Pan-Arabia Enquirer and the art of satire

If recent events are any indication, peddling satire in the UAE can be risky. So it was with more than a little skepticism that I took the news of a commissioned Pan-Arabia Enquirer exhibition at DUCTAC's Gallery of Light. But it turns out that this was, oddly enough, not just a big joke.

Fans of the publication know that PAE offers as much insight into the inscrutable idiosyncrasies of life in the Middle East as it does oft-missed satirical humor. A couple of prints are claimed to be early versions, from back when it was apparently called the Dubai Enquirer. Given PAE's premise, I really don't know how seriously I should be taking the descriptions of these. Suffice to say, though, that things have clearly improved since then, although there are still too many easy giveaways for my liking.

Highlights include select spoof ads (I love the job postings), and those facepalm-triggering letters that occasionally become as legendary as the articles themselves.

Print is not all there is to see; you can glance enviously at the VIP area while you wait in queue. A few manufactured artifacts, the articles relevant to some of which I recognize, are also displayed in glass cases.

DDG stages Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Dubai Drama Group's latest Shakespearean venture looks at Hamlet from a different perspective, in the comedy Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead. The play, staged at DUCTAC, features much philosophical musing on fate and luck, making humorous references to the minor roles, disposability, and near-anonymity of the titular characters.

Toby Masson and Ciaran Mulhern have great chemistry as the reluctantly duplicitous duo, Rosencratz and Guildenstern, respectively (or vice versa), bumbling their way about the Hamlet universe while the more well-known dramatic events take place around them, and pondering what it all means.

Some of my favorite moments in the play were those featuring Eric Dury as the head tragedian --- a character to which he is very suited. The play is also commendable for the attention paid to detail in production, most evidently in the costumes.

Peace in an Open Space sound art at DUCTAC

Peace in an Open Space, the latest short exhibition at DUCTAC's Gallery of Light, features a mixture of classic and contemporary sound art. The former includes Leopoldo Perez's reconstruction of Arseny Avraamov's revolution-era piece Symphony of Factory Sirens, as well as a very interesting audio documentary about its background and execution (both available on the exhibition's tumblr through the tablet provided by the gallery). There's also a player for Halim El-Dabh's mid 20th century haunting electronic music piece, The Expression of Za’ar. Worth checking out if you're into sound art.

Irish play Dancing at Lughnasa at DUCTAC

I had myself a little Irish theatre experience over the weekend with Dancing at Lughnasa, the debut production of a group that calls itself "Danu". The play itself, however, has a long history, and was even made into a feature film. About two hours in length, it was staged in one of the better-done sets I've seen at DUCTAC's Kilachand.

Set in inter-bellum coastal Ireland, in a small town, it centers on the relationships of and among five female characters, each written as a different archetype. Conflict between between social norms and personal fulfillment is one of the primary themes, along with insecurity and independence. The cast playing them do a good overall job of bringing to life women who are both strong and vulnerable. I thought Dererca Lynch and Aileen Kelly were particularly outstanding as Christina and Maggie Mundy, respectively.

Among the male characters, my favorite was Father Jack, and not just for the creative writing. Hats off to Paul McMahon for a great performance.

Lee Blessing's A Walk in the Woods at DUCTAC

The Indian adaptation of Lee Blessing's A Walk in the Woods returned to Dubai barely nine months after its last appearance in the city, and once again, for a single show night.

Leaving aside the half hour of technical difficulties delaying showtime, and the really annoying prolonged spiel before and after, the play itself was a perfect theatrical experience. Set in the context of contemporary Indo-Pakistani image games instead of the original Soviet-American Cold War, it follows the development of the "frenemy" relationship between two peace negotiators of different ages, cultures and career positions.

Sole cast members Naseeruddin Shah and Rajit Kapur have an excellent onstage chemistry and comedic timing, and play the endearing quirks of both characters to perfection. The execution of the play, directed by actor Ratna Pathak-Shah in her directorial debut, makes for a great study in body language and voice characterization. If the original version of the play were staged here here with as good a cast and crew, I would definitely attend.

