 2006, Thursday marked the first day of the weekend and presumably authorities hoped roads would be even quieter. There is little record of any problems apart from some initial confusion in more congested parts of Dubai, but drivers, just like today, had grown to expect sudden changes on the roads.
Studies have shown the reasons have much to do with geography. Papers from the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive show how Qatar changed in 1965, while Bahrain and Sweden would do the same in 1967. More recently, in 2009, the pacific island of Samoa changed to the left, but today, the majority of countries and protectorates around the world follow right-hand rules.
Fifty-five years on, a copy of the notice still hangs in the Dubai Municipality Museum on the shores of the Creek. It speaks to a moment and time in the emirate’s history where the initial euphoria of an oil discovery gave way to a more pragmatic approach as to how Dubai was going to become the global city it is today.
“Quickly the story switched to one we are familiar with,” said Mr Reisz.
“Dubai used ingenuity to create a city not dependent on oil wealth.”
