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
Egyptian actress May Elghety makes her international debut in the British romcom‘ Due Dating’ alongside Rowland Stirling.
Egyptian actress May Elghety is making her international debut in the upcoming British film ‘Due Dating’. The romantic comedy follows the hurdle-ridden relationship between a blogger, Cole (Rowland Stirling), and a lawyer, Persia (May Elghety).
The rising actress has starred in multiple films, including ‘Clash’ (2016), ‘Grand Hotel’ (2016), ‘Taye’a’ (2018), and ‘MAMA’ (2022) which premiered at the Cairo International Film Festival. She also made her mark on a number of series including ‘High School Girls’ (2020) and ‘Every Week Has A Friday’ (2020).
Her upcoming cinematic endeavour ‘Due Dating’ is currently being filmed in the UK. The movie is written by Jade Asha, directed by Daniel Pacquette and produced by London Independent Picture.
Artists from the Middle East are showcasing their work at an exhibition titled “Perceptible Rhythms/Alternative Temporalitie” in Washington, running until April 28.
Sarah Abu Abdallah
The Saudi artist’s “Fortitude” explores issues of obscurity and value, probing the social and cultural conditions of contemporary Saudi Arabia.
Artists from the Middle East are showcasing their work at an exhibition titled “Perceptible Rhythms/Alternative Temporalitie” in Washington, running until April 28.
The leading Iranian-born artist’s “Study for a Monument” presents bronze-cast reproductions of flora native to modern Iraq whose environment has been decimated by decades of political and ecological turmoil.
Jeddah’s inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale celebrates the legacy of Islamic art in a place close to Makkah, the fountainhead and cradle of Islam.
Saudi Arabia witnessed a historic moment with the opening of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale, which presented historic and contemporary works of Islamic art from around the world.
On the evening of Jan. 22, the Western Hajj Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah was filled with crowds of people waiting in eager anticipation. This was not the usual throng of pilgrims that use the terminal each year to travel to Makkah for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, but one awaiting the beginning of another voyage — a metaphorical one into the realm of Islamic art through the first-ever Islamic Arts Biennale hosted by the Kingdom.
The crowd gathered under the impressive canopies of the Hajj Terminal, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which won the 1983 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
The biennial event, which includes many newly-commissioned and never-before-seen works of art, marked a historic moment not just for Saudi Arabia and the Diriyah Biennale Foundation that staged the event, but for the legacy of Islamic art, which has witnessed hardly any large-scale international exhibitions since the 1976 World of Islam Festival in London.
Jeddah’s inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale celebrates the legacy of Islamic art in a place close to Makkah, the fountainhead and cradle of Islam, while forging a dialogue between the past, present and future through contemporary artworks by 60 established and emerging artists from Saudi Arabia and around the world, and with over 60 new commissions and 280 historical artifacts.
The effect is illuminating, mystical and enlightening in that this biennial, like its theme “Awwal Bait” which means “First House” in Arabic, celebrates the beauty and heritage of Islamic art in the birthplace of Islam.
“The Islamic Biennale, staged in this location at the Western Hajj Terminal, has meaning and anticipation for the future,” Saad Alrashid, a leading Saudi scholar, archaeologist and one of the curators of the event, told Arab News.
“Jeddah is the gate of the Haramain and has a deep history. There is an accumulation of strata of civilization in Saudi Arabia and throughout the ages this area was the crossroads of civilization between East and West and up to the North. Staging the Islamic Biennale here presents to the world the idea of connection between all Muslims and everybody that comes and goes from Saudi Arabia geographically, historically and politically.”
In the same vein, the theme “Awwal Bait” explores how the Holy Kaaba in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah aim to inspire Muslims both culturally and metaphysically to explore their sense of belonging and ponder the definition of home.
“At its core, the Biennale is about giving contemporary objects a home by giving them a lineage and giving historic objects a home by giving them a future,” Sumayya Vally, artistic director of the Biennale, told Arab News.
“Seeing the Biennale come to life through the voices and perspectives of our artists has been profound,” she added. “Each of them has boldly and sensitively taken on the opportunity of this platform to contribute to an emerging discourse on Islamic arts that we hope will continue.”
