Selections # 23 by Yevgen Kodash

Special Section

CURATED BY PASCAL ODILLE DUBAI'S FIRST CONCEPT STORE SPOTLIGHT ON LONDON & QATAR

KIMIKO YOSHIDA LBP 10.000 / KWD 2.5 / AED 37

JOD 7 / USD 10 / DHB 4 / QAR 37

ARAB ART IN 2013 ICONIC JEWELLERY THEN & NOW FASHION AS ART

The ART Issue

Couture Fall-Winter 2013-2014 www.georgeschakra.com

E di tor's Let t er

A window to

the world

As we write this new issue of Selections, our region bears witness to the storm clouds of violence once again. It is in this context that the Beirut Art Fair opens at the start of this season, which we are proud to collaborate with in a positive strike for creative connection and vitality. People are coming together through art as a way to express and to share, as well as to enjoy life. The Artistic Director of the fair Pascal Odille has personally curated a 16-page art

special for us. He presents his favourite works from the deep pool of international talent that is coming to our home city where Selections is written and published. It was Pascal who lead us to Kimiko Yoshida, the sensational Japanese artist whose self-portrait brightens our cover. With her fantastical use of costume and make-up, she blurs the boundaries of fashion and expression with her very witty and beautiful photography. In the spirit of celebrating the many cultures that surround us, we have worked with curators from the world’s leading museums to present some truly fabulous jewellery from different nations throughout history. From Ancient Greek bangles to a 14thcentury neckpiece from Iran to a 19th-century Nepalese crown, we find these ornate wonders a pleasure to behold every single time we see them. I was privileged to join the Qatar Museums Authority in London for the launch of their 2013 Year of Culture with the UK. We peek a little deeper into this illuminating partnership while elsewhere telling stories about London’s fresh young creatives – one of whom, Faye Toogood, designed the look for Dubai’s first concept store. While people may not agree on life’s heavier subjects, there can be little disagreement about the pleasure that beauty brings us, plenty of which I hope you will find in the pages of this autumn issue. Art can offer us all a window to the world, a dalliance with culture and solace for the soul.

Allegra ABU DHABI

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DUBAI

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G E N E VA

PA R I S

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G S TA A D

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K U WA I T

PORTO CERVO

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ROME

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LONDON

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MIAMI

ST BARTHELEMY

www• degrisogono• com

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MOSCOW

ST MORITZ

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NEW YORK

Nadim Karam Urban Zoo

29 August - 10 October 2013

ayyam gallery|Beirut

www.ayyamgallery.com

Nadim Karam

99 Objects Possible to Find on a Cloud 30 September - 28 November 2013

ayyam gallery|Dubai - Al Quoz

www.ayyamgallery.com

C ont e nts

53 Life's a cru ise!

luxury lifestyle

LIFESTYLE NEWS

PORSCHE PANAMERA

WHY BRANDS LOVE ARTISTS

RIMA KHATIB

THE NEW PERFUMIERS

THE WORLD'S FINEST JEWELLERY

33 fa s h i o n

33 a d o r n i ng t h e c e nt u r i e s

FASHION NEWS

HAUTE COUTURE REVIEW

CRUISE COLLECTIONS

FASHION TRENDS

EXHIBITING CLOTHES

ART AS FASHION

120 c u r at e d b y pasca l o di l l e Cover image: Kimiko Yoshida, The Rubens Bride (Van Cleef & Arpels) selfportrait, 2008, courtesy Galerie Tanit

world

Publisher City News Privilege info@citynewsme.net

WORLD NEWS

Editor in Chief Rima Nasser +961 3 852 899 rima@citynewsme.net

SIX OF THE BEST

Editor Kasia Maciejowska

MATTHEW STONE'S GUIDE TO LONDON

LONDON MEETS QATAR

HAND PICKED

Managing Editor Helen Assaf Responsible Editor Diala Koteich

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Pictures Editor Rowina Bou Harb Pictures Assistant Kamal Nasser

art & design

Advertising & PR Rima Najjar +961 3 852 899 sales@citynewsme.net Distribution Messagerie du Moyen Orient de la Presse et du Livre s.a.l. +961 487 999 Contributors Avril Groom, Rich Thornton, Lucy Knight, India Stoughton, Miriam Lloyd Evans, Hannah Robinson, Thomas Rees, Sabina Llwelleyn Davies, Harriet Fitchlittle, Owen Adams In-house Illustrator Yasmina Nysten www.yasminanysten.com Art Director Peter Korneev Printing Chamas for Printing & Publishing s.a.l. info@chamaspress.com With special thanks to Pascal Odille

ART & DESIGN NEWS

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ART BEAT

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ARAB ART NOW

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GEORGE ZOUEIN

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DESIGN TRENDS

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DUBAI'S FIRST CONCEPT STORE

120

CORPORATE ART COLLECTIONS

126

CURATED BY PASCAL ODILLE

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KIMIKO YOSHIDA

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www.citynewspublishing.info

APP

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luxury lifestyle

©Franco Petazzi

news

{ Another home for Aesop } London’s Covent Garden is now home to the latest collection of Aesop goodies. The collaboration between the Parisian architects at Ciguë and the cult Australian beauty brand began with four key design references: a Francis Bacon painting, a Henry Moore sculpture, an excerpt from Beauty and the Beast and a quote from Virginia Woolf. The result is remarkably clean and simple. Smooth white lines, copper piping, brightened up with geometric green flooring, the range of hair, skin and body care products are on easy display, mimicking the feel of a luxury bathroom.

{ 100 years of interior invention }

{ Futuristic smartphone updates }

This year marks 100 years since the birth of the Italian artist Piero Fornasetti. In celebration, the Triennale Design Museum in Milan will be hosting an exhibition to pay homage to the man who was not only a painter, engraver and printer, but also a designer, collector, stylist, craftsman, curator and exhibition promoter. Fornasetti could be described as an interior design legend. He famously used the face of one woman, the soprano Lina Cavalieri, in more than 500 variations. He was ultimately responsible for the creation of approximately 13,000 objects and decorations, ranging from chairs to ceramics. The exhibition, curated by the artist’s son Barnaba Fornasetti, will include more than 700 pieces from their archives in Milan, showcasing work from the 1950s until the 1980s.

Motorola Mobility is releasing its first phone since being bought by Google last year. The Moto X smartphone is due to be available this autumn and its capabilities are said to be things like ‘responding to voice commands even if turned off’. If you don’t fancy the new Moto X and prefer to stick with your iPhone 5, you can now give it a celestial new look with a Luna cover from Korean creative collective Posh Craft. The phone ‘skin’ is made entirely out of concrete but despite the moon-like look of its surface, it is thin, light and flexible.

‘100 years of Piero Fornasetti’ will run from November 13 to February 9 of 2014

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{ New nose for Chanel }

{ Setting sail for a makeover }

Chanel brought a new perfumer on board this summer. Olivier Polge, son of the current house perfumer at the luxury brand Jacques Polge, will be working alongside his father and collaborator Christopher Sheldrake. The new nose hasn’t just been hired through nepotism however, as Polge junior has already proved himself through his early career at International Flavours and Fragrances (IFF), where he worked on successful scents for Alien by Thierry Mugler, Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf and the first Repetto perfume. In 2009 he also won France’s Prix International du Parfum. We look forward to inhaling the sweet smell of his success.

