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5 Chic Books To Add To Your Coffee Table Stack

5 Chic Books To Add To Your Coffee Table Stack

The season's most coveted books for inspiration and insight
Roma Eterna
Many poets have written about Rome and its timeless beauty – a place with endless nature, art and culture. Hence, it's fitting that the Italian capital has taken the title of the 'Eternal City'. There is much to be discovered in its hidden bars, galleries and nightlife. Some might say it's a fashion capital in its own right, home to the headquarters of Fendi, Valentino, Brioni, and Bulgari. With a foreword by Assouline's resident Italy expert Cesare Cunaccia and photography by Martine and Prosper Assouline's own travels to Rome, Roma Eterna is a captivating journey that brings the city's quieter moments to life – found in the picturesque alleyways and family-run restaurants. Expect to fall in love over and over again as the pages reveal the never-ending wonders of the magical metropolis.
Assouline. Dhs385, assouline.com
Jeanne Detallante Milan: Louis Vuitton Travel Book
Milan is a city that has always mesmerised French artist Jeanne Detallante. The newest addition to Louis Vuitton's travel book collection, reveals the remarkable city's hidden depths and details that make it so charming and full of character. Jeanne's intricate sketchbook invites readers to recognise the motif of a tapestry, the typography of a sign and the lingering presence of Marino Marini's sculpted busts at the Museo del Novecento, which can be felt all the way to Piazza del Duomo.
Louis Vuitton. POA, louisvuitton.com
Italian Hands: Artisanal Stories From Italy
Italian craftsmanship isn't just a matter of expert hands and ancient techniques – it's the beating heart of Italy's history and culture. This new tome shines a light on those who have turned craftsmanship into an art form that goes beyond the production of objects: every piece has a story, and is an expression of creativity. One can't help but admire, as well as be truly inspired by the featured creatives.
Tod's. POA,
GEORG BASELITZ
Georg Baselitz has never played by the rules – and this stunning Taschen monograph captures exactly that. Spanning over 60 years of his provocative, upside-down paintings and raw, fractured figures, the book dives deep into the mind of one of post-war Germany's most defiant voices. With more than 400 works and rare archival material, it's both a visual feast, and a thoughtful reflection on identity, memory and history. Whether you're a long-time admirer or new to his work, this volume offers an intimate and unfiltered look at Baselitz's radical approach to art.
Taschen. Dhs367, taschen.com
Living In A Dream: Dreamscapes, Imagined Architecture And Interiors
Celebrate limitless fantasy and the transformative power of artificial architecture with Living in a Dream: a hypnotising compilation of dreamy beach houses, utopian skyscrapers and whimsical furniture. Each image reveals a new realm of aesthetic innovation, transcending traditional boundaries and escaping the ordinary. Within the pages, the featured visionary artists showcase the boundless abilities of the mind, which, when coupled with AI, can unveil the most perfect worlds.
Gestalten. Dhs220, gestalten.com
From Harper's Bazaar Arabia Interiors Summer 2025 Issue.
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Six Arab films premiering at Venice Film Festival 2025
Six Arab films premiering at Venice Film Festival 2025

