Latest news with #NationalPavilionUAE
Gulf Today
10-05-2025
- General
- Gulf Today
Pressure Cooker serves food security at National Pavilion UAE in Venice
The National Pavilion UAE at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia (May 10 – Nov. 23, pre-opening May 8, 9), has opened with Pressure Cooker, curated by Azza Aboualam, Emirati architect and Assistant Professor at Zayed University and Co-founder of Holesum Studio. The exhibition poses a central question: Using the UAE as a case study, how can architecture contribute to greater global food security? Pressure Cooker could refer to the kitchen appliance and its versatility, the buildup of humidity within the greenhouse, or the intensifying pressures of the ongoing climate crisis. As climate change disrupts agricultural systems, traditional farming methods face mounting threats, from soil degradation to temperature extremes. The exhibition examines how architecture can respond to these challenges by proposing a series of experimental adaptive greenhouse assemblies for arid landscapes. It situates the UAE's agricultural landscape in the larger global context, exploring how architectural thinking can support versatile and resilient food production practices at both individual and community scales. Developed through a methodology that combines archival research, fieldwork and design-build experimentation, Pressure Cooker introduces a modular kit-of-parts for greenhouse assemblies, specifically catering to hot, arid climates. The kit breaks down the architectural vocabulary of the greenhouse into its basic components: roof, wall, floor, tools, and materials. They can be reconfigured in many ways, in different combinations that respond to climatic conditions and crop requirements. The approach proposes a future in which food production and architectural form are intertwined and can be integrated in our built and lived environments anywhere. A panoramic view of Pressure Cooker. Visitors will encounter a series of experimental greenhouse assemblies constructed using different combinations of the kit's components. Each assembly explores how inputs such as sunlight, shading, external temperature, irrigation, ventilation, and thermal mass and outputs such as interior temperature, light levels, humidity and energy use, can be negotiated through architectural form. The inputs and outputs also influence crop yield and detail the most effective ways to design and configure each greenhouse assembly. The exhibition includes crops with regional and historical significance such as cucumbers, while other assemblies demonstrate the ability to grow species rarely associated with desert climates, such as blueberries. The greenhouse assemblies respond to environmental challenges specific to the UAE, while also serving as a testing ground for how such structures might adapt to different contexts, such as Venice. Pressure Cooker thus brings together site-specific cultivation in Venice with research rooted in the UAE; it affirms architecture's role in shaping dynamic, adaptable food infrastructures across diverse climates. The installation is accompanied by multimedia and audio material that traces the exhibition's research phases. Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, UAE Minister of Culture, said that 'Pressure Cooker illustrates how local design solutions can contribute to new perspectives on sustainable urban living.' Angela Migally, Executive Director, Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation (SHF), said: 'Growth, understanding, and dialogue are essential to the continued evolution of the UAE's extraordinary architecture, art, and culture community.' The Foundation is the Commissioner of the Pavilion. Based in Abu Dhabi, the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation is a private not-for-profit foundation committed to the cultivation of a more creative, connected, and thriving UAE community. Laila Binbrek, Director, National Pavilion UAE, commented that 'the National Pavilion UAE continues to play a leading role in shaping the UAE's cultural landscape ... This is reflected in Azza Aboualam's journey, who first engaged with the Pavilion as an intern in 2014. This year's exhibition introduces a new critical lens ... thoughtfully connected to the climate realities of our time.' Azza Aboualam said: 'The exhibition examines how architecture can help identify and address challenges in food production, bringing the UAE closer to its food security goals.' Professor Michael Allen, Acting Vice President of Zayed University, said that 'the partnership between Zayed University and the National Pavilion UAE is an example of our commitment to advancing creativity through research, education, and collaboration.' A publication titled Pressure Cooker Recipes: An Architectural Cookbook edited by Azza Aboualam and published by Kaph Books, accompanies the exhibition. Holesum Studio is an interdisciplinary architecture and design practice based in New York, USA, and Sharjah, UAE. Azza Aboualam co-founded the studio in 2021, a few years after graduating from Yale School of Architecture. Her scholarly interests include the intersection of memory, architecture and society in the Middle East and North Africa region. She worked with the UAE Ministry of Culture's Architecture Initiative, and her field research, sketches and writing were published in the book In Search of Spaces of Coexistence: An Architect's Journey (2019). She also contributed research to Building Sharjah (2021), edited by Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and Todd Reisz, and Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai (2020), written by Todd Reisz. While working in Sharjah's Department of Public Works, Aboualam managed the design and construction of large-scale projects such as the Aga Khan Award–winning Wasit Wetland Center. The National Pavilion UAE is an independent, non-profit organisation, with a permanent pavilion at the Arsenale – Sale d'Armi. The award-winner curates the untold stories about the UAE's arts and architecture through its participation in the International Art and Architecture Exhibitions organised by La Biennale di Venezia. It is supported by the Ministry of Culture which champions Emirati cultural, artistic, and heritage institutions, providing a platform for creative and talented individuals across various fields, and promoting dialogue between different cultures.