Admirers of the QE2, the famous British steam liner, can relieve themselves of any worries that she would be making her way to the scrap yard. The grand plans that were put on hold due to the economic crisis are now once again taking shape. The ship is set to become a floating hotel somewhere in the Asia Pacific. All that is known thus far is that she is due to set sail for China in October and once there she will receive her makeover. Her maiden voyage was from Southampton to New York in 1969 and during her reign as steamer supreme she ferried millions of passengers across the Atlantic. Scheduled to open in winter 2014, the liner can now rest easy that her luxury status will continue with gusto well into the 21st century.

{ Carla’s going back to her roots } Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, former model and wife of the former president of France, is the new face of Bulgari’s aptly named Diva collection. Bruni, before she added the Sarkozy, was one of the most notable faces of the early 1990s before a phase of child bearing and soft pop singing took over. Despite her phase as a first lady she is now returning to her old profession for the glamorous brand. The Diva campaign, shot by the famous fashion photographer Terry Richardson, takes a relaxed tone, showing her laughing and goofing around for the camera.

{ Horses of Arabia } The Arabian horse, with its exquisitely small nose and angular face, is probably the most easily recognised breed in the world. Steeped in mythology and legend, Arabian horses are the oldest of the advanced breeds. Using the beautiful photography of Wojciech Kwiatkowski, Arabian Horses: The World of the Ajmal Arabian Stud, is an ode to the 25 horses in residence at the Ajmal Arabian Stud Farm in Kuwait. Despite only buying his first horse in the late 1980s, breeder Mohammed J. Al Marzouq has created one of the most impressive groups of straight Egyptian horses in the world. This book is a testament to the elegance and power of these striking animals.

lu xu ry l ifest yl e PORSCHE PANAMERA W ords : O w e n A d a m s

A LEATHER-CLAD

FOR

The re-vamped Porsche Panamera is for thrill-seekers with an ecological conscience

eauty is in the eye of the beholder, and 100,000 luxury sports sedan buyers have swooned before the Porsche Panamera since it debuted in 2009. Ready for 2014, Porsche has now given its four-door, fourseater speed queen a moderate facelift – but while revelling in the Panamera’s roomy interior, certain critics with a sense of humour have made comments about the size of its backside! It sits lower than before, but is also broader thanks to a wider windscreen.

“The hybrid can glide silently for up to 20 miles without firing out pollutants. The GTS and Turbo models, though, also kick like an unbridled beast”

Auto aficionados, some of them uppity about Porsche straying from its two-seater tradition yet still borrowing stylings from its 911 mainstay, compare the Panamera’s looks with the Aston Martin Rapide and Jaguar XJ. It depends on the model however, as there are ten new ones to choose from, which means it can tick boxes for thrill-seekers or the eco-driven. Petrol heads are unsure about hybrids in general for being soulless, mostly because they like the visceral kick of a loud exhaust and it’ll only do 85mph in all-electric mode. The hybrid, which employs a large plug-in battery that can be charged from the engine or from a wall, can glide silently for up to 20 miles at a time without firing pollutants into the atmosphere. The GTS and Turbo models, though, kick like an unbridled beast when unleashed on the fastest roads, maintaining smoothness and stability at 130mph. Perhaps the ultimate selling point of the Panamera is that it’s built for speed and comfort. The legroom is divine, the leather upholstery swanky and the dashboard technology is straight out of the future.

lu xu ry l ifest yl e WHY BRANDS LOVE ARTISTS

the W ords : R i c h T h o r n t o n

In a world where art is the ultimate commodity, luxury brands are cashing in on its creative credibility

he world is getting richer, or at least, there are more rich people around than ever before. In 2012, the number of individuals with over $30 million rose by 5%, and so it comes as no surprise that the number of luxury brands is increasing too. But if you think this statistic makes it easier for companies to sell their wares, think again. Luxury products ooze allure because of their rarity; their one of a kind status. In a world where any young upstart can flaunt a pair of Jimmy Choos, how do the most prestigious brands set themselves apart? The answer is, through Art.

Fashion designers and luxury boutiques have always claimed a close affinity with art. Coco Chanel launched her immortal No. 5 fragrance by quoting inspiration from Cubism and Modernism. The difference between then and now is that Chanel has far more competition than in the past. Ever since Yves Saint Laurent threw Piet Mondrian’s signature block colours onto a 1960s shift dress, designers have craved the power to make their products as sensational as art. Just as brands use celebrities to build their identity, collaborations with artists are seen as a more sophisticated way to solidify brand image. But as with any relationship, the two partners

must understand each other to make it work. Damien Hirst’s two recent partnerships show two extremes. In the first collaboration, Levi’s paid Hirst to print some of his work on their jeans – with dubious results. In the second, The Row created a pill backpack using pieces from Hirst’s Pharmacy installation. Each black leather crocodile print backpack cost $55,000 – yet the items sold out within a week. The Row understood how Hirst’s art relates to wealth while also creating a niche limited edition product that communicated the wit of Hirst’s original artwork. Levi’s lazily plonked Hirst’s prints onto denim, without translating the work into an appropriate design.

LEFT: Blanket by The Chapman Brothers for Louis Vuitton, AW13

RIGHT: Scarf by The Chapman Brothers for Louis Vuitton, AW13

lu xu ry l ifest yl e WHY BRANDS LOVE ARTISTS

Left to right from top

Andy Warhol for Perrier,

Bag by Louis Vuitton for

David Hockney painting his

Right to left from far

left: Andy Warhol painting

2013 re-issue

AW13 using a print by

art car for BMW, 1995

right: Louis Vuitton menswear

his art car for BMW, 1979

The Chapman Brothers

for AW13 featuring a print by The Chapman Brothers

Another stylish marriage flourished between the cult necrophiliac-surrealist director David Lynch and fashion’s favourite shoemaker Christian Louboutin. The shoe legend made perfect use of Lynch’s talent for psychologically manipulative photography, and the resulting images captured a subversive seduction perfect for the Louboutin label and the envy of every top advertiser. Louis Vuitton wears the crown for artist collaborations, if only through sheer volume. Yayoi Kusama, Daniel Buren, Richard Prince, the Chapman Brothers and Jeremy Deller are just a handful of artists who Louis Vuitton’s creative

director Marc Jacobs has seduced over the years. Arguably his finest accomplishment was in 2007, when he convinced the highly respected Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles to fill the in-house gift store (usually reserved exclusively for artists’ paraphernalia) with Vuitton products designed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Jacobs philosophises on the handshake between art and branding: “What is the art here? Is it what’s on the bag? Is it the action of buying the bag – that’s the art? Is it watching the people buying the art? Because it’s installed in an exhibition in a museum, is it some kind of conceptual performance piece?”