AUD faculty project Year Zero exhibited at DUCTAC

I checked out the five-day Year Zero exhibition in its final hours last week. The collaborative project, on display at the Gallery of Light in DUCTAC, was composed of the works of Prof. Dina Faour, Dr. Sandra Alexander, and Dr. Jerry Legé -- all American University in Dubai faculty, and each representing artistic, philosophical and mathematical dimensions to this visual discussion of remembrance and reconciliation. I especially like the photo series placing words and images in the context of past conflict. The twin chalkboard piece, on which philosophical/mathematical analyses of 0 were jotted, was also very interesting.

BOLDTalks Innovation 2013 at DUCTAC

BOLDtalks made its second specialized foray on 16 Nov, hosting a morning and afternoon of talks themed on innovation, held at DUCTAC.

The event began with Dubai SME's Alexander Mathew Williams talking about local challenges and cycles in innovation. From Williams' statistics-filled talk, a couple of points that stood out were obstacles faced in getting local universities -- many of which do not have R&D programs -- to foster innovation among their students, and local perceptions of mentoring as wasta-dealing rather than the provision of guidance. He also attempted to explain the fees levied on startups by the state as a sort of pre-earning taxation scheme; I'm not sure how many entrepreneurs would agree that is necessarily better than taxes on earnings.

Some of the other talks were about innovation cycles in the region, microfinance, regional fast food franchising, educational innovation, and branding. For me, three talks were particularly fascinating.

Bastian Schaefer is a designer from Airbus -- which was one of the sponsors -- but his talk was not a lot of PR spiel. He walked us through the innovation process in developing the airplane of the future, starting with demographic shifts, and why and how these matter. He presented an example of a lighter, computer-designed, 3D-printed crew rest bracket that they created, and concisely described how advances in technology will impact construction, seating, aesthetics and efficiency in the kind of aircraft they are developing.

I also liked Dr Alejandro Rios G.'s talk a lot, and not just because he is also from Masdar Institute. He described the food-water-energy nexus, the growth of aviation emissions growth, and talked about his research center's project to use seawater -- available in overwhelming abundance -- to farm marine life for human consumption, as well as grow specialized mangrove plants that can be used to produce biofuels. I have long wondered if something could be done using mangroves, and I was pleased to know that it's happening, and right here in the UAE.

Possibly the most inspiring talk that day was that of Hind Hobeika. Although she is developing a rather niche product -- albeit one related to her passion -- she captivated us with tale of a journey from inspiration to conception to prototyping to funding to manufacturing. Most importantly (from an entrepreneurial and innovation perspective, especially), she recounted both successes and failures, and provided specific anecdotes and observations from along the way, about team-building, investment, patenting, production, and challenges specific to the region. Only a tiny minority of us are training swimmers, but I'm sure she had everyone there sincerely and enthusiastically wishing for her success by the end of that talk.

co.mmission #1 at DUCTAC Art Forum

DUCTAC launched the first (and apparently, urban-themed) installment of its co.mmission series in the Art Forum today. The featured artists of #1 were Dubai-based Vikram Divecha and Berlin-based Carla Mercedes Hihn, and the talk took place as an informal moderated chat with the two hosts, interspersed with audience Q&A.

Fresh from a residency in Istanbul, and with the support of the local Goethe Institute, Hihn has spent her Dubai residency pasting photographs from the city in a mixed media work on plexiglass, extending them with see-through painting. During the talk, she described some of her similar past work, and talked about the unique experience of city life as an artist-in-residence in Dubai.

I was especially keen to hear what Divecha had to say, having seen the fabricated sections of road from his Urban Epidermis exhibition in Traffic last year. He described what he had to go through in order to make the works for that exhibition, and also talked about a fascinating installation he had created this year by transplanting bricks from a section of a major bus terminal to an historical courtyard located minutes away. Apparently, it's still there - which is a good thing, because I seem to have missed it during Sikka.

Hunger group art exhibition at DUCTAC

Just in time for Halloween, the DUCTAC Gallery of Light's week-long Hunger exhibition features the works of a dozen artists, along themes of the unnerving and the macabre. A significant number of them are videos, with one set of works, by Angie Abbas, using the not-oft-seen medium of bone.

A series I found especially worth checking out are the illustrations of Sasan Saidi, depicting, in red and black, dark visions of a circus grotesque.

Jalal Luqman's haunting portrayals of raw human emotion are also very intriguing to see.