The National
08-05-2025
- General
- The National
UAE pavilion rethinks greenhouses for a hotter and hungrier world at Venice Biennale
It all began with a modest box of blueberries. One day, Emirati architect Azza Aboualam brought home groceries and her mother, tasting the blueberries, asked where they were from. To her surprise, they had been grown in the UAE. Blueberries thrive in cool and temperate weather, making their presence in the UAE's arid desert intriguing. 'Where do the desert blueberries come from?' says Aboualam, curator of this year's National Pavilion UAE. 'The question instigated the entire project.' Greenhouses were, of course, the answer – but the discovery prompted Aboualam to rethink how they are built in the UAE and explore the deeper 'back-and-forth relationship between architecture and plants'. At this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, the National Pavilion UAE has turned its focus to food security, exploring how architecture can support agriculture in a changing climate. Greenhouses date back to ancient Rome, where Emperor Tiberius used simple structures to grow cucumbers year-round. Modern variations emerged in the 17th century, gradually evolving through advances in glassmaking and heating. Today, greenhouses are a central component of agriculture around the world. However, they are still very much a European design, and even the greenhouses found in the UAE have been retrofitted and modified for the local context. In short, the technology was never considered from the ground-up for arid environments. Aboualam sought to revamp the greenhouse specifically for the UAE climate. Working with her team at Holesum Studio – a practice based between Sharjah and New York that she cofounded – she developed a series of modular greenhouse assemblies or 'kits-of-parts'. Each kit contains the essential components to create a greenhouse – roof, wall, floor, tools and materials – designed to adapt to different crops, climates and site conditions. The exhibition, Pressure Cooker, presents several assemblies as examples. It transforms the National Pavilion UAE venue into a controlled-environment agricultural site. The first of the greenhouses has a broken arched roof that facilitates airflow. Basil grows in pots set on rammed-earth platforms, raised just above ankle height to shield them from the ground's heat. Tomato shrubs hang from steel pipes, closer to the arched roof. 'The vertical arch and the way it's broken, it can be fitted with panels that open and close when the seasons shift from extremes,' Aboualam says. 'You can open it up let out heat and hot air, and then in the spring it would do the opposite.' This kind of assembly, Aboualam adds, works best in urban areas closer to the coast, such as Dubai or Sharjah. 'There's a lot of humidity, and this essentially mitigates that by having a lot more air flow,' she says. 'Another aspect of this kit of parts is a fan that is positioned across from an evaporative cooling pad and so this cools the space down without the use of air conditioning.' Blueberry plants are displayed on a rammed-earth platform that, this time, rises to knee height. The display is as much a homage to the fruit that inspired the research for the project as it is an example of how platforms can be used to mitigate the heat of the ground. 'Essentially, it shows how [the platform] could be used as geothermal cooling for the greenhouse itself,' Aboualam says. 'With that assembly, you could essentially combine geothermal cooling and a green shade net which cools down the space significantly.' Then comes an assembly that incorporates a recognisable architectural element from the Gulf, and which has long been used to naturally cool spaces: the barjeel, or wind tower. In the context of the greenhouse, the barjeel is much simpler, featuring angled panels that promote airflow. The structure feeds air towards the tomatoes growing in between corrugated glass fibre panels, which also help keep things cool. The fact they are green is also not a mere aesthetic choice. 'The green shade net and the green fibreglass helps reflect a lot of the harmful rays of the sun that can affect the crops,' Aboualam says. The centre of the exhibition is a gathering space that offers insight into the research behind the project. Maps, illustrations and video elements display the field work and build experimentations that informed the work. 'The gathering table mimics the way the research team always gathered around a table to not just eat, but also work,' Aboualam says. 