Yayoi Kusama for Louis

Andy Warhol for Perrier,

Backpack by Damien

Louis Vuitton menswear for

Leopard-print silk square by

Vuitton concept store,

2013 re-issue

Hirst and The Row

AW13 featuring a print by

Louis Vuitton for AW13 featuring

Soho, London, 2012

The Chapman Brothers

a print by The Chapman Brothers

Many critics may reel at this designer’s attempt to categorise handbags as art, but the question of how brands use artists does indeed spawn another: who’s an artist, who’s a designer and who’s just a businessman? Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, two of the world’s most famous artists, have been criticised for being nothing more than creative entrepreneurs who have seized a chance to cash in on a confused art market. Ever since the ultimate celebrity-artist Andy Warhol idolised products such as Campbell’s Soup in his art, all savvy postmodern artists have kept an eye on how to make a dollar through brand associations, while

the brands have shown that they will cling on to their artist-partners long after their dead. Warhol first collaborated with Perrier in 1983, and, despite the artist not being present to create new work, the brand has commemorated this relationship by releasing 30th anniversary limited edition bottles. BMW had the sense to differentiate their artist-partners to maximise the wow factor. They choose a new artist to paint an ‘art car’ every five or so years, with interesting results (see above). In a world where commercialism reigns, the boundary between art that sells and art that sells other peoples products is fast becoming as thin as a dollar bill.

lu xu ry l ifest yl e

RIMA KHATIB

W ords : H a r r i e t F i t c h L i t t l e

Rima Khatib’s latest product series kept visitors guessing at Le Gray hotel during Beirut Design Week

left to Right: Charleston, Corporate frontal, Orchard, Tarboush, Rolling, Stream

n entering Rima Khatib’s Beirut Design Week exhibition in June this year, some uninitiated visitors may have been momentarily confused. While most designers presented collections around the city that flaunted their functionality, the role of these 200cm tall creations that were dotted around the rooftop gallery at Le Gray Hotel was not immediately clear. This was an intentionally obtuse move on Khatib’s part, and one emphasised by the title she gave the collection - ‘A Game of Hide and Seek’ and by each design itself - Cache-Cache, or ‘HideHide’ in English. It turns out that these enigmatic objects, which stand at human height and are made from different materials ranging from leather to fabric, metal chains and fringing, are in fact coat hangers that each have four hooks beneath the surface. Khatib bemoans how aesthetic considerations have generally been dismissed from the coat hook arena. With the Cache-Cache, however, style trumps functionality, and originality trumps both. Each

Cache-Cache has in common a central pole with hooks at the top of each facing a different direction, and all concealed beneath a shroud made from strips of material. These one-off designs all take the same basic form but are decorated in wildly various ways to suit different environments. The geometric tessellation and muted colour palette of the ‘Rolling’ Cache Cache would complement a modern office interior, whereas the playful multi-coloured floral details of the ‘Orchard’ version would lend a playful accent to a boutique hotel room. Khatib draws on her different design educations to create her unconventional pieces. She trained as an architect and also studied industrial design before settling on her distinctly artistic approach to craftsmanship. Preceding the Cache-Cache, her most prominent work was ‘Precious Waste’; a collection of tables each made from a patchwork of reclaimed wood. As with the coat hanger series, each table was also unique. Although eclectic in their finish her interior pieces are united by a keen flair for creative imagination and an eagle-eyed attention to developing an individual character for each design.

lu xu ry l ifest yl e THE NEW PERF UMIERS

Words: Kasia Maciejowska

Once a discreetly held expertise, todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perfumiers are out and proudly sharing their fragrant knowledge

N Page left: Image courtesy of Harrods Meet the Perfumiers

Above: Master perfumier Roja Dove

ot so long ago fragrance promotion was all about the model. Kate Moss eyeing the lens for Calvin Klein Obsession. Karen Elson on her back for YSL Opium. Lara Stone looking divine for everybody. In 2013 it seems, perfume houses are turning to a body part with a little less va va voom – this season scentual seduction is all about the nose. Not every olfactory pathway will do however. This focus is preserved exclusively for those experts on whom the leading beauty brands rely. Companies like Chanel, Dior and

L’Oreal all depend on the knowledge and artistry of their noses. These experts make concoctions that generate buzz for each new season and, from time to time, will become classic scents that represent the name. Over the past month the London department store Harrods has been hosting a series of events called Meet the Perfumiers. Champagne and macaroons with Joanna Norman from Chanel; a masterclass with Michel Almairac from Chloé. The programme opens up this previously hidden process and speaks to people’s desire to learn more about this sensual product. One of the programme’s contributing noses was Roja Dove, whose Haute Perfumerie at Harrods

lu xu ry l ifest yl e THE NEW PERF UMIERS

Ludmila Bitar, founder of Ideo Parfums

offers private consultations. Dove has his own brand called Roja Parfums and works separately to create bespoke signature scents. He previously spent twenty years at Guerlain, and has lectured on fragrance at The Science Museum in London, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Perhaps his rarest accolade is the high praise bestowed upon him by the fashion designer Tom Ford, who has said, “Roja Dove is the fragrance connoisseur’s connoisseur.” This esteemed perfume fanatic relishes the opportunity to maintain old-fashioned standards of quality and artistry. As with everything bespoke, his clients come to him for something extraordinary. “They want to close their eyes, inhale something beautiful, and let their emotions take over. They want the world the way they want it and are willing to pay for it,” says Dove. Top-level bespoke fragrances like Dove’s have long been available to those for whom money is no object but over the past year the concept of personalised perfume has spread to a more accessible level. Ludmila Bitar was conscious of the demand for bespoke among many seasoned shoppers when she founded her label Ideo Parfums this year. The Beirut-based perfumier of French-Armenian descent previously worked at L’Oreal Paris and Takasago in Tokyo, where she consulted for Shiseido and Givenchy, before branching out on her own. Bitar says her company is the only contemporary olfactory house in the Middle East, despite the region’s perfume legacy. She sources all her ingredients from Grasse, in France, the fragrance capital of the world and works with each client to create a unique fragrance pathway that taps into memories and associations. Her new boutique in Beirut’s Ashrafieh will boast the city’s first fragrance bar, at which you can have a personal consultation in half an hour for an affordable price. “The world has a perfume map and different regions like different smells, so for the store I wanted to re-create the feeling of the old souks, where you had the savonnerie next to the parfumerie, with all the different scent families from around the world.” The majority of Ideo Parfums’ clients are in the Gulf and North Africa. “People from these countries understand olfactory culture and its role in creating an ambience.” While bespoke fragrance can already be ordered in high quantity across the Gulf, Ideo Parfums is the first to offer a tailored service one bottle at a time.

THE WOR LD ' S FINEST J EWE L L ERY

lu x u ry l i f e st yle

Before Bling there was Beauty

ADORNING THE

CENTURIES History’s finest jewellery meets today’s sparkling showpieces E ditorial : K a s i a M a c i e j o w s k a

lux u ry l ifest yl e THE WORL D'S F INEST JEWEL L ERY

ÂŠ The Metropolitan Museum of Art

14th-century jewellery elements from Iran at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Gold sheet, turquoise, grey chalcedony and glass

Flora & Fauna necklace by Bulgari Yellow gold, pink and blue sapphires, emeralds, diamonds

lux u ry l ifest yl e THE WORL D'S F INEST JEWEL L ERY

450BC ram’s head armlets from Cyprus at The British Museum, London Gold-plated bronze

PanthĂ¨re bracelet by Cartier

Nouvelle Vague bracelet by Cartier

Yellow gold, onyx, diamonds

Rose gold, diamonds, hematites,

and emeralds

amethysts, smoked quartz and pink opals

lux u ry l ifest yl e THE WORL D'S F INEST JEWEL L ERY

ÂŠ The V&A Museum

16th-century wedding ring from Germany at the V&A Museum, London Enamelled gold and diamond

Tattoo Heart and Dagger

Heart earrings by Van Cleef & Arpels

brooch by Harry Winston.