Staging the Islamic Arts Biennale was the result of a global effort. More than 18 local and international institutions, including the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, alongside artifacts loaned by other prestigious international institutions with an interest in Islamic Arts, such as Benaki Museum in Athens, the History of Science Museum at the University of Oxford, the Louvre in Paris and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The Biennale was curated by a multi-disciplinary group of specialists, including Omniya Abdel Barr, an Egyptian architect and Barakat Trust Fellow at the V&A, and Julian Raby, director emeritus of the National Museum of Asian Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
“It was challenging to find objects that have survived that were made in Makkah and Madinah,” said Abdel Barr to Arab News. “We searched within collections to see how we could create a conversation between historic objects while also keeping in mind the contemporary context and this was the most interesting part.”
Regionally, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation has secured loans for the exhibition from institutions such as the King Abdulaziz Library, the National Museum, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and King Saud University — all in Riyadh — and Makkah’s Museum of Antiquities and Heritage, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques and Umm Al-Qura University. From the wider region, works have been loaned from the Al-Sabah Collection and Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah in Kuwait, the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, and the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, among others.
The viewing experience is mystical, like a pilgrimage in itself. It begins in darkness with American Lebanese artist Joseph Namy’s commission “Cosmic Breath” presenting recorded calls to prayer from countries around the world played together, working as if in unison with the installation across the room by Saudi artist Nora Alissa, titled “Epiphamania: The First Light,” which depicts various black and white shots of pilgrims around the Kaaba shot impressively from beneath her abaya. Nearby is an Islamic astrolabe that is positioned towards Makkah. The trio of works mark the first example in the carefully curated show, demonstrating the dialogue generated from historic and contemporary Islamic works of art.
The structure of the Biennale is divided into four galleries and two pavilions that house artworks regarding daily Islamic rituals and Hajj. These sections intend to evoke both personal and collective emotions about the spiritual life of Muslims around the world.
Large-scale, newly-commissioned works are found outside around the terminal’s expansive and evocative canopies, amid rays of sunlight and views of Jeddah that periodically include airplanes taking off high into the sky. The works outside communicate with nature and the Aga Khan award-winning architecture of the terminal itself.
Outside are also the pavilions of Makkah and Madinah, which present material from the Two Holy Mosques, Masjid Al-Haram and from the Hujra Al-Sharifa in Madinah. The focus here is on the initial journey that the Prophet Mohammad and his followers took from Makkah to Madinah to escape persecution. The objects on display, once again a mixture of historic and contemporary, shed light on the sense of universal belonging that ensues from the Muslim pilgrimage and journey home afterward.
Surrounding the pavilions are works by artists including Dima Srouji, Shahpour Pouyan, Moath Alofi, Reem Al-Faisal, Alia Farid, and Leen Ajlan.
Of note is Bricklab’s architectural installation “Air Pilgrims Accommodation 1958” inspired by Jeddah’s historic Hajj housing, which Vally describes as a site that “gathered people from all over the world to stay in one place — a place for cultural production and trade.”
“The idea emanating from the works outside is for them to generate invitations for gathering, for discussion and exchange,” Vally told Arab News.
This is reflected in Tanzanian artist Lubna Chowdhary’s “The Endless Iftar” which is a 40-meter-long table inspired by rituals of eating and gathering from around the world during Ramadan.
Also positioned outside is “My Place is the Placeless” by Iranian London-based artist Shahpour Pouyan, presenting three large-scale differently colored architectural domes that represent the three major traces in the artist’s DNA after he took a test that revealed his origins go beyond his native Iran to include Scandinavia, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East.
“It’s about human interconnectedness in an effort to break down ethnic labels and identities,” Pouyan explained to Arab News.
Like the other works on show, Pouyan’s work reflects not just on Islamic culture but on its universality, its ability to connect beyond the Middle East and offer a unifying force that goes beyond religion, nationality and culture.
As Alrashid states: “Islam is a communication of knowledge and culture.”
He added: “Since the 2030 Vision we sense that we are more welcoming just like the Makkans in the past welcomed visitors during Hajj.
“We are showing the whole world how they can enjoy Islamic art,” he said. “The Biennale is not just an exhibition or something from the past — it continues through culture, through integration with the multiculturalism of Muslims.”
