Dalston-Dubai

I heard a lady on the radio saying she was taking the kids to the camel beauty contest in Abu Dhabi. This has to be seen to be believed. Camels contests aside, the festival is a really good way of experiencing Emirate culture first-hand with a souk and stalls selling traditional crafts as well as performances and shows to showcase traditional arts and music. All in all an unforgettable insight, definitely put the Al Dhafrah Festival in your 2011 calendar as an event to remember for next year.

Photos and info from gulf news article

As Dubai International Film Festival draws to a close, (See the full list of DIFF winners here) this is your chance to be the star of a new film set and produced in the UAE. Unfortunately the casting is only open to six male and female Emiratis or Arab expatriates but if you fit the bill then this could be your chance to be a star! The film explores the world of the Djinn- mythological creatures with supernatural powers in Arab and Persian folklore and sounds like it will be quite something when its complete...?! I can only imagine!! Check out all of the information at Imagenation Abu Dhabi

If your in East London this New Year consider the 'Disappearing Dining Club'. For 75 of your English pounds you get a five course meal and entertainment from 7pm - 6am in intimate and super trendy warehouse loft space in East london. I think if there is a group of you this would be a brilliant way to celebrate together. A different type of glitz and glamour than that on offer in Dubai and totally unique. I love the fact that a heated roof terrace for smokers is a selling point (in dubai you can mostly smoke indoors and no need for a heated terrace...?) you'll get to watch the fireworks across the city and hangout in the coolest of cool- definitely an evening to remember. 

I'm going to the Cellar for New Year... this also goes from 7pm-6am and promises to be memorable but at twice the price, I'm pretty sure it wont compare to something like the loft party for the style and intimacy... again the total opposites of the East, Dalston (yeah Ok its Old street not Dalston but you know this blog often stretches the metaphor) and the Middle East, Dubai. Still, New Years is about the people your with so once you've had a few drinks and a bit of a dance with friends we'll all be merry wherever we are.

Loooooads of films going on at JBR walk. Get yourselves down there for their "Rhythm and Reels" at 8pm. Tonight is 'My Wife's Husband', tomorrow, 'Microphone' and Saturday 'Eleanor's Secret' at 6pm. All have concerts afterwards, unique location and finally something free in Dubai!

I was told yesterday that at the walk tonight at 8pm theres a screening of The Kings Speech. Rumor has it theres a Q&A with Colin Firth as well, I cant find this on the website but it's worth a visit just incase.
Theres loads of films on tonight check out the schedule here

Excellent exposure for the guys behind brownbook and their recent 'urban guide to the Middle East' in this Forbes blog article. Its great to see arts and culture in Dubai promoted on such a global level but being a frequent visitor to the no-so-current brownbook blog and knowing that the print version (although beautiful) is only published once every two months. I wonder if the 'boys' are more interested in promoting their own brand than helping artists and designers promote themselves and their initiatives here in Dubai. Beirut and Cairo are culture capitals sure, but Dubai needs work. Don't get me wrong, I admire the 'brownbook boys' as Forbes calls them, they are a great example of entrepreneurial creatives pushing the arts in this region. Creating places like Shelter brings international designers for talks and exhibitions to help our creative community develop. To get close to those other creative leaders in the Middle East though, we need  an uptodate, for-designers-by-designers guide to whats on and whats cool in the UAE, we need enthusiastic grass-roots artists to push things forward, not timeout, a government run or profit-making arrangement but something independent and young, thats where brownbook should run next....back to Dubai.

Opens today at the Courtyard Gallery, Al Quoz.
An exhibition of contemporary Persian & Arabic Calligraphy by Ali Shirazi. 

"Mastering classical calligraphy for over 35 years had given Ali Shirazi the skill to move forward and break boundaries by exploring new means to fulfill his creative desire. The preeminent brushes, which glide on his large canvases, are clearly come from his outstanding skill in traditional calligraphy.  Having exhibited in Total Arts Gallery for several occasions in the past, now he is back with his new collection of contemporary Persian and Arabic calligraphy.
Ali Shirazi is known as the best scripter of Nastaliq style of calligraphy in the world. His work has been extensively exhibited worldwide and been collected by major museums and private collections through Islamic world."

Read more about Ali Shirazi on his website

Today is Jean-Luc Godard's 80th birthday. To honour their hero, design studio Atelier Carvalho Bernau has created the Jean-Luc typeface which is available for free from their website

He is often considered the most extreme or radical of the New Wave filmmakers. His radical approach in movie conventions, politics and philosophies made him the most influential filmmaker of the French New Wave, inspiring directors as diverse asQuentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Bernardo Bertolucci, Arthur Penn, Hal Hartley, Richard Linklater, Gregg Araki, John Woo, Mike Figgis, Robert Altman, Steven Soderbergh, Richard Lester, Jim Jarmusch, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Brian De Palma, Wim Wenders, Oliver Stone and Ken Loach.

"The typeface is based on the lettering used in the title sequences for the films. "We didn't find out who originally made the lettering for these two movies," they say. "Some speculate it could have been Godard himself – Godard's interest in graphic design and typography is clear, with many of his other films employing such strong typography-only titles and intertitles."

Read more on the Creative Review blog

Another blinding contrast between Abu Dhabi and Dubai's architectural aspirations as the Queen visits and Foster and Parteners reveal the designs for the 'Zayed National Museum'. I read a few articles criticizing the architects for designing another building with no reference or sympathy to its natural surroundings. I agree, its not very fitting, but isnt that the point?

"Foster + partners' designs for the 'zayed national museum' in abu dhabi was revealed byhis highness sheikh mohammed bin rashid al maktoum, vice-president and prime minister
of the UAE and ruler of dubai and her majesty queen elizabeth II of the united kingdom. 
conceived as a monumnet and memorial to the late sheikh zayed bin sultan al nahyan, 
the founding president of the UAE, the museum will be the centrepiece of the saadiyat
island cultural district and will showcase the history, culture and more recently the social 
and economic transformation of the emirates"

article extract and photos taken from designboom