Rose gold and carnelian

Platinum, diamonds and sapphire

lux u ry l ifest yl e THE WORL D'S F INEST JEWEL L ERY

11th-century granulated and repoussé bracelet

17th-century gem-set earrings from India

from Syria at the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

at the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

Gold

Gold, diamonds, rubies and emeralds

Fascinante bracelet from the Cher Dior

Mejesteuse earrings from the Cher Dior

collection by Victoire de Castellane at Dior

Yellow gold, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, Paraiba

tourmalines, rubies, demantoid and spessartite garnets

tourmalines, demantoid and spessartite garnets

lux u ry l ifest yl e THE WORL D'S F INEST JEWEL L ERY

ÂŠ The Farjan COllection

19th-century gem-set crown from Nepal at the Farjam Collection, Dubai Gold, cloth, metal thread, pearls, precious and semiprecious stones, Bird of Paradise feather plume

Paon de Lune hairpin by Boucheron

Bouquet dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ailes hairpin by Boucheron

Secret tiara by Cartier

White gold, aquamarines and diamonds

White gold, yellow gold, emerald,

White gold and diamonds

pink morganite, diamonds, sapphires and spessartite garnets

fashion

news

{ ROGER VIVIER OPENS BEIRUT FLAGSHIP }

{ THE MODEL FACE OF AUTUMN WINTER 2013 }

This October the classic Parisian accessories house Roger Vivier will open a stand-alone store in Downtown Beirut. Vivier himself was credited with inventing the Stiletto heel, no less. He was also known for his Baroque-style square buckles that became the brand’s most recognisable style after Vivier made shoes for Catherine Deneuve to wear in the 1967 film Belle du Jour. The company is now under the artistic direction of Bruno Frisoni, recommended by the aristocratic French model Ines de la Fressange who serves as muse, consultant and international brand ambassador to Roger Vivier. De La Fressange is currently scheduled to attend the opening in Beirut.

It’s not like Cara Delevingne is about to disappear, but coming in a close second this season is the striking Californian girl Alana Bunte. Having finished her studies at the London art school Central Saint Martins, Bunte is now free to star in as many photo shoots as possible. This season we’ve already spotted her in Vogue Italia, Vogue Japan, Vogue Russia and the seminal British fashion bible by Katie Grand called Love magazine. On top of that she’s a face for Louis Vuitton and Alexander Wang. With her dark hair, pale skin and blue-green eyes she has an international look that is sure to take her far. She even has a newly short crop of hair – always the best trick for grabbing some attention.

{ LABELS BRACE FOR { MARC JACOBS’ NEW 3-D PRINTED FAKES } BEAUTY STORE } The new technology of 3-D printers is making it easier than ever to produce fakes. Soon you will no longer need a factory to manufacture goods but will be able to print out 3-D products at home or order them to be made online. You can already watch videos online of how to reproduce specific items such a sunglasses and accessories. As the range of 3-D printable materials increases, the quality and accuracy of these fakes will improve. As a result the Wall Street law firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP is advising companies to keep up and use 3-D printing to their advantage rather than letting technology threaten their standing. Lessons can be learned from the music industry, in which iTunes cornered the market for buying digital music online, attracting those who would have downloaded music illegally otherwise. If the fashion industry can come up with a digital marketplace that distributes products in a similar way, it may be able to stem the tide of fakes that Carter Ledyard & Milburn suggest is coming.

With the launch of his new makeup line, the New York designer has opened a store dedicated to beauty products on Manhattan’s Bleecker Street. The new shop stocks the 121-piece colour cosmetics collection, as well as his signature fragrances, which is also stocked at Sephora and at marcjacobsbeauty.com. Following the opening in New York, Marc Jacobs’ beauty stores will launch in 11 American locations from LA to Miami, but we’ll have to wait for their success before the brand decides to open similar shops around the world. The celebrated designer, who also leads creative operations at Louis Vuitton, confesses that he sampled his new cosmetic creations himself, “I personally tested the products. Witness my brown and luscious lips.” We can’t argue with that Marc. Check his Autumn Winter catwalk collection to see his ‘80s-inspired look for this season.

©Victoria and Albert Museum, London

{ CLUB TO CATWALK { GUCCI GOES ONLINE IN UAE } AT THE V&A } Hot on the heels of its hit exhibition on David Bowie, the V&A Museum in London is now showing Club To Catwalk: London Fashion in the 80s, which celebrates the outlandish looks and creative melting pot of the British capital three decades ago. The exhibition shows the colourful younger work that led to the success of today’s fashion personalities like Nick Knight, John Galliano and Stephen Jones, and of associated artists like the important dancer and choreographer Michael Clark. This retrospective of vintage designs offers a wealth of inspiration for young artists and designers today and shows both the similarities and the differences between creative culture in London now and how it was back in the 1980s. The exhibition continues until February 2014. Image: Sketch for Blitz by John Galliano © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Gucci enthusiasts in the United Arab Emirates can now shop directly from Gucci’s online store. The new service launched this summer. Creative director Frida Giannini comments, “I am delighted that our Emirati customers will now be able to shop online. I believe we have created a Digital Flagship destination, where our customers can experience the beauty, quality and craftsmanship of Gucci’s collections in a luxurious way It is also very important to me that social networking capabilities are an integral part of the new site as shopping for fashion is almost always an experience that is shared and enjoyed with friends.” The site’s horizontal navigation format is designed to be iPad friendly and the full Ready-ToWear collection is available as well as accessories, luggage and watches. The brand now offers direct e-commerce in 28 different countries.

{ COLLABORATIONS { LANVIN SERVES GALORE AT VERSUS } UP LUXURY FOR LITTLE ONES } Versace’s little sister label Versus has recently re-launched with a campaign featuring a plethora of cool kids from the worlds of fashion and music, ranging form lauded pop singer Grimes to young fashion designer of the moment J.W. Anderson. The brand’s latest collaboration is somewhat more down to earth however, as it gives the packable Nylon zip-up jacket by K-Way the Versus look in signature black and white. The label has also given K-Way’s iPad cases the same treatment. The Op Art look of the geometric print echoes the 1960s Mod look that is central to the brand, which has a retro Anglo-Italian style to it. Donatella Versace reflects, “Versus lives on the street and these pieces are an amazing new way to get the Versus look and bring attitude and energy to everyday essentials.”

We’re sometimes not sure about designer clothes for children. They grow out of them! They spill ice cream on them! They don’t care about labels! They look like weird mini-me robots in grown up clothes! But we make the exception for Lanvin. The sugar-sweet style of head designer Alber Elbaz is almost better suited to children than to grown-ups (almost) and this season is no exception. Twirly princess dresses, big floppy bows, adorable velvet jackets, mini ballerina pumps, shiny wellington boots and of course glittering tiaras make this season’s Lanvin Petite collection perfect for dressing your little ones on special occasions this autumn.