Perhaps the most powerful theme of the exhibition is the idea of Islam and its art across the ages as a physical and metaphorical unifying element that continues to connect diverse cultures and people throughout the world. It is also a way, as Vally stressed to Arab News, “to define what it means to be Muslim from our own perspective, through our own art and culture to the rest of the world and to show how Islam has the power to unite us all, even non-Muslims, through its history, traditions and spiritual practices.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
___________
Ka’bah Door made by Shaikh Mahmoud Yousuf Badr for King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud in 1947. (AN Photo by Ali Khamaj)
Unanimous vote ‘opens new chapter in Kingdom’s evolving history’.
Saudi Arabia will chair UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee following a unanimous decision at the organization’s headquarters in Paris.
The committee will be chaired by Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin, the Kingdom’s permanent representative to UNESCO, and chairperson of the organization’s programs and external relations committee.
The Paris meeting also agreed that Saudi Arabia will host the committee’s 45th session, which will be held in Riyadh from Sept. 10-25.
The selection was approved during the 18th session of the World Heritage Committee, which was held in the presence of all member states of the committee.
Princess Haifa tweeted: “In completion of the Kingdom’s prominent role in supporting and preserving human heritage, I am proud today of accrediting Saudi Arabia as chairman of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, and for hosting of the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee for the first time in September.”
The permanent delegation of the Kingdom to UNESCO tweeted: “Saudi Arabia is home to 6 millennial world heritage sites and 11 intangible heritage elements, Saudi Arabia will proudly host the 45th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in September— it’s a new chapter in our evolving history.”
The decision is the culmination of efforts led by the Kingdom in UNESCO, in light of unlimited support to the cultural sector by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as the support and directives of Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan.
Princess Haifa praised the decision and said that it is simply the result of the Kingdom’s prominent role in supporting heritage, and its extended endeavors toward documenting human heritage alongside the member states of the committee, as well as achieving the goals of UNESCO in general, and the goals of the World Heritage Committee in particular.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of representatives of 21 states elected by the General Assembly, examines the proposals of states wishing to place their sites on the World Heritage List, assists experts to report on the sites, and provides the final assessment of the decision of the proposed sites on the list.
The Kingdom has two other members of UNESCO’s main committees, as well as its membership in the World Heritage Committee: membership of the Executive Council and membership of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which highlights the Kingdom’s role as a pivotal and international center of action in the organization’s decision-making.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
_________
Madain Saleh became Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. (SPA)
The opening of this year’s Cairo International Book Fair, set for 25 January, comes against a backdrop of a surge in the demand for historical and other non-fiction offerings, as well as uncertainty over an expected rise in prices.
Publishers have already announced an expected considerable hike in the price of books, no less than 50 percent for some titles and much more for others, which they attribute to the tripling in paper prices in less than six months due to the currency devaluation.
“We want to maximise our reach to as many readers with limited budgets as possible,” said Yehiya Fekri of Al-Maraya. Bigger publishers, including Al-Shorouk, Al-Massraiya Al-Lebananiya and Al-Karma, have promised very big discounts on as many titles as possible and special packages for titles that were put out for the book fairs of the past two years.
However, the pricing issue is no less controversial than that of genre. The domination of fiction during over 20 years, which allowed for many new novelists to make an imprint on the contemporary Egyptian and Arab literature scene, is being challenged.
This year, publishers say there is a growing interest in non-fiction, old and new titles alike.
Abdallah Sakr, director of publishing at Al-Mahroussa argued that the limited number of new titles of some branches of non-fiction, “particularly theory,” and the parallel interest of readers prompted his publishing house to gather, revise and reprint the three volumes of prominent 20th century intellectual Louis Awad, Tarikh alfekr almasry (“History of Egyptian Intellect”).
“Those are three big volumes that we worked on for three consecutive years as they were originally published by different publishers with some considerable intervals,” Sakr said.
Sherif Bakr, of Al-Arabi, said that there is a “definite interest in philosophy.” This is why, he added, Al-Arabi decided to publish Arabic translations of titles like Philosophy and Football and Socrates on Sneakers, which he expects to do very well in this year’s book fair.
“Non-fiction, in general, is making a strong come-back; I think we saw a glimpse of this last year with the first post COVID-19 book fair; but clearly this year our list of publications was designed to allow for a considerable number of non-fiction titles,” said Nora Rashad, director of publishing at Al-Massriya Al-Lebenaniya Publishing House.