'This invites visitors to come with us on the journey.' One video highlights the archival research that Aboualam and her team carried out in order to understand the overlap between architecture and food production in UAE history. It shows maps dating back to the turn of the 20th century of palm trees growing along the coast of the Trucial States. An illustration of Dibba Fort shows how its watchtowers were built to protect orange groves in Fujairah. There are blueprints from the UAE National Library and Archives that show the inflated greenhouses in Saadiyat, as well as how evaporative cooling techniques were used to lower their temperatures. A map of the UAE shows the 155 sites that Aboualam and her team visited to document agricultural techniques. A second video shows how the 'kits-of-parts' can be arranged in a program that tests their efficacy in various assemblies and contexts. Walls, floors, shades, roofs and material can be organised in different permutations and shapes, ranging from rectangles and squares to arches, each with a unique set of advantages. 'We took all of the knowledge and all of the kits and then fed them in the digital tool, which was developed by Holesum Studio,' Aboualam says. 'It's a digital tool that uses thermal modelling programs, but also architectural programs. 'You put the kits together in different combinations and then assign a location in the UAE. It draws from airport data to tell you the predicted temperatures, how much electricity and water you need to operate the greenhouse.' The final aspect of Pressure Cooker shows an enclosed storage and office space that has been walled using porous polycarbonate panels. The walls feature vertical channels that can be filled with running water, cooling the space within. A video of greenhouses from across the UAE is projected on to one of the walls, but the structure itself offers ideas into how greenhouses can be used in more domestic contexts. 'Hopefully we can take some of these kits and integrate them within a neighbourhood in the UAE,' Aboualam says. 'It can be in someone's backyard, in a school park or within a compound.' While Pressure Cooker positions these greenhouse kits in a UAE context, the design's potential is not limited to within the country's borders. The project prompts new ways of thinking about food sustainability in the face of rising global temperatures. This is one conversation that Aboualam hopes Pressure Cooker sparks during the biennale, which runs from May 10 to November 23. There is a poetic element in bringing a revamped greenhouse back to the country that is credited with its invention, and Aboualam hopes that the kit further democratises the technology and promote self-sufficiency. One clue to that aim lies in the title of the exhibition itself. 'In a pressure cooker, you essentially put ingredients together and it gives you another outcome. That's how the project was conceived,' Aboualam says. 'The goal is that it's approachable enough so people that don't have that much expertise can build these structures and grow their own food.'
The National
08-05-2025
- General
- The National
UAE pavilion reimagines greenhouses for a hotter, hungrier world at Venice Biennale
At this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, the National Pavilion UAE turns its focus to food security, exploring how architecture can support agriculture in a changing climate. And it all began with a modest box of blueberries. One day, Emirati architect Azza Aboualam brought home groceries and her mother, tasting the blueberries, asked where they were from. To her surprise, they had been grown in the UAE. Blueberries thrive in cool and temperate weather – making their presence in the UAE's arid desert intriguing. 'Where do the desert blueberries come from?' says Aboualam, curator of this year's National Pavilion UAE. 'The question instigated the entire project.' Greenhouses were, of course, the answer – but the discovery prompted Aboualam to rethink how they are built in the UAE and explore the deeper 'back-and-forth relationship between architecture and plants'. Greenhouses date back to ancient Rome, where Emperor Tiberius used simple structures to grow cucumbers year-round. Modern variations emerged in the 17th century, gradually evolving through advances in glassmaking and heating. Today, greenhouses are a central component of agriculture around the world. However, they are still very much a European design, and even the greenhouses found in the UAE have been retrofitted and modified for the local context. In short, the technology was never considered from the ground-up for arid environments. Aboualam sought to revamp the greenhouse specifically for the UAE climate. Working with her team at Holesum Studio – a practice based between Sharjah and New York that she cofounded – she developed a series of modular greenhouse assemblies or 'kits-of-parts'. Each kit contains the essential components to create a greenhouse – roof, wall, floor, tools and materials – designed to adapt to different crops, climates and site conditions. The exhibition, Pressure Cooker, presents several assemblies as examples. It transforms the National Pavilion UAE venue into a controlled-environment agricultural site. The first of the greenhouses has a broken arched roof that facilitates airflow. Basil grows in pots set on rammed-earth platforms, raised just above ankle height to shield them from the ground's heat. Tomato shrubs hang from steel pipes, closer to the arched roof. 'The vertical arch and the way it's broken, it can be fitted with panels that open and close when the seasons shift from extremes,' Aboualam says. 