Paris Haute Couture leaps from feminine tradition to modern futurism this season Words: Avril Groom

he world of haute couture is small but influential. Its superwealthy customers are growing in number, with many young and from emerging markets, and not from the traditional families who had been ordering couture for generations. Their interest in highly embellished, hand crafted pieces and items that reflect the wider world of fashion is influencing an area long regarded as a laboratory of artistry and ideas. Some want the ultra-feminine, decorative styles on which couture tradition is founded, while others prefer a modernist approach. This is reflected, more than ever before, in the two strands of this autumnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Paris shows.

fas h io n HAUTE COUTUR E R E VIE W

Traditional Ultra-femininity and the finest handwork are couture’s traditional forte, with Valentino and Elie Saab the top exemplars. Valentino’s two designers have made the delicate, decorated, demure long dress their own, and for autumn add Renaissance prints and embroidery fit for Botticelli angels - even in tweed. Saab subtly refines his lace and embroidery techniques further each season, this time varying his fragile neutrals with rich red, green and navy. Giambattista Valli’s gorgeous dresses seem inspired by a fin de siècle flower garden, and similar shapes are mirrored in Alexis Mabile’s confections of lace, chiffon and bows. Jean Paul Gaultier plays on his longstanding love of fur, printing it on to silk and leather, as well as using the real thing. New contender Georges Hobeika showed off his light and very feminine touch, while Russian socialite designer Ulyana Sergeenko sets her womanly costumes in a mythical Medieval Ice Age.

Valentino

Elie Saab

Alexis Mabille

Valentino

Giambattista Valli

Valentino

Jean Paul Gaultier

Giambattista Valli

Valentino

Jean Paul Gaultier

Giambattista Valli

Jean Paul Gaultier

Alexis Mabille

Valentino

Alexis Mabille

Elie Saab

Alexis Mabille

Elie Saab

fas h io n HAUTE COUTUR E R E VIE W

Modern Two surprising houses go modern this season. Dior’s cult designer Raf Simons makes his New Look fresh, global and even sporty, with colour blocking and techno textures, while Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel is bent on futurism, with his stage set of a ruined old theatre in a super-modern city delivering powerful symbolism behind his retrofuturist clothes with short hemlines, wide patent hipbelts and decoration based on squares and grids. Tough-girl, punk style a current trend - comes from designers who have always loved it. Versace does it best, with fabulous curves, brilliant tailoring and sexy, peel-back corset lacing, while tough leather and draped jersey make up Alexandre Vauthier’s interpretation. Armani’s Privé collection is one of his purest and best, with elegant shades of nude and silvery metallics. Maison Martin Margiela subverts tradition by remaking vintage pieces, from latex sheets to beaded prom dresses, while Christophe Josse applies traditional embellished beading and embroidery to clean, modern shapes.

Dior

Christophe Josse

Chanel

Alexandre Vauthier

Dior

Christophe Josse

Armani

Maison Martin Margiela

Chanel

Dior

Armani

Alexandre Vauthier

Christophe Josse

Dior

Maison Martin Margiela

Chanel

Versace

Armani

fas h io n HAUTE COUTUR E R E VIE W

Dior

Elie Saab

Giambattista Valli

Maison Martin Margiela

Chanel

Dior

Maison Martin Margiela

Giambattista Valli

Elie Saab

Maison Martin Margiela

Dior

Chanel

Accessories The couture shows are now a big accessories launch pad, this season with glamorous parties for everything from Versace’s first high jewellery collection of bold diamond medallions and gorgeous ruby flower earrings, to Alber Elbaz’s quirky, wittily packaged eye make-up for Lancôme. Other accessories that are sure to have influence in the months ahead include Chanel’s 1960s-style square-brimmed hats and quiffs, Dior’s sporty moulded trainer stilettos and draped neckerchiefs, Maison Martin Margiela’s crystal and flowerbeaded masks, and metal belts, both the narrow bands shown at Elie Saab and the folded metal “ribbons” at Gimbattista Valli.

C RU IS E C O L L E CT IO N S

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LIFEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S A CRUISE! Look lively in patterns and prints from the new Resort collections I l l u s t r a t i o n s : Ya s m i n a N y s t e n

E d i t o r ia l : K a s i a M a c i e j o w s k a

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CRUIS E COLLECT IONS

THIS PAGE: Mary Katrantzou

FACING PAGE (left to rigth): Reed Krakoff Peter Pilotto

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CRUIS E COLLECT IONS

THIS PAGE (left to rigth): : Ann ValĂŠrie Hash Givenchy

FACING PAGE: Erdem

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CRUIS E COLLECT IONS

LEFT TO RIGHT: Kenzo Roksanda Ilincic Kenzo Roksanda Ilincic

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CRUIS E COLLECT IONS

THIS PAGE: Josh Goot

FACING PAGE: Stella McCartney

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CRUIS E COLLECT IONS

THIS PAGE: Rochas

FACING PAGE: Preen

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THIS PAGE: Thom Browne

FACING PAGE: Marni

fas h io n FAS HION TR ENDS P

W ORDS : T h o m a s R e e s

P P P P P P P trend P P P forecaster P P P P P P P London-based P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P Thomas Rees unpicks the top four P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P trends from the Autumn Winter P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P Ready-to-Wear catwalks P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P

P P P Nicoll P P P Richard

P P

P P P P

Simone Rocha P

PASTEL WINTER

P P P P P P P P P P P Pastels lift Pthe Pautumn winter look this year. P P P P P P P P P P P P Typically a season of deep hues, designers are P Pchanging P P things P P for P AW13 P P with P P P P P colour P P a surprising P P P P Psuggests P P a P P P P optimism P P P P palette that disconcerting world. P P that P rings P P of a P surreal P P and P childish P P P P P P reference P Saccharine P P P tones P P P P cakes P PandP candies P P from P P days pink, P P gone P by, P with P Pcandyfloss P P P P parma P P violet P Pand P vanilla ice cream proving popular on the catwalks. P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P Hyper-feminine fabrics mix with funP P P P P P P P P P P P P P P and playful textures that look sexy, cute P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P and kooky all at the same time. P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P

P P P P P Topshop Unique

Jonathan Saunders P P P P P P P

Emporio Armani P P P P P P

Richard Nicoll P

S S S Marni

JilS Sander S S S

S S

SKIN ON SKIN

Jil Sander

Alexander Wang S S S S S

Michael Kors S S S S S

Proenza Schouler S S S S S S

Fur has always conveyed glamour and decadence and S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S is back on the catwalk with a vengeance this season. S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S This new look for fur is modern, streamlined and cool. S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S Shorthaired furs such as beaver and pony skins give S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S coats and jackets a high gloss finish that defines the S S S S S S S S S S S S S S season. These adorn coat hems and accessories, to S S S S S S S S S S S S present aSminimalist, pared-down takeS onS luxury forS S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S this season. S S S S S S S S S S S S S Those forSwhom fur Sis one step too far can rest assured S S S S S S S S S S S S S S that leather alone will keep you looking on the money.S S S S toe S leather S S continues S S StheSclean S aesthetic S S Sof S Head-to S modern S S S S S but S with S S S edge S that S S S the fur looks aS darker feels S S S S S luxurious S S S S S S S S S but Slean.