They had embraced the domination of fiction over the past two decades. However, she added, this year more than last year, non-fiction is gaining ground. “I am not sure where this is coming from because there has always been some really interesting titles coming up in the non-fiction space but it might be a post pandemic thing with people looking for titles that offers some answers to questions they thought about during the pandemic,” she said.
For this year’s book fair, Al-Massriyah Al-Lebnaniyah is offering several non-fiction titles including Ezzat Al-Kamhawi’s Al-Tahi Yaktol Walkateb Yantaher (“The Cook Kills and the Author Commits Suicide”) which is a literary reflection on life and the works of prominent authors and the legacy of some important cooks.
History is also getting a lot of attention this year. With an introduction from Khaled Azzab, a prominent researcher, Al-Massriyah Al-Lebenaniyah is putting out a new edition of Mohamed Farid’s late 19th century Tarikh Al-Dawla Alaliyah Alothmaniyah (“History of the Sublime Ottoman State”) and an Arabic translation of Stanley Lane Paul’s Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
However, this passion for history is not just a new development that goes hand-in-hand with this year’s renewed interest in non-fiction. According to several publishing houses, this desire for alternative narratives of history has been going on for well over a decade.
Al-Karma has been on with several reprints of history books. For this year, it is putting out a new edition of Souliman Fayyad’s Al-Wagh Al-Akhar Llkhelafa Al-Islamiyah (“The Other Face of Islamic Khalifat”) that challenges the dominant incomplete narratives of almost strictly prosperous Islamic rule to shed light on the images of coercion and discrimination that some faced under the rule of Muslim Khalifas. Another walk in the history lane comes from Al-Karma with Helmy Al-Namnam’s title Yaom Honein – Qiraa Tarikhiya (A History Take on the Battle of Honein). This books promises to be controversial as it addresses an often marginalised battle that Muslims, under Prophet Muhammad, had to go through in a preemptive tactic.
Al-Shorouk, which had previously dedicated an entire series to modern and contemporary history, is also coming in with the most recent title of Mohamed Aboul-Ghar’s Al-Filaq Al-Masry (“The Egyptian Legion”). Typical of the history volumes written by Aboul-Ghar, this book offers a lengthy research work that documents the forced conscription of Egyptian men from villages all across the country to work with the British army during World War I. It details the incredible socio-economic and political consequences that contributed to the start of the 1919 Revolution that called for the independence of Egypt from the British occupation. In a sense, this book could well be part of the rich set of volumes that Al-Shorouk has been putting out for four consecutive years in a bid to re-visit the 1919 Revolution.
Al-Maraya, too, is going to this year’s book fair with several history titles including Nossous Wakirat Hawl Tarikh Al-Capt from the 10th to the 19th centuries (“Texts and Narratives from the History of Copts: 10th to 19th Centuries”) by Magdi Girgus, who was just awarded a prize from the Swairas Culture Foundation for his book Al-Moalem Ibrahim Al-Gohary (“Master Ibrahim Al-Gohary”) on the life and history of one of the most controversial Coptic figures, which was put out last year by Al-Maraya.
Al-Arabi, for its part, is putting out a series of history books under the title of “Papers from History.” “This project is the labour of years of hard work and it includes some translated titles and some titles written in Arabic,” said Bakr. Of these papers there is Mozakerat Aila Massiyhiya bayn Al-Qahira waRas Ghareb (“Memoires of a Christian Family Between Cairo and Ras Ghareb”) by Iliyah Mahfouz Bashir. The book tracks the history of the family of a man who was born to a Christian family in the 1930s in Ras Gharb, next to the Red Sea, where the father was working for an oil company before he retired and dragged the entire family to Cairo.
Also in history, there is also a wide range of memoires, biographies and letter collections. Al-Karma is putting out part two of its massively successful book Akhi Al-Aziz – Morassalat Hussein and Galal 1961-1989 (“Dear Brother – Correspondence of Hussein and Galal Amin – 1961-1989”). Like the first volume that shared parts of letters exchanged by the Amin brothers, a prominent diplomat and intellectual and a prominent economist and writer, the second volume shares reflections on life, politics and culture that were included in letters that they sent to one another as they lived in Egypt and abroad.