The National

time4 days ago

  • The National

Six Arab films premiering at Venice Film Festival 2025

The Venice Film Festival returns later this month for its 82nd year. Running from August 28 until September 7, Venice is one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals. It has become a key platform for films from the Mena region, showcasing emerging and established Arab filmmakers. This year's jury president is American filmmaker Alexander Payne, known for Sideways and Nebraska. The festival will open with La Grazia by Paolo Sorrentino and will close with Dog 51 by Cedric Jimenez. The 2025 festival programme includes several films from the Mena region, in the feature-length and short film categories. Here they are. The Voice of Hind Rajab Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania returns to Venice with The Voice of Hind Rajab, based on the real case of a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli military in Gaza in early 2024. Her death gained international attention after audio recordings of Hind's emergency call to the Red Crescent were released, in which she described being trapped in a car surrounded by the bodies of her relatives. Ben Hania's earlier works, Four Daughters and The Man Who Sold His Skin, blend documentary elements with fiction. The idea for her latest film came during her Oscar campaign for Four Daughters. 'During a layover at [Los Angeles International Airport], everything shifted,' Ben Hania said. 'I heard an audio recording of Hind Rajab begging for help. By then, her voice had already spread across the internet. I immediately felt a mix of helplessness, and an overwhelming sadness. A physical reaction, like the ground shifted under me. I couldn't carry on as planned.' My Father and Qaddafi My Father and Qaddafi by Jihan Kikhia is a documentary that examines the life and disappearance of her father, Mansour Kikhia. A former Libyan foreign minister turned human rights advocate, Mansour was abducted in Cairo in 1993. His body was not recovered until 2012, following the collapse of Muammar Qaddafi 's regime. The film is a personal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mansour's disappearance. It uses family archives, official documents and interviews to reconstruct the political climate of the time. Kikhia combines a family story with a broader examination of the mechanisms of authoritarian control and international complicity. Hijra Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen returns to Venice with Hijra. The title refers to the Arabic term for migration or departure, which is often associated with spiritual or transformative journeys. The film follows a woman who leaves her familiar environment. Ameen's previous film, Scales, premiere at Venice Critics' Week in 2019 and gained international attention for its visual style and allegorical storytelling. With Hijra, Ameen continues to explore questions of female autonomy, social restriction and personal change. It is the latest in a wave of Saudi films that seek to challenge conventional narratives through intimate and visually driven stories. Calle Malaga Moroccan director Maryam Touzani 's film Calle Malaga is set in the Spanish port city in the title. It follows a Moroccan domestic worker living abroad while financially supporting her family back home. The story centres on her daily routine, exploring the social and emotional realities of life as a migrant worker. Touzani's previous work includes Adam and The Blue Caftan. In her films, Touzani focuses on the lives of Moroccan women navigating family, tradition and personal freedom. With Calle Malaga, she shifts focus to the experience of economic migration. As with her earlier films, Touzani approaches her subject with empathy, continuing her interest in marginalised characters. Who is Still Alive Directed by Swiss filmmaker Nicolas Wadimoff, Who is Still Alive is a documentary centred on the lives of Palestinians in Gaza. It gathers testimonies from civilians living under the conditions of prolonged occupation and siege. The film is not structured around a single event, but instead presents a composite portrait through a series of individual accounts. Wadimoff's previous films Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza) and The Apollo of Gaza both avoid graphic imagery in favour of observational storytelling. In Who is Still Alive, he adopts a similar approach, allowing the subjects to speak for themselves. The film places emphasis on endurance and memory rather than political commentary or journalistic framing. Coyotes Coyotes is a short from Palestinian-British filmmaker Said Zagha and stars Ali Suliman and Yumna Marwan. The film follows a young Palestinian man who becomes involved in a people smuggling network while trying to reach Europe. The title is the slang term for those who facilitate illegal crossings, often at great personal cost to those they transport. Zagha's earlier short films focused on urban youth and generational conflict. In Coyotes, he examines how socio-economic pressure and limited opportunities shape decisions around migration.

Paris creative agency The Refreshment Club to launch MENA hub in Dubai
Paris creative agency The Refreshment Club to launch MENA hub in Dubai

Campaign ME

time7 days ago

  • Campaign ME

Paris creative agency The Refreshment Club to launch MENA hub in Dubai

Founded in Paris in 2019, creative agency The Refreshment Club is set to officially open its Middle East hub with an office in Dubai in September 2025. The creative agency – whose work spans across communication, brand, and platform design for a new generation of luxury and lifestyle brands – will look to enable closer collaboration and faster implementation of adaptive campaigns, retail transformation and culturally relevant creative production in the MENA region through its new office in Dubai. With a portfolio spanning fashion, beauty, retail, and purpose-led ventures, the agency partners with clients including Louis Vuitton, Westfield, Elie Saab, and the No More Plastic Foundation. Experts running The Refreshment Club agency The Dubai office will be led by Onur Kece, Founder and Creative Director, The Refresh Club, and Design Director Alix Petit, who bring together strategic vision and refined creative craft to shape The Refreshment Club agency's presence in the region. Kece is the multi-award-winning founder of The Refreshment Club. With more than 20 years at the intersection of advertising, design, and brand strategy, he has delivered transformative work for global clients across Australia, the USA, and Europe, merging cultural insight with technological innovation. A global voice in generative AI creativity, Kece lectures at SCAD and Istituto Marangoni, sits on the board of Parsons Paris, and founded The School of Future Fundamentals, an AI-education initiative shaping the next generation of creative thinkers. As Design Director, Alix Petit brings a refined approach to storytelling through design – crafting visual identities and experiences that resonate on both emotional and aesthetic levels. With more than 15 years of leadership in fashion design and brand building, she has developed a unique ability to translate strategic ideas into crafted, human-centered outcomes. A frequent speaker and masterclass leader in generative AI and business strategy, Alix is also a partner at The School of Future Fundamentals, helping shape the creative education of tomorrow. Her perspective ensures that AI-enabled innovation remains grounded in cultural relevance and design integrity. Together, Onur and Alix lead The Refreshment Club's Dubai team with a focus on disruptive thinking, strategic design, and AI-enabled creativity, positioning the agency as a partner for brands seeking cultural and technological relevance in the region. What the agency brings to the Middle East market The agency employs an evolved communications framework that merges the fundamentals of traditional advertising with AI-enabled workflows – from strategy to creative production – giving brands new agility to respond, adapt, and move at the pace of culture. This approach, which it calls the MicroVerse Method, combines identity-based insights with cultural intelligence and future-focused craft to deliver campaigns that feel timely, relevant and emotionally resonant. The Refreshment Club enters the Middle East with a clear point of difference: bold creative thinking fueled by what's possible in an AI-driven world. It uses AI not as a backend tool, but as a catalyst for creative transformation, delivering work that builds brand equity and cultural resonance through: Precision identity mapping : Deep audience and cultural segmentation to uncover hyperlocal drivers across the region. : Deep audience and cultural segmentation to uncover hyperlocal drivers across the region. AI-driven campaign systems : Strategic frameworks that synchronize creative, media, and data in real time. : Strategic frameworks that synchronize creative, media, and data in real time. Premium AI production workflows : Tailored for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle, blending generative tools with expert craft. : Tailored for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle, blending generative tools with expert craft. Adaptive campaign models : Built to flex seamlessly across GCC markets while maintaining brand DNA. : Built to flex seamlessly across GCC markets while maintaining brand DNA. End-to-end execution : Through-the-line services delivered via a new, collaborative model of client partnership. : Through-the-line services delivered via a new, collaborative model of client partnership. Human-AI creative fusion: Custom workflows that merge cutting-edge generative AI with senior creative direction to produce work that's innovative, culturally tuned, and emotionally resonant. 'Partnering with The Refreshment Club has revolutionised how we build campaigns across every region. Their AI-enabled approach hasn't just streamlined our process, it has unlocked a new realm of creative possibility and elevated our execution to a standard we hadn't imagined,' said Tristin Eringher, Group Marketing Director, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. In parallel with its agency work, The Refreshment Club has also launched the School of Future Fundamentals — an educational platform and transformation consultancy designed to help marketing leaders navigate the evolving world of AI. 'We felt that creating this education platform was absolutely necessary. Marketing teams are being asked to work with AI, but until now, no one was offering a way to understand how AI can truly empower a brand. Most platforms push optimisation or acceleration. The SFF is different — it's built to educate teams on how AI can amplify brand values and emotional connection,' said Edward Mills, Chief Learning Strategist, SFF. With a hybrid offering that blends creative strategy, AI-enabled production, and human insight, The Refreshment Club aims to help brands operating in the Middle East create relevance, loyalty, and long-term love not just short-term efficiency.

Ranveer Singh's mehendi surprise at his wedding to Deepika Padukone will melt your heart
Ranveer Singh's mehendi surprise at his wedding to Deepika Padukone will melt your heart

Khaleej Times

time06-08-2025

  • Khaleej Times

Ranveer Singh's mehendi surprise at his wedding to Deepika Padukone will melt your heart

Even nearly seven years after their dreamy Italian wedding, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone continue to capture hearts. This time through a revelation made by celebrity mehendi artist Veena Nagda. In a new podcast interview with Filmibeat Prime, Nagda fondly recalled being invited to do Deepika's bridal mehendi at the couple's 2018 wedding in Lake Como. She talked about Ranveer's involvement that stood out for her the most. 'No words can do him justice,' Veena said. 'It was very cold in Lake Como, and I was wondering how Deepika and I were going to get through the intricate design we had planned for her. Ranveer came around after an hour, and the entire climate changed. The sun came out. He really lit up the room.' The artist recalled that Ranveer even interrupted the session with a memorable compliment: 'A queen is doing the mehendi for another queen.' And the most heartwarming thing, Veena shared, was Ranveer's own mehendi — a minimalist design featuring "Deep" (a sweet abbreviation of Deepika's name), accompanied by three stars. According to Veena, each star represented a woman important to Deepika: one for Deepika herself, one for her mother Ujjala, and one for her sister Anisha. She also revealed that Deepika had made good on a promise she had made years ago. After watching Veena work her magic on the set of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Deepika promised to bring her on for her future wedding. Ranveer and Deepika got married on November 14, 2018, in an intimate but grand affair attended by close friends and family. The couple only made their wedding video public in 2023, during the premiere of Koffee With Karan Season 8 on Disney+ in the UAE. The power couple are now proud parents to a baby girl, Dua Padukone Singh, born on September 8, 2024. While they've shared the news with fans via a sweet Instagram post, they've chosen to keep their daughter out of the public eye for now.

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