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fas h io n FAS HION TR ENDS T

Thierry T T T Mugler T T T

TOP HEAVY

TheT nineties may decade toT quote T T T Tbe the T T T T Tright T T nowT butT theT eighties just as T T contributes T T T T T strongly T T T with T T T T T T to TthisT trend T T T itsT strong T Tshoulder T T shapes. T T T This boyish silhouette defined Alexander Wangâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T much anticipated first collection asT head designer T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T for the beloved French house of Balenciaga. T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T The look popped up Tat Balmain in Ta more eighties T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T incarnation that rang of power dressing and highT T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T indulgence. Kenzo and Mugler had the most fun Balenciaga T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T however, with their splashes of colour giving a T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T glamorous take on dressing like one of The Muppets. T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T Channel Cher in the movie Clueless and cover your T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T top half with a cropped, fluffy sweater. Pair with T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T high-waisted, high-shine trousers and a TpairT of T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T pointy sling-back shoes and the look is complete. T

T T T T Balenciaga

T T T Balmain

Thierry Mugler T T T T T T

Kenzo T T T

C C

Issey C C Miyake C C C

Celine C C C

C C C C C C Stella Mccartney

Céline C C

Givenchy C C C C

CHECK OUT

Designers penchant C C C showed C C aCnostalgic C C C C C for C C masculine checks C C C C for C the C coming C C cold. C CSpanning C C C styles from the workman’s plaid shirt to C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C confident oversized tailoring, this look drew C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C references from aC myriad of Cdifferent places. C C C C C C C C C C C C C Ever the genius, Phoebe Philo showed us why C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Céline is still the Cdecade’s leading label as she C C C C C C C C C C C C C C elevated the humble laundry bag to luxury C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C status in her statement check pieces complete C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C with taped seams and fraying edges. C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Such grungy details popped up at Givenchy C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C as well, with small dark checks blending with C C C C C C C C C C C C C C nineties-style romantic floral prints alongside C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C leather details and brightly coloured hair. C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Meanwhile Issey Miyake reminded us that the C C C C C C C C C C C C Japanese do itCbestC asChis Ccollection showed off C magnified C C C and C distorted C C Cchecks C C C C C C C overlaid with stripes C C C C C C C C C C C C C C that left the models looking dapper and debonair.C

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fas h io n EX HIBITING CLOTH E S

Words: Avril Groom

hether fashion can ever be art is one of the industry’s great debates. While most designers modestly say they are craftsmen, for some the passion goes further. Italian master of glamour and embellishment Roberto Cavalli pleads for people who buy his clothes, “To understand that for me it’s one small piece of art”. Who can blame him? The handworked embroidery, beading, lace and leather that embellishes his designs, and that of many others - Valentino, Dior, Chanel, Armani, Louis Vuitton, Giambattista Valli and Oscar de la Renta are some who come to mind - is the equal of many of the historic pieces that feature in the growing number

“A high point is the museum collection by Christian Lacroix for the revived brand Schiaparelli”

The catwalk is no longer enough for fashion labels looking to show off their artistry

facing page top:

FACING page BOTTOM:

Alexander McQueen Savage

Beauty, title gallery, at

Beauty, gothic romantic gallery,

the Metropolitan Museum

at the Metropolitan Museum

Costume Institute, New York

of museum fashion exhibitions, viewed as akin to art. The McQueen exhibition two years ago at New York’s Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute attracted the greatest ever numbers for a fashion exhibition, with last year’s Prada/Schiaparelli and the current Punk show not far behind. Paris exhibitions on designers such as Balenciaga, Vionnet and the upcoming Alaia show are becoming higher profile. London’s V&A has had successes with everything from Yohji Yamamoto to Hollywood costumes. Increasingly, therefore, the buying public equates top-end fashion design with the art tag that museum endorsement gives it. Even new pieces now sell as investments, and wealthy customers are seen as collectors as much as clients.

E X HIBIT IN G C LOT HE S

Left: Christian Lacroix for Schiaparelli at Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Photo: Dominique Maitre

Top left: Coffee table skirt by Hussein Chalayan, 2009

Top right: Anya Hindmarch accessories exhibit for AW13

Bottom right: Issey Miyake catwalk performance AW13

Bottom left: Anya Hindmarch accessories exhibit for AW13

Designers are very happy with this change of attitude, even if most don’t say so, and it validates presenting their work in ways that are as much art installation as catwalk show. Pioneers in this area include Belgian deconstructionist Martin Margiela, who set out to emphasise the clothes rather than the catwalk razzmatazz in artistic ways, focusing on them with models in anonymous face veils, walking in handheld pools of light in grungy settings like disused railway tunnels, and setting a trend for gritty venues. More recently, Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton - who has always enjoyed collaborating with artists, such as Yayoi Kusama last year, celebrated a collection with a performance art display in one of Paris’s grand palace museums and since has built extravagant show sets often with cinematic references.

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Performance art features in imaginative shows from Issey Miyake, this season walked in fastweaving patterns to electronic reel music, reflecting the collection’s surreally magnified tartan designs. Alexander McQueen’s shows often became highly symbolic art, most notably with car paint robots providing the live, random print on a white dress, a tradition being continued by Sarah Burton, particularly in this summer ‘s dramatic homage to the importance of bees to mankind. Conceptual shows from Viktor and Rolf, involving distortions of scale, and Hussein Chalayan’s transformable clothes involving coffee tables and aircraft wing flaps have become legendary examples of fashion as art. Now brands from Chanel to Céline are showing on a much smaller, more curated scale, so buyers and clients are up close and personal

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E X HIBIT IN G C LOT HE S

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here and facing page: Christian Lacroix for Schiaparelli at Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Photo: Dominique Maitre

with the handwork and have at least the illusion of super exclusivity. Even accessories get the art treatment, such as Anya Hindmarch’s witty handbag displays involving thousands of dominoes that never quite fall, or kinetic contraptions apparently driven by the designer herself pedalling a bike. The high point so far has to be the couture “museum collection” designed this summer by

Christian Lacroix - one of fashion’s greatest artists - for the revived Schiaparelli brand and shown in Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs alone, where his own archive has been showcased in the past. As a statement of the new closeness of fashion to art it could not have been clearer. The catwalk is no longer enough. The best brands now choose to make an exhibition of themselves.

fas h io n ART AS FAS HION

Words: Kasia Maciejowska

Mother of Pearl is the fashion label that makes clothes out of art – to remarkable effect

aking artworks from the white walls of the hallowed temples that we call art galleries and reformulating them for the human body is a mightily precarious task. Not least because the artist, one imagines, might take issue with such a drastic change of context, and furthermore because the art’s original power stands at high risk of being lost in translation. Mother of Pearl, the clothing label that makes charming, playful, wearable fashion pieces, does just that however, yet avoids these pitfalls by collaborating directly with artists. For Cruise 2014 it has worked with the Londonbased duo Emma Biggs and Matthew Collings to create bold geometric and floral pieces that are fun and outgoing but also dapper and feminine. By contrast for Autumn Winter 2013 a partnership with Polly Morgan has resulted in a line full of animal prints and earthy colours,

as inspired by her famously girly take on the traditional practice of taxidermy. Past collaborators include some of today’s best leading and emerging artists, such as Francesco Simeti, Gary Hume, Fred Tomaselli, Fiona Banner, Jim Lambie and Matt Collishaw. Quite a remarkable feat for one brand, but one made possible by Mother of Pearl’s energetic creative director Maia Norman, who founded the brand in 2004 and re-launched it in 2009 to general approval. This Californian surfer girl who now lives in the south of England happens to be the wife of the world’s highest selling artist Damien Hirst and mother of their three sons Cyrus, Cassius and Connor. She first met Hirst through his gallerist Jay Joplin, owner of the White Cube and the contemporary art mogul who launched the YBAs (Young British Artists), who defined conceptual art in the 1990s. Many of those she works with therefore are her peers and her friends, as well as artists whose work she respects no doubt.