Al-Karma is also putting two books that offers alternative narratives on the lives of two key figures of Egypt’s contemporary non-classic poetry: Salah Jahine, the celebrated figure of this year’s book fair, and Ahmed Fouad Nigm. Mona Kattan – Soura Shakhessiya Lezawgat Shaar (“Mona Katta – A portrait of the Spouse of a Poet”) introduces the second wife of Jahine in a narrative that sheds a lot of light on the prominent poet/cartoonist. Meanwhile, Wenta Al-Sabab ya Baba” (“It is All Because of You, Dad”) is the narrative of Nigm’s daughter Nawara, who shares reflections on the father-daughter relationship and the impact thereof on the life of the daughter.
Meawhile, Al-Shorouk is putting out what promises to be one of the most interesting titles of the book fair, Albert Arie -Mozkerat Yahoudi Masry (“Albert Arie – the Memoires of an Egyptian Jew”). The memoires of Arie, who passed away in the spring of last year at the age of 92, offers an incredible insight on the history of Egyptian Jewry in Egypt before and after the 1948 War, including the national affinity that some, including Arie himself, held to the country. It also offers an image of life in Egypt, specifically in Cairo, where Aries was born and lived all his life.
On Cairo, Al-Shorouk is also putting out its Wassat Albald – Maware Elhekayat (“Downtown – Beyond the Stories”), an essential collection of photos that documents the architectural splendor of Cairo. Meanwhile, Al-Ain is putting out Al-Qahera Waomranha (“The urban History of Cairo”) by Nezar Al-Sayyad, a prominent Egyptian-American architectural historian.
Novels with historical inspirations have also been quite fashionable for the past few years. Following a very successful first novel, Yaacoub (“Jacob”) with Al-Shorouk last year, Afifi is putting out his second take with the same publisher at a historical novel Salam Ala Ibrahim (“Peace Be on Abraham”). Like Jacob – which tells a history mixed with fiction in the life of a prominent but highly controversial Egyptian Coptic figure during the French Expedition – Peace Be on Abraham applies the same technique in recalling the history of Mohamed Ali’s son Ibrahim. For its part, Al-Maraya is offering Magued Wahib’s Alam Yahouzah (“The Pains of Judas”) that mixes fiction with history in the account of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.
Other fiction titles that are expected to get considerable attention at this year’s book fair include Ahmed Samir’s second novel Rassail Al-Ganna (“Letters of Heavens”), Mahmoud Abdel-Shakour’s Alwan Aghostos (“The Colours of August”) from Dawwen and Adel Essmat’s Ayyam Adiya (“Ordinary days”) from AlKotobKhan.
Classics still have a big space in the book fair. Al-Massriyah Al-Lebenaniyah is putting out more reprints of the titles by Ihssan Abdel-Koddous, who, according to Rashad, “did really very well in last year’s book fair.” Al-Diwan is also coming up with more of its Naguib Mahfouz editions, Al-Karma is on with its reprints of Khairy Shalaby and Al-Shorouk is on with its reprints of Tawfik Al-Hakim.
However, according to Bakr, the demand now is for very different types of fiction. So, he said, while novels recalling big political events or documenting certain historical eras or reflecting on personal experiences remain in demand, there is also “a firmly growing demand for criminal novels – including detective novels.” The fact that there is a bigger taste for translated books, “and for that matter better quality translations, allowed for many titles of this genre to be published to please the appetite of a considerable audience of readers in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world.”
Meanwhile, according to Sakr, comic books are also “picking up really well.”
“In the past five years Al-Mahroussa has put out over 40 titles that have been essentially very well received by young people – aging from 15 to 30, but also younger and older.” For the book fair this year, Sakr said, Al-Mahroussa is putting out three new comics, including Magdi Al-Shafai’s Al-Gassous Al-Engelizi (“The English Spy”) that depicts early elements of the revolt of Egyptians against British Occupation.
There are over 1,000 publishers who are taking part in this year’s book fair, including 44 publishers from Jordan, this year’s guest of honour.