Battle of the Best Season 1 short plays at DUCTAC

The first season of the SocialCiti short play event ambitiously titled "Battle of the Best" ended today after an elimination round the previous day. I came in with somewhat low expectations, having attended the teaser in early July; it included a number of rough-around-the-edges and downright awkward plays that sullied the event.

I guess some of them had been dropped before and during the elimination round, making for what turned out to be a fairly enjoyable final show. The remaining plays were entertaining and generally well-executed, but for the frequent use of mood lighting effects and melodramatic music cues, which I found to be somewhat distracting and obstructive to the suspension of disbelief.

Ek Mulakat

Among the English language plays, I really liked the first one, Finger Food. It was cleverly written and appropriately cast. I also liked The Postman for the writing and the theme. Ultimately, though, I ended up voting for the one-scene Ek Mulakat, a play in a language I could only partially understand, primarily based on the acting and the implied drama.

A Midsummer Night's Dream by Dubai Drama Group

Brooke Butterworth as Titania, Ciaran O Maoilchiarain as Bottom, Cliff Single as Oberon, and Zain Sheikh as Puck

My last acquaintance with Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was back in literature class in school. Dubai Drama Group's production of the famous comedy of errors at DUCTAC last weekend was far removed from the ancient Greek imagery in my young head, though, set as it was in mid-20th century America.

Jennifer Cooper as Helena, Olivia Middleton as Hermia, Ben Franklin as Demetrius, and Stefan Malinowski as Lysander

I was very pleased with both the choice and implementation of the costumes. All the human characters' clothes looked sharp and consistent. Having the royal fairy couple dressed up in East Asian attire was a nice touch, as were their hairstyles and face paint; all of these served well to set their world apart from that of the humans. Set design was also good - minimal, but quality. I'm not sure why the fairy underlings had to manipulate puppets of themselves, but this was executed well too.

Erik Hadden as Theseus, Celia Cookson as Hippolyta, and Hani Yakan as Francis Flute

As for the actors, practically everyone made excellent work of it, and while there were a few dialogue fumbles post-interval (this was the first show, though, so I trust this would have been remedied in subsequent shows), everything went on smoothly.

Toby Masson as Tom Snout

I especially liked Cliff Single's Oberon, and Zain Sheikh gave us an unceasingly energetic performance as Puck. Among the humans, I thought Olivia Middleton as Hermia and Ben Franklin as Demetrius were particularly outstanding. Ciaran O Maoilchiarain's Bottom was brilliant in all three forms, and Toby Masson's portrayal of Tom Snout was hilarious. 

Drama Dubai Desert Monologues Showcase Performance

Drama Dubai's latest season of the Desert Monologues course wrapped up this Saturday with a monologue showcase by the course participants at DUCTAC. Everyone did pretty well; there did not seem to be any major fumbling. A lot of young-looking participants as well. My favorite ones included Zeina Menzalji as Juniper, Giane Lamb as Nervous Lady, Omar Bou Kheir as President Muffley and Frances McEwan as Rose. I also liked Nigora Normatova's parodical Cleopatra and Shilpa Mathew's female version of Calvin Candie.

Chinese Brush Painting at DUCTAC

I checked out this lovely brush painting exhibition at DUCTAC last week, featuring brush paintings by Mei Zhongzhi and Chen Hang. It was a good mix of two different styles of brush painting.

Mei's works were mostly of animals and plants, and more expressionist. He used a lot of color, mixing blurred, diluted strokes in the background, with sharp, bright ones to highlight parts of the scene.

Chen's works, on the other hand, centered mainly on inanimate objects or landscapes, with minimal color. They evoked a somber mood, as if the scene had been abandoned for a long time.

Andreas Woyke and Friedrich Kleinhapl Duo by Dubai Concert Committee

A pianist, a cellist and some of the best of the classical masters - including Beethoven, Wagner and Rachmaninoff at DUCTAC's Centrepoint Theatre, thanks to the Dubai Concert Committee. Andreas Woyke delivered with practiced delicacy on the grand Steinway, especially on the Wagner compositions, and Friedrich Kleinhapl's skill with the cello was especially evident in the second half's Rachmaninoff sequence and Russian folk song encore.