Bright blue looks: Mother of Pearl Resort14

Grey & black looks: Mother of Pearl AW13

What makes Mother of Pearl such a hit is its combination of high artistry and down-to-earth practicality. Women need to get things done after all, as Norman proves herself as a mother, designer, businesswoman, and enthusiastic surfer who frequently travels the globe. Women also want to get on with their lives without sacrificing on style of course, which is why the label’s mixture of casual pants, cosy knitwear, long dresses and well thought out coats often feature the gorgeous prints that have come to define the brand. The result is a look that is sporty and kooky but also artistic and feminine, a testament to the skill of the label’s designer Amy Powney, who researches each artist’s work and develops a colour palette and prints that work on textiles each season, before finishing each design with the label’s sport-luxe signature. Norman has said that she envisions her label as being designed for an “active, optimistic, generous” woman, and she is right on – because who wouldn’t feel happy wearing perky prints like these.

world

news

{ Living la vida Versace }

{ Fendi for Fountains }

The infamous mansion in which Gianni Versace was shot dead is up for sale. The extensive villa, located in the highly desirable Ocean Drive area of Miami, Florida, has been valued at over $50 million. Versace was killed on the steps of his seaside home one morning in 1997, and since then the house has been used as a boutique hotel for tourists who aren’t afraid of glamorous ghosts. The mansion will be sold at auction on 17th September and is expected to sell within 30 minutes.

Luxury fashion house Fendi is the latest Italian label to open its coffers for the restoration of public works in the country’s capital, Rome. This follows the decision of its compatriot shoemaker Tod’s to finance the restoration of Rome’s biggest attraction, the Colosseum. Fendi’s creative director Karl Lagerfeld has promised $2.93 million to help the city rebuild the Trevi Fountain, a Baroque masterpiece and leading tourist attraction immortalised in Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita. The spectacular water feature reached its 250th birthday last year, and is starting to show its age as stone angels are literally falling from grace. How long before the fountain features little black bows and long chains of pearls?

{ Qatar receives its first UNESCO recognition } Qatar’s tireless campaign to become the Gulf’s number one hub for culture has borne fruit. In July, the peninsula within a peninsula garnered its first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Al Zubarah is the archaeological site where researchers have discovered the exquisitely preserved remains of an 18th century pearl-fishing town. The ruins of the fortress sit low on the coastal desert landscape and have been commended for giving insight into how life was back when pearls were as precious as oil.

{ LAX gets multimedia makeover } To the joy of every traveller who has ever had to spend a day in an airport, Los Angeles International Airport has recently installed seven mammoth media features to entertain its weary travellers. Made up of video screens, the features make the most of the lofty architecture of the Tom Bradleydesigned terminal. The displays, designed by entertainment studio Moment Factory, display soothing abstract videos, such as waterscapes or kaleidoscopic mosaics, or provide information on flight times in creative, unexpected ways. The Time Tower is the highlight - this 72-foot-high virtual clock tower wraps around the central airport elevator and ensures that nobody misses their flight without being boring.

{La Scala { South Korean and { China’s latest gift to the world: celebrates Chinese Fashion Verdi’s 200th Students Win Big } Art Malls } birthday through photography }

The fashion world is now looking East for design talent as well as for sales boosts. Three South Koreans and two Chinese have won prizes from the Eyes on Talent fashion award this year, which recognises outstanding work from young fashion students. Such news may come as no surprise to those familiar with the surge of East Asians into international fashion schools, but these awards acknowledge the quantity of talent emerging from the region.

As the luxury goods market blooms in East Asia, so the super-malls have followed. One Chinese entrepreneur has extended the mall experience to include contemporary culture’s ultimate desirable commodity – Art. These Art Malls are being opened by property and communications company New World Development (NWD). The idea is as simple as can be - art is given space among the retail outlets and cafes. After launching the first K11 art mall last year in Hong Kong, NWD recently opened a new K11 in Shanghai and due to their rampant business plan, will surely spawn another elsewhere in the region in the near future.

Opera maestro Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901) would have been 200 this year. To mark the occasion the appropriately titled Italian picture archive Scala has released a collection of period photography featuring both Verdi himself and related scenes from the theatrical music scene he inhabited. A key figure in the tumultuous Risorgimento (the Italian reunification), Verdi wrote 29 operas over 58 years. Due to the political content of his work, as well as his strikingly moving and expressive operas, the composer is held in high regard by critics, historians and classical music fans alike. The release of this retrospective from Scala provides the perfect excuse to delve deeper into this inspirational figure’s life and imagine what it would have been like to know the man behind the music.

{ Gucci shows support for the women of the world } Chime for Change is a charity founded by Gucci to empower women and girls from around the world. Founded by celebrities including the singer Beyoncé and actress Salma Hayek (who is married to François-Henri Pinault, who owns the Gucci Group), this philanthropic community funds projects that help different types of women across the fields of education, health and justice. Their support includes funding the care of survivors of sex trafficking to helping Syrian refugees. Chime for Change’s most recent event, The Sound of Change live concert at Twickenham Stadium in London, raised $3.9 million.

wo r l d Si x of the Best

Words: Rich Thornton

art Hotels

What’s the concept? The interiors are designed by Philippe Starck and each room features quirky signature plastic masks as lamp shades and minimal artsy chic. Elected as one of the world’s top hotels by travel writers the world over, Mama Shelter offers the perfect balance between Bohemian intimacy and understated luxury.

What’s the concept? The in-house art curator Sude Nordgren has hand-picked pieces of work for each of the 119 rooms. He brings his experience from internationalclass galleries to your bedside so you don’t have to step out into the Scandinavian cold to view the city’s best art – they even have an Andy Warhol.

Who goes there? Unpretentious types. Its low-key style attracts everyone from young couples on a quick city break to design-conscious businessmen and trendy young families.

Who goes there? Art lovers, of course. This hotel attracts a sophisticated crowd who know the value of world-class creativity and its ability to transform the atmosphere of an interior.

How much? Paris – Mama Double: $115 / Mama Suite: $390. Istanbul – Mama Luxe: $100 / Big Mama Terrace: $230

How much? Prices stretch from $330 to $520 for a double, depending on when you book

Mama Shelter, branches in Istanbul, Paris, Marseille, Lyon

What makes it special? Each hotel offers locally-written, ‘non-tourist’ guides to help you avoid over crowded yawns and discover the city’s coolest spots and most-hidden hangouts. The hotel restaurants are continually lauded as excellently casual.

www.mamashelter.com/en/

The Thief, Oslo

What makes it special? The Thief is an admirable blend of luxury and modernity. It’s one of the only hotels in Oslo to have bay-view terraces where the icy North Sea laps up to your window, and is located in Tjuvholmen, one of the city’s trendiest urban renewal projects. www.thethief.com/en/

What’s the concept? Seven teams of artists were each given free reign to create their perfect hotel room. Some went for a childhood fantasy feel while others went pop-goth. Each room is an explosion of site-specific collaboration that offers the chance to sleep in a one-off interior environment.

What’s the concept? The Proposal isn’t actually a hotel, it’s an art gallery. Every few months the venue hosts three-day-long exhibitions and offers ultra-quirky accommodation for art aficionados who want to sleep with the installations. That’s right, the rooms are the art pieces and the art pieces are the rooms.