The renowned Egyptian literary critic Salah Fadl, who was 84 years old, passed away yesterday after a battle with illness. He was described by the Arabic Language Academy as a “major figure in Arabic and literature” and “had a march full of dedication and accomplishment as he was a literary critic well-versed in arts of Arabic literature and comparative literature.” To commemorate his long life of accomplishments, we will shed light on some of his greatest achievements throughout his career.
Early Life
Fadl was born in an Egyptian Delta village called Shabas Al Shuhadaa in March 1938 and majored in Arabic language and literature at Cairo University where he graduated in 1962. From 1962 to 1965, he was hired as a researcher at Cairo University. Fadl then sought new horizons away from Egypt as he traveled to Spain on a scholarship to earn a doctorate in literature from the Central University of Madrid.
Life Abroad
During his study period abroad, he taught Arabic literature and translation at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts at Madrid University from 1968 to 1972. At the same time, he worked with the Supreme Council for Scientific Research in Spain on a project aiming to revive and promote the philosophical legacy of Ibn Rushd (a jurist who wrote on many subjects, including philosophy).
Fadl then returned to Egypt to become a Professor of Literature and Criticism at the Faculty of Arabic Language and Girls College at Al Azhar University. His stay in Egypt didn’t last too long as he then went to Mexico to serve as a visiting Professor at Mexico College for higher studies from 1974 to 1977. There, Fadl established an Arabic language and art department. Additionally, he taught in numerous universities in Egypt and abroad, including Bahrain, Yemen, and Mexico.
Books
The scholar was an exceptional writer who wrote numerous publications in the fields of criticism, comparative literature, theatre, novels, and poetry. Amongst his most famous works was “Medieval Spanish Poetry: A Study and Examples” (1974), “The Realistic Approach in Literary Innovation” (1978), and “Structuralist Theory in Literary Criticism” (1978). Through these publications, Fadl helped enrich Arab literature by producing books that are used as a source of knowledge today.
Just before his death, he applauded the Abu Dhabi Centre for choosing Taha Hussein as the face of the Book Fair while serving as president of the Cairo Academy of the Arabic Language. He explained that this initiative strengthens ties between Egypt and the UAE and their desire to value the two nations’ icons in various spheres of creativity and culture.
Fadl had success in a variety of disciplines before taking on the role of Egypt’s cultural attaché, where he worked to strengthen ties with the countries he visited. His legacy will remain as he contributed to the Arab world through his interesting perspectives and rich knowledge in several fields.
Owner Dona Murad says the motto is Bahraini hospitality, Copenhagen technique and New York energy.
If you ever find yourself in Cooper Square, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, you might find a queue forming outside a cosy-looking bakery.
That would be Librae, New York’s — and possibly the whole of America’s — first Bahrain-owned-owned bakery. It’s the brainchild of Dona Murad, a Bahraini entrepreneur married to a New Yorker.
“We always wanted to have something in his hometown to represent the both of us,” Murad says on the phone from Dubai, where she lives when she’s not in the Big Apple.
“We wanted a space that brought together different cultures, religions and diversity.”
One quick look at the menu confirms they have achieved exactly that. Highlights include the rose pistachio croissant, a feta and dill scone and a lumee babka bun.
Lumee, or black lime, is liberally used in Bahraini cuisine.
“It’s used in tikka and stews and we wanted to create a pastry that was Bahrain and New York,” Murad says.
“So we took black lime, crushed it up, made it sweet in a lemon curd and put it into a babka, that’s classic New York.
“We gave it oomph and our own identity.”
Murad arrived in New York before the opening with black lime in her suitcase, knowing it was always going to be on the menu.
Another unique dish is the Marmite cheddar and scallion escargot, which is also on the menu at Hopscotch, Murad’s first cafe in Bahrain.
“Marmite is so hard to find in New York. We were buying it on Amazon in tiny little bottles, scraping every morsel out of the corners,” Murad says with a laugh.
“But we took that and put it in our morning bun and get the occasional English or Australian person who gets excited to see it on the menu.
“We love using flavours familiar to us, experimenting with them, putting them together in things that become delicious, like a disco in your mouth.”
Murad describes Librae as a “third culture cafe”, where they use “a little bit of this, a little bit of that”, with flavours and design influences from all over the world, from Bahrain to Bali and Morocco to India.
They also create new desserts for religious occasions, whether it’s for Eid and Ramadan, Christmas or Hanukkah.
It’s not just the flavours that stand out, either, but the technique used in the baking.
Murad and her husband, Andre, love the food scene in Copenhagen and so they were inspired by the Denmark capital’s unique fermentation process, which uses more salt and fat than usual with sourdough.
“Their approach to fermentation is quite a scientific one so giving examples might be a bit tedious, but if I had to explain it in two words it comes down to ‘no shortcuts’,” Murad says.
“Our croissant for example takes over 72 hours to get just the first step.”
Murad says their motto is “Bahraini hospitality, Copenhagen technique and New York energy”.
They were also really inspired by Denmark’s bakery culture, which, she says, is “small, warm and they have really good coffee”.
The combination of great pastries and delicious coffee was important to her when setting up.
“You don’t get two great products in one space. Usually people ignore one or the other,” Murad says.
“It might be a great bakery but they don’t care about coffee, so we wanted to do both.”
This is a similar premise she used in creating Hopscotch and Grind, a roastery she also owns in Bahrain.
Hopscotch opened six years ago and remains a go-to spot for food and coffee lovers on the island.
Nowadays, her brother and mother run the business in Bahrain, while she hops between the US and UAE.
Other dishes on Librae’s menu also hail from Hopscotch. The labneh zaatar morning bun customers find in New York, for example, is inspired by the zaatar labneh twist in Bahrain.
“It’s the evolution of the brand,” says Murad. “Librae is like the cooler, younger sister.”
As someone with no experience of running a business in New York, Murad was nervous about opening Librae.
But what made it even more risky was that they were doing it when there was still a mask mandate in the city because of the pandemic.
“It was scary, it was so polarised there,” she says. “You had people who would not walk into some places for certain reasons, so we were scared at the beginning. We didn’t have our foot in the door.
“Before opening, we were making almost 400 croissants a day. We refused to open until we had a croissant I would stand in line for … so I was standing outside the door, handing out croissants to people on the street.”
People would nudge away from Murad, looking at her as if she was “crazy”, she says, but every third person would respond.
“We would form a connection, tell our story and that got people talking to us and interested. Those people came back and stood in line to support us.”
They finally opened in May last year and the community has responded well.
“It’s so surreal,” Murad says. “I go outside and I look at the line forming and get goosebumps.
“Our communities responded here, in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, all over the Gulf and a lot of people in New York. We have regulars now.”
Another aspect she brought from the Gulf was the idea of relaxing in a cafe.
“Coffee culture in New York is very different to Dubai or Bahrain,” she says. “We wanted to create a bakery where people would sit down and dwell and enjoy, somewhere to have a good cup of coffee and pastries.
“There are a lot of coffee shops that are beautiful and New York runs on caffeine because it’s such a fast-paced society. This is a space that brings the way we enjoy coffee to the centre of Manhattan.”
Murad hasn’t had much time to think about her next step, but she hasn’t ruled out opening something new in the UAE.
“If the right opportunity comes along, it’s my second home, so why not? Dubai has so many great options, but there is always room.”
As for Librae, which is simply named after her star sign (“You know how when you don’t know how to pronounce something it automatically becomes cooler,” she says with a laugh), she’s focused now on growing the brand.
“I want to continuously learn in the industry. I enjoy what I do. Whatever opportunity comes my way, I want to be able to take it. I want to expand Librae’s horizons and see where it takes me.”
Palestinian Chilean singer Elyanna is set to perform for the first time at Coachella, the popular music festival that is held annually at Indio, California.
The 10-day event will run from April 14 to 23.
Elyanna, who is famous for her songs “Ghareeb Alay,” “Ala Bali” and “Ana Lahale” with Canadian Lebanese singer Massari, will be the first Arab artist to perform on the Coachella stage.
“I am honored and grateful for all the love and support I have received in the past couple days,” she wrote to her 575,000 followers on Instagram. “Last year I attended Coachella, and this year I will be the first Arabic singing artist to perform there. Your wildest dreams will come true, so keep on dreaming! See you in the desert.
“I’m so proud and excited to bring my culture and music to Coachella,” she said in another post.
Elyanna’s celebrity fans, including Massari, Dutch Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid, US Iraqi beauty mogul Huda Kattan, Egyptian rapper Felukah, Palestinian singer Noel Kharman and Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini, all took to Instagram to congratulate the star.
