Dalston-Dubai

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.

Creative Review is 30 years old! Congratulations CR. I cant live without my copy, I miss the magazines while I am in Dubai, I know you can get most things online now but it's not the same and we all know it!