Video of one of their other performances:

12 Angry Jurors by Backstage

One of the highlights of this weekend was the Backstage theater group production "12 Angry Jurors", a mixed-gender version of Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men. Set in the 50s, it's a story of how the dissent of a single juror against an otherwise seemingly cut-and-dried guilty verdict in a homicide case completely turns the verdict around. Directed by Rashmi Kotriwala with assistance from Aswathi Menon, the play was staged over three weekend evenings, with two matinees, at Kilachand Theatre in DUCTAC.

Foreman, and Jurors 2 through 4

Jurors 5 through 8

Jurors 9 through 12

I had not seen the movie, although I was acquainted with a brief synopsis. Therefore, at least for me, it was a gripping experience to watch how each juror was convinced to join the camp opposing the guilty verdict. The characters' own backgrounds and experiences are dragged into the deliberation room, as one flaw after another is found in case against the young man accused of killing his father. The climaxes of both halves was done well, thanks in particular to experienced actor Bryan Mackenzie's fiery portrayal of Juror 3. Relative newcomer Teresa Lundgren played the role of the empathetic Juror 8 pretty well too.

Some other especially strong performances were those of Saad Siddiqi as the composed and logical Juror 4, Arjun Burman as the frustrated foreman, and Alejandro Celli Diaz as the principled immigrant Juror 11. I was also generally pleased with the performance of Juror 5 actor Vanshi Kotru, who, by the way, made her acting debut as the female lead of my own directorial debut back in February. Altogether, the cast of 13 did a great job of it, especially considering that 10 of them had, till then, either acted in short plays or not at all. For a play in which all but one of the cast had to be on stage at all times, doing something or the other, this was impressive.

The directorial efforts of Kotriwala and Menon deserve praise; it's not easy when you have 12 people to monitor at all times, and a lot of dialogue to arrange. Production-wise, I think the 50s setting was done well, except the platform shoes of Juror 6 and the overall somewhat modern appearance of Juror 8. The women otherwise had decade-appropriate skirts and blouses, and the men looked the part as far as the cursory perception of the decade would go.

This was a great end to the 2012-2013 season for Backstage, and I look forward to the next season.

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Another, much more detailed review: http://zimbosinlimbo.blogspot.ae/2013/05/backstage-presents-12-angry-jurors-at.html

HCT Media Graduation Exhibition "Sullam"

I checked out Sullam at the DUCTAC Gallery of Light in the final hours of its last night (it was only up for 3 nights, though). It was a good insight into emerging Emirati art talent. There were a number of film posters, collages and such. I saw some interesting integration of global art styles, such as Japanese manga and Australian Aboriginal "dot painting". And, oddly enough, a display of anime cosplay costumes. Some pieces were really quite creative.

By Shaima Faraj

By Fatima Alahbabi

By Mohammed Swaidan

By Fatma Ahmad Hatam

Contemporary Dance Dubai Showcase 2013

I had no idea that we even had a contemporary dance academy in Dubai until I saw this event advertised in DUCTAC's lobby. Which, I suppose, was the point of the event. And, while I admittedly have little exposure in general when it comes to contemporary dance, I was very impressed with the show put up by Contemporary Dance Dubai this weekend.

To musical backgrounds ranging from classical to dubstep, and with talents ranging from professional to beginner, they performed spectacularly choreographed sequences with near-perfect precision (perfect, in the case of the advanced and professional i.e. leading performers). The costume wardrobe was also very tasteful and simple, incorporating mainly solid blocked colors that chromatically and stylistically reflected the mood of each segment.

My Project MEGA

Having had my interest in Project MEGA sufficiently raised by the exhibition in DIFC this May, I managed to catch the last MEGA customization workshop held by DUCTAC in MoE today.

As I recall, I was busy designing my own hanfu shortly after this time last year, so I decided to paint my MEGA with hair buns (frustum-shaped, actually, due to the shape of the MEGA's ears), and use glue and the fabric DUCTAC staff kindly found for me to construct a dark blue hanfu for "MEGA gong zhu".

Took a bit of trial and error, some corrections, and some unfortunately hurried painting in the end, but I am proud of her.

Note: Many of the MEGA in the exhibit were customized by actual artists, using their own materials, and in more than just three hours. I just worked by myself with what I was given in that much time.