CNN has promoted senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir to the role of chief international investigative correspondent.
A London-based Sudanese journalist, Elbagir has broken countless stories for CNN from war and crisis zones, reporting on human rights abuses in places like Ethiopia’s Tigray region, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Yemen. In 2017, her undercover reporting exposed migrants being sold at slave auctions in Libya and prompted responses from the government and the United Nations.
Elbagir has scooped up numerous awards in her career, including the Royal Television Society’s Television Journalist of the Year Award in 2020, a duPoint Award, a Polk Award in 2017, the International Center for Journalists 2018 Excellence in International Reporting Award, the 2018 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, a 2019 Gracie Award, and the LA Press Club’s 2019 Daniel Pearl Award.
Elbagir joined CNN in Feb. 2011 as a full-time reporter based at network’s Johannesburg bureau, before later moving to Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to joining CNN as a freelancer in 2010, Elbagir worked in various capacities for the UK’s Channel 4 for a number of years from 2005: she freelanced from Kabul, Afghanistan for Channel 4 News; reported for the Unreported World documentary strand; and both reported and presented for Channel 4 News and More4 News.
source/content: adweek.com/TVNewser/CNN-Revolving Door (headline edited)
Sharjah HQ of waste management operator Beeah aims to lay foundations for a greener future.
A striking Sharjah building in the shape of a sand dune is primed to be a beacon of sustainability and serve as a fitting legacy for renowned architect Zaha Hadid.
The headquarters of waste management operator Beeah was the last project designed by Zaha Hadid before her death in 2016.
Her team constructed a modern masterpiece across 9,000 square metres, using sustainable materials to create a building with 40 per cent of its power provided by the sun.
Illuminated, sweeping staircases take visitors up to an art gallery on the first floor, with screens showing a time-lapse video to explain the building’s five year construction.
Now open to full capacity of 500 workers, the building is breaking new ground in how to provide a sustainable working environment.
Green vision
“We aim to operate as sustainably as possible, and used recycled materials in the construction of the building,” said Nada Taryam, managing director of Beeah HQ, which manages waste management across the country.
“Native plants have been used in the landscaping and reduced the amount of water consumption.
“A power pack stores excess energy from the photovoltaic panels, so we have a holistic strategy to achieve sustainability.
“Every project has its own specific requirements when energy comes into play, but the basis on which we have built this design can be learnt from.
“All of these sustainability measures can be taken and applied to other projects.”
The building’s high thermal mass allows heat to be absorbed during the day and dissipated at night to encourage cooling, while its curved structure allows the flow of natural sunlight to reduce the energy required for lighting.
An artificial intelligence system enables the building near the Alsajaa industrial area to learn to become more efficient as more people use it.
Its developers say it conforms to the highest standards of energy efficiency in the world.
Windows are positioned to reduce solar glare, while special glass cuts radiant thermal energy to keep the building cooler during summer.
While the glass limits the entry of infrared and ultraviolet light, solar panels supported by Tesla-made battery packs capture the power of the sun and store it to run the building’s air conditioning system.
The building’s components and management systems are integrated to maintain and improve its efficiencies.
Conference rooms are equipped with technology to automatically transcribe meeting minutes and email them to participants.
The building is the third in the UAE to be designed by Zaha Hadid architects, following the Sheikh Zayed Bridge, opened in Abu Dhabi in 2010, and The Opus hotel and apartments complex opened in Business Bay, Dubai, in 2018.
“As it learns from its occupancy, this building could potentially become one of the most sustainable buildings in the UAE,” said Ms Taryam.
“Certain decisions were taken, such as using glass reinforced panels on the ceiling which refract the sunlight so contribute to its efficiency and temperature control.
Defying convention
“There is a misconception about what these kind of buildings should look like, and we have defied that.
“There isn’t a rule book to say green buildings should be lined with solar panels. We have proved we can integrate architecture as well as sustainability to create something iconic.
“Zaha Hadid has something that distinguishes her from any other architect of her time. Every project of hers has its own context, but her ideas are adapted for each specific project.”
The headquarters of Sharjah waste management operator Beeah was the last project designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid before her death in 2016. All photos: Andrew Scott / The National
