Tales under the Gate

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has transformed into an open-air exhibition and art gallery for the second edition of the DIFC Sculpture Park. This was my first visit here, and this years theme is Tales Under The Gate.

It almost felt like a treasure hunt, as the sculptures were all over and around in on the grass, in the park and gardens, but also inside in the staircases and lobbies.
Obviously I didn't photograph all of them (I'm not even sure we found all of them!), but here are a few of my favourites. Starting with Realm, by Bilal Hakan Karakaya:

One of the more known artworks is this one - Together - by Italian Lorenzo Quinn, previously displayed by the pyramids in Giza in Egypt and in Cannes in France. "Together we can make the world better".

Up in the Air by Matt Devine, and Luminous Symphony by John Helton:

(Didn't catch the labels for these ones, and have tried in vain to find information about this exhibition online, with no luck.)

Hercules is a DJ by Turkish artist Emre Yusufi:

Another Turkish artist, Mert Ege Köse has created this Geometrical Explanation:

This work - Between the Dunes - is by local artist Azza Al Qubaisi, who I have admired for a long time. This work pays homage to the natural landscape of this country, made out of sustainable materials.

Reaching up High by Greek-British artist Kalliopi Lemos:

More than 70 artwork are displayed dotted around the area, artists represent different countries, materials and art movements.

The Mermaid, by Erdil Yasaroglu, also from Turkey:

Knot, by Richard Hudson:

The message behind this sculpture called Give by Lorenzo Quinn is rather clear: the more you give, the more you will receive.

The Flying Horses by Italian artist Antonio Signorini:

60" Icosahedron (Silver Birch Grey) by Anthony James. Another artist famous from the recent Netflix movie Glass Onion where one of his artworks show in the center of the Glass Onion house.
James is also the only living artist to have sculptures on display on all seven continents, even on Antartica!

(Photographer: John Wilson/Netflix)

If you have the chance, go visit this exhibiton! It's free, it's outdoors, and the exhibition is on until 30 September.

Girls day out

On Monday Swedish ladies was hosting an evening event in Dubai, called 'SL @ work' which this time had a creative theme. Linda and I decided to go early to make a day out of it, and we offered up the rest of the seats in the car to the group, in case someone was keen on coming. Turned out we ended up being a full car, five ladies setting off on a bit of a day out!

We really made a day out of it! We started in the DIFC area with a walk around their open air sculpture exhibition Tales Under the Gate (more about this in a separate post).

Then we went for 'Business Lunch' at the 9th floor, at Clap. I must say, this was one of the very best meals I have ever had here in the UAE - outstanding food!

No wonder though that everything tasted and looked so amazing, it turned out to be a Michelin Guide-restaurant!

In the afternoon, we visited the Aya Universe in Wafi Mall. A really cool experience, but again, after you have seen the Expo2020, you are hard to impress... (More about this as well in a separate post)
I got the same underwhelmed feeling as I did visiting the Museum of the Future, although it was certainly rather innovative and exciting.

Before we went to the event down in JBR we had time for a quick shopping and refuel stop in the area around Al Seef down by the creek. Always lovely to visit.

And finally, it was time for the event itself. We got to hear from three of the Swedish Ladies who have very creative careers, in different ways - an author, an artist and a carpet designer. There wasn't too many of us so we could have quite nice discussions and exchanges. Really nice evening!

What a day!

Salt Camp

The temperatures have been rising lately, and for a few days last week it was really hot, then the rain came and it luckily cooled off a bit again.

On the weekend we managed to go out for lunch at work though, as we only had to get to the garden of the museum, where a pop-up Salt Camp just opened!

SALT is a local burger joint, that has set up different pop-up restaurants throughout the winter. I had already spotted them at the Abu Dhabi Art in November, and outside Museum of the Future in Dubai in January. Now, they have come to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
It all looks really cool there on the lawn, with a huge set-up of bright pink tee-pees, and a central space around a huge camp fire with lots of "Instagram-friendly" spaces and details!