'You can open it up let out heat and hot air, and then in the spring it would do the opposite.' This kind of assembly, Aboualam adds, works best in urban areas closer to the coast, such as Dubai or Sharjah. 'There's a lot of humidity, and this essentially mitigates that by having a lot more air flow,' she says. 'Another aspect of this kit of parts is a fan that is positioned across from an evaporative cooling pad and so this cools the space down without the use of air conditioning.' Blueberry plants are displayed on a rammed-earth platform that, this time, rises to knee height. The display is as much a homage to the fruit that inspired the research for the project as it is an example of how platforms can be used to mitigate the heat of the ground. 'Essentially, it shows how [the platform] could be used as geothermal cooling for the greenhouse itself,' Aboualam says. 'With that assembly, you could essentially combine geothermal cooling and a green shade net which cools down the space significantly.' Then comes an assembly that incorporates a recognisable architectural element from the Gulf, and which has long been used to naturally cool spaces: the barjeel, or wind tower. In the context of the greenhouse, the barjeel is much simpler, featuring angled panels that promote airflow. The structure feeds air towards the tomatoes growing in between corrugated glass fibre panels, which also help keep things cool. The fact they are green is also not a mere aesthetic choice. 'The green shade net and the green fibreglass helps reflect a lot of the harmful rays of the sun that can affect the crops,' Aboualam says. The centre of the exhibition is a gathering space that offers insight into the research behind the project. Maps, illustrations and video elements display the field work and build experimentations that informed the work. 'The gathering table mimics the way the research team always gathered around a table to not just eat, but also work,' Aboualam says. 'This invites visitors to come with us on the journey.' One video highlights the archival research that Aboualam and her team carried out in order to understand the overlap between architecture and food production in UAE history. It shows maps dating back to the turn of the 20th century of palm trees growing along the coast of the Trucial States. An illustration of Dibba Fort shows how its watchtowers were built to protect orange groves in Fujairah. There are blueprints from the UAE National Library and Archives that show the inflated greenhouses in Saadiyat, as well as how evaporative cooling techniques were used to lower their temperatures. A map of the UAE shows the 155 sites that Aboualam and her team visited to document agricultural techniques. A second video shows how the 'kits-of-parts' can be arranged in a program that tests their efficacy in various assemblies and contexts. Walls, floors, shades, roofs and material can be organised in different permutations and shapes, ranging from rectangles and squares to arches, each with a unique set of advantages. 'We took all of the knowledge and all of the kits and then fed them in the digital tool, which was developed by Holesum Studio,' Aboualam says. 'It's a digital tool that uses thermal modelling programs, but also architectural programs. 'You put the kits together in different combinations and then assign a location in the UAE. It draws from airport data to tell you the predicted temperatures, how much electricity and water you need to operate the greenhouse.' The final aspect of Pressure Cooker shows an enclosed storage and office space that has been walled using porous polycarbonate panels. The walls feature vertical channels that can be filled with running water, cooling the space within. A video of greenhouses from across the UAE is projected on to one of the walls, but the structure itself offers ideas into how greenhouses can be used in more domestic contexts. 'Hopefully we can take some of these kits and integrate them within a neighbourhood in the UAE,' Aboualam says. 'It can be in someone's backyard, in a school park or within a compound.' While Pressure Cooker positions these greenhouse kits in a UAE context, the design's potential is not limited to within the country's borders. The project prompts new ways of thinking about food sustainability in the face of rising global temperatures. This is one conversation that Aboualam hopes Pressure Cooker sparks during the biennale, which runs from May 10 to November 23. There is a poetic element in bringing a revamped greenhouse back to the country that is credited with its invention, and Aboualam hopes that the kit further democratises the technology and promote self-sufficiency. One clue to that aim lies in the title of the exhibition itself. 'In a pressure cooker, you essentially put ingredients together and it gives you another outcome. That's how the project was conceived,' Aboualam says. 'The goal is that it's approachable enough so people that don't have that much expertise can build these structures and grow their own food.'