Who goes there? Youngsters who like to while away the hours making up stories and living in dream worlds.

Who goes there? This is one for art-obsessed fun-seekers. It’s not high-end, it’s not five-star, but it is so uber-cool that you’ll be stocked up with outstanding dinner party anecdotes for at least a year afterwards.

Lalala Hotel, Poland

The Proposal, Zurich

How much? Prices range from $60 to $100 thanks to its location in Eastern Europe

How much? $130 per person, per night What makes it special? Each room is so wildly different that you could spend a week sleeping one night in each. Thanks to the owner being a wine importer, the hotel restaurant offers 200 different wines, all at affordable trade prices. www.lalala.lu/

What makes it special? Probably the only gallery in the world where they let you sleep in the exhibition. The Proposal has two rooms, so you’re sure to feel gloriously exclusive and decidedly soothed before you take in the sights of Zurich. www.theproposal.cc/85106

wo r l d Si x of the Best

06Sagamore,

What’s the concept? Artists are invited to take up residencies of between three and six months at the hotel. The artist stays at the hotel for free and in return donates some of their work at the end of their stay. As a guest you get to stay in close proximity to the artists who are shaping the art world of today.

What’s the concept? Loads and loads and loads of art. Miami art collectors Cricket and Marty Taplin started their collection 25 years ago and have flooded the halls, rooms, lobbies and even the elevators with top-notch works that reveal their passion and expertise.

Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai

Who goes there? The decadent rooms and central-Shanghai location mean this is an interesting mix of upmarket travellers and the 18 artists in residence at any one time.

Who goes there? It has always been a beach spot but since Miami has now become a global art hot-spot, the Sagamore is the place for jet-setting art collectors to take the temperature of the local talent before dipping into their wallet and splashing out.

How much? Rooms start at a reasonable $460 and rise to a blistering $8440

How much? Rooms from $244 for a double to $1200 for the penthouse

What makes it special? Unless you fancy a sleepover in a Bohemian flatshare, you’re unlikely to find another place to live alongside emerging artists as they make their beautiful creations.

What makes it special? The hotel is within easy reach of The Bass Museum, Lowe Art Museum, Miami Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum and The WolfsonianFIU. Get busy.

www.swatch-art-peace-hotel.com/

The Art Hotel , Miami

www.sagamorehotel.com/Art/

wo r l d MATTHE W STONE' S GUIDE TO LON DON

Balanced Vision (self portrait), by Matthew Stone, 2013

My City with

Matthew

Stone

look, to middle-class mothers picking up sweet potatoes and kitchen roll. Soak up the people and talk to the stallholders, they love it! I once bought 20 avocados for £1! What do you miss when you’re away?

The conversation. I feel constantly inspired by the people I meet and the friendships I have formed here. There is always a stream of new people with new ideas coming through the city. Can you describe a perfect day in London?

What are the best and worst things about London?

The constant gentrification of London is both a blessing and a curse. Artists and young creatives move to cheaper areas so they can afford to live in the city while following their dreams, and then entire industries of organic coffee-shops, art galleries, boutiques and rent increases follow them, pricing existing residents and artistic communities out of the area. The rate of change is astounding and areas like Peckham and Dalston become nightlife hotspots almost overnight. It is both exciting and depressing at the same time!

What’s the ‘real’ London?

Real London can be found at the markets. While it’s great to take in the tourist traps of Brick Lane and Portabello Road, there are more authentic markets such as East Street Market in Elephant & Castle and Ridley Road Market in Dalston that provide an electric connection to the heart of day-to-day multicultural London.

Can you share some of the city’s best-kept secrets?

There are so many obscure museums that are worth tracking down. There is the Freud Museum that has his original couch. I like the amusingly named Horniman Museum with its Victorian overstuffed and bloated walrus - it looks like it is about to explode because the taxidermist had no idea that walruses have folds of skin so he stuffed it completely! Art-lovers might like to follow the First Thursdays gallery trail around East London and should also check out Last Fridays, which is the younger South London version, complete with open studios and exhibitions in converted churches – and at Bold Tendencies, the open air gallery on the roof of a multi-storey car park.

An early start with an intense coffee and then on to a junk market or car boot sale, followed by poached eggs and avocado at A Little of What You Fancy on Kingsland Rd in Dalston. Then take the overground train from Dalston to Hampstead for a swim in the natural ponds on the heath – there is one for men, one for women, and one mixed. The perfect evening would involve having dinner at a friend’s house or maybe at Floyds on Shacklewell Lane. I make cocktails at home for friends before we go out later, usually to a club night or party organised by friends. It can be hard to find somewhere fun to party without local recommendations on the night. Which is your favourite gallery or shop?

I love LNCC on Shacklewell Lane. It’s a boutique store that you visit by appointment, with an incredible interior designed by artist Gary Card. I love the books section. Which five keywords best express the mood of the city?

Flow Force, by Matthew Stone, 2013

Hardcore, Reinventive, Tolerant, Inspiring - and Tough! If London was an outfit, what would it be?

The market stalls are run by a mix of Cockney East-Enders, Asians, Greeks, Turks and West Indians, and people from all backgrounds shop here - from club kids buying fabric for an experimental party

Something designed by my close friend and collaborator Gareth Pugh. I produce the music for his catwalk shows. His intense vision feels like something that could only have emerged from a city like London.

wo r l d LONDON MEETS Q ATAR

Words: Harriet Fitch-Little

Just what is the Qatar UK 2013 exchange all about?

ABOVE: Ahmed Mater, Golden Hour Exhibited at the Hajj exhibition at the British Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art

FACING PAGE: The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

atar’s 2011 acquisition of Cezanne’s painting The Card Players for a reported $250 million was the highest price ever paid for a work of art. A string of similarly high profile purchases helped secure the small state its place as the world’s leading buyer of contemporary art. In Doha you can now listen to the rousing melodies of a 100-strong Philharmonic Orchestra, or browse a 45,000 square metre collection of art objects, housed in the

Museum of Islamic Art, founded in 2010 and 2008 respectively. Over the span of less than a decade, the country’s cultural capital has skyrocketed. This year, Qatar has been complementing its long-term investment in the arts with a focused injection of creative energy through a year-long exchange between the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) and the British Council in the UK. With a rolling programme of events unfolding in tandem in the two countries, the encounter is an exercise in forging international ties, but one that offers as much to the public as it does to politicians.

wo r l d LONDON MEETS Q ATAR

Graham Sheffield, Director of Arts for the British Council, tells Selections, “This gives Britain a fantastic opportunity to ensure that there is better understanding about Arabic life and culture.” This is undoubtedly an equally fantastic learning opportunity for Qatar, which is playing host to a handpicked roster of British exports across eight areas including performing arts, sports and film. In line with Qatar’s particular engagement with the art world, much of the programme has focussed on enabling high profile artists to bring their work to the gulf. Martin Parr’s snaps of sunburnt holidaymakers, seagulls and fish & chips transposed some very British scenes to the Katara Cultural Village, and artists from The Royal Academy have been in residence at the Katara Art Studio. Perhaps the most

“This gives Britain a fantastic opportunity to ensure that there is better understanding about Arabic life and culture”

Above: Believer, 2008, by

facing page TOP:

Damien Hirst, who will hold