Here at the Louvre Abu Dhabi the whole set-up has got a bit of an artsy twist to it as SALT has added interpretations of different well-known artists. The campaign is called 'The Art has Left the Frame', with an idea to make art more accessible. (Apart from George Washington here below, by Gilbert Stuart, they had not picked out any other artwork you can actually see inside our museum though... So in my opinion, the campaign fell a bit flat, but well well...)

We had some of their signature burgers, next time we might go for their well-known ice creams!

It was nice to take an actual break and get out in the fresh air for a change during lunch, I usually just scoff something quickly at my desk in the office, in between delivering tours.

Something 's brewing...

So... Something's brewing...

What it is?
Well, time will tell..!
I can tell you though, it's very, very exciting!

Fat Tuesday, on a Monday

The Swedish Ladies organised another picnic in the park to celebrate Shrove Tuesday this week.

A great initiative, and since they hadn't been able to find anyone to professionally bake, Viktoria had taken it upon herself to bake semlor for all of us! Impressive!

They were really, really yummy too!

I had never been to Reem Park before, so it was a new discovery for me. A bit too far to go on a regular basis, but I still enjoy to discover new areas of Abu Dhabi.

Nice morning in the park! I'm lucky to have this Swedish community to celebrate all our special holidays with!

Mumbai Nights 2

This weekend I took part in something really cool at the museum, a so called "Secret Soirée", an immersive theatre experience. This performance was called 'Mumbai Nights 2', with a cast that had come down from the UK.
We had seen the preparations for this for a few weeks already, all around the museum:

There was different venues all under the dome, with movie posters, a tuk tuk, selfie areas for the public with huge splashes of orange and yellow colours all over, and even diyas (= oil lamps). This show came as a part of the Bollywood exhibition we are showing at the moment.

I decided to dress up accordingly, found out where to go to find something Indian to wear and got myself a kurta (= a long shirt, with big slits up the side that also shows off the trousers). I really enjoyed wearing these bright colours, and felt really pretty.

Here I am with some of my colleagues from the Education Department, Richa, Ann and Memoona:

I had also convinced Linnea to come along, although she wasn't keen on wearing any Indian clothing.

You don't just sit and watch a show like this, but you become part of it. People were singing, dancing and enjoying the show together with the actors. The story is about the filming of a new - imaginary - blockbuster movie, which we got to go behind the scenes in.

There was just so many people, it was hard to hear when the actors were talking; so what I enjoyed the most was the musical performances and the dancing. They had unbelievable energy!

Besides, anything set under the dome of this museum will be beautiful..! What a setting! We got to see a dhol (= Indian drum) performance, visit the Flora Fountains of Mumbai and the ghats of Varanasi (= the stairs leading down to the Ganges)... oaw!

When the performance was over, everyone was invited to join the after-party, and we stayed for a bit and danced away to the music played by the DJ. So much fun!

Another great night out at the museum!

New additions in the house

Little by little, new things gets introduced into our home. I still have some items on my list, but there is no stress, I'd rather wait until I find the right things. Like this stool in the hallway:

I knew I wanted something here to sit on to put your shoes on. In our old house, the stairs were right there, but here we were lacking a seat. I looked and looked and couldn't find anything I liked, until I saw this one, in a flower shop! It's really well made, the wood is beautiful and solid and it looks so good there in it's spot. I smile every time I pass it!

In the office I have got the maintenance man to mount a ceiling lamp. It's actually an old lamp that we have had since we got married, we bought it with some wedding money we got from my grandad. I am really happy to have it up again, as it's been packed away since we left England, and I love it!

The guest room is also done, I got a lamp second hand and found a rug that brought in more colour. I also put some Lucas-themed paintings up, so he can claim the room a little bit like his. The two on the right were painted by Yvonne, the one to the left was a 30th birthday present to me, on the day Lucas was born.

And Linnea's room has finally got some rugs too! She decided to go for one grey to match the curtains; and one cream with grey decor, that also matches the curtains, and the shape of her ceiling lamp. It's amazing how it can change a room, to add some soft furnishings. Now it feels real cosy in here!