The National
07-05-2025
- General
- The National
Majlis and the Manameh installation showcases Gulf architecture at Venice biennale
A familiar structure from the Gulf will be on display at the prestigious Venice Biennale of Architecture, demonstrating how a gathering space can be built and adapted amid rising global temperatures. An elevated structure designed to promote airflow and to keep heat trapped within the ground, manameh are often found in the mountains and along the coast of the UAE. The name hints at its function, translating from Arabic as 'a place to rest and sleep'. Traditionally, the manameh uses sustainable forms of construction. Its simplicity allows for modifications to further promote its passive cooling, as well as design changes to accommodate various purposes. These qualities will be highlighted in Majlis and the Manameh, an installation on show at the 2025 biennale. The work was curated by Emirati architects and urban researchers Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib, with the support of Expo City Dubai. It comprises three interconnected manameh structures, which will be presented at the Giardini, the heart of the biennale. As its name suggests, the work also weaves in the idea of the majlis as a thoughtful, intentional gathering. The Bin Shabib brothers were invited to present their project by the Carlo Ratti, curator of this year's biennale. The installation marks their return to the event after they had participated with the National Pavilion UAE in 2021, penning the exhibition's accompanying publication The Anatomy of Sabkhas. 'Ahmed and Rashid's returned participation to the Biennale of Architecture sheds light on their region's vernacular and offers forms of revival through the concept of the majlis,' Ratti tells The National. The brothers are known for being the founders of Brownbook, which examines cities around the world while highlighting points of cultural intersection. However, they have long worked on coaxing concepts of sustainability from vernacular architectural practices. In 2015, during the Milan Expo, the brothers created an exhibition for the National Pavilion UAE that looked at how dates, the palm tree and the falaj system produced a social and environmental ecosystem. They also highlighted the falaj and majlis concepts in an exhibition at Tokyo's Atelier Muji Ginza in November. They similarly highlighted the role of the manameh as a communal space in a 2023 presentation at Louvre Abu Dhabi. The project was a collaboration with Cartier. It featured three manameh structures, each conceived with a specific purpose. One housed a majlis, another was designed as a library, while the third featured a recessed seating area as well as a video component. The idea, Ahmed bin Shabib notes, initially came from their grandmother. She would often recall how people would gather at manamehs during summer, saying it was as much a majlis as it was a respite from the hot climate. 'Our grandmother Mama Moza al Dowais was the first person who told us about the manameh,' Bin Shabib says. 'She told us that during the summer, they would wet fabric, place palm fronds to endure the summers of old Shindagha [neighbourhood in Dubai]. They would soak sails to make shade and make a wind tower. But for them it was also was communal, a summer majlis where they would speak and made friends.' Majlis and the Manameh builds upon that idea, reimagining the structure in a contemporary setting and with a touch of colour. Similar to the presentation at Louvre Abu Dhabi, the installation in Venice will feature three manamehs. They will also feature shades and fabric walls, which, when wetted, will cool the breeze ventilating the space. 'If we wrap this structure with fabric, and you're able to cool it, you're producing what effectively is a building as an air conditioner,' Bin Shabib says. Speaking about the colourful fabrics adorning the top portion of the installation, he adds: 'We wanted to use colour patterns that would both be playful and draw on the regions visual typology. Along with the geometric structure of the manamehs both elements combined continue a historic visual narrative, in a contemporary sense.' While the structures are built upon the basis of passive cooling, Bin Shabib says that as technologies develop, the potential and function of the manameh will grow. 'You can now roll solar panels like cloths,' he says. 'Imagine wrapping a structure like a manameh with a similar fabrics, effectively creating a solar-powered tent.' Bin Shabib says he hopes the presentation in Venice will spark new ideas of how to take the manameh and reimagine it in different global contexts. 'The universality of this typology is that it can be applied to any circumstance,' he says. 'Climate is changing and adaptation measures are critical, maybe this structure can respond to these conditions.' 'The manameh can be assembled out of scaffolding and tarp from a construction site. You can have a user manual in a pdf and construct a manameh anywhere. It's not a static concept. It can be a bus stop, a social gathering space, a house. It could be applied to a building.' Majlis and the Manameh echoes the mission of Expo City Dubai to share local stories on a global platform, says Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and chief executive of Expo City Dubai. 'Continuing the legacy of Expo 2020, Expo City Dubai serves as a vibrant platform for ideas and culture,' she says. 'It champions initiatives such as Majlis and the Manameh that ensure the city's vision and stories are shared with the world.' Amna Abulhoul, executive creative director of Expo City Dubai and member of the Majlis and the Manameh team, adds that the project also underscores the city's ethos of merging innovation with tradition. 'In the heart of Dubai, we learnt that innovation and tradition are not opposites they are threads of the same tapestry,' she says. 'The manameh pavilion is a tribute to the wisdom of our ancestors to the elevated platforms where dreams floated with the desert breeze, wrapped in the vibrant colours of Sadu weaving. Expo City Dubai proudly carries this legacy to Venice, reminding the world that sustainability and soul have always been at the heart of Emirati living. Through the manameh pavilion, we reimagine ancient solutions for the cities of tomorrow. Cooling through wind and shade, beauty through craft, this is the art of living with nature, not against it.'
The National
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Weekly UAE museum and gallery guide: Two Venice Biennale exhibitions debut in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah
Two exhibitions by the National Pavilion UAE that were presented at the Venice Biennale have finally made their way to the UAE. That, along with other new offerings by local galleries, means that there's quite a bit to catch up on in the local arts scene. From poetic reflections of the country's natural landscapes to the Dubai debut of Nigerian-British artist Sola Olulode, here are four exhibitions to see this week. Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia was the National Pavilion UAE exhibition at last year's Venice Biennale. The show brought eight bodies of Abdullah Al Saadi's works, two of which were created specifically for the biennial. The exhibition is now making its UAE debut, showing at 421 until May 4. Like the original show, it is being curated by Tarek Abou El Fetouh. Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia delves into Al Saadi's process and works with theatrical charm. Visitors trace a path through the exhibition as performers reveal works emerging from metal chests that allude to the artist's studio space in Khor Fakkan, and telling stories as part of the performance. Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-8pm; until May 4; 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi A seminal work by an important Emirati artist, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim's Between Sunrise and Sunset was commissioned by the National Pavilion UAE and featured at the 2022 Venice Biennale. The work is now on display in the UAE for the first time in an exhibition at the Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah, which has been organised with the support of Lawrie Shabibi and the National Pavilion UAE. The exhibition features three paintings by Ibrahim, but the titular installation is the centrepiece, taking the entirety of the second-floor gallery space. The installation features 128 sculptural forms, each unique in shape, size and colour. The sculptures are arranged in a gradient, ranging from more vivid hues to the dulled and monochrome palettes that allude to the night. For Ibrahim, the work is meant to reflect the diversity of the UAE, both environmentally and culturally, while also evoking the metaphorical breadth of night and day. Saturday to Thursday, 10am-7pm; Friday, 4pm-7pm; until August 1; Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah Shama Al Hamed is marking her first solo exhibition, only a few years after earning her Bachelor of Visual Art degree from Zayed University in 2022. The exhibition features a vibrant mix of sculptures, installations and paintings that show surprising range for a young artist. The works reflect upon Al Hamed's journey as an artist, using the act of jumping as a metaphor for creative experimentation, as well as movement between different memories and emotions. Monday to Saturday, 10am-6pm; until April 5; Aisha Alabbar Gallery, Dubai Olulode's debut exhibition in Dubai ventures towards the sea in an exploration of myth and memory. The Nigerian-British artist's paintings often features references to the Yoruba water spirit, Yemaya, while exploring concepts of femininity and the power of nature. In the exhibited works, Olulode draws from her archive of photographs taken during trips to Caribbean, Mallorca and Senegal. However, instead of realistic recreations of the photographs in paint, the images are reimagined with a dreamlike nature and with bold colours. The paintings, as a result, become places where memories and legends intertwine, with water featured as a freeing element. Monday to Saturday, 10am-6pm; until April 9; Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai A new adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet will debut in Dubai on Friday, inspired by the music of the legendary rock band Queen. Featuring a five-piece band playing the British group's songs throughout the performance, the adaptation by Cross Bronx Studio's Lydia DeSouza punctuates the sword fights and star-crossed romance by a number of the UAE's theatre veterans with guitar solos and vocal gymnastics in the style of Freddie Mercury. Friday to Sunday, Theatre by QE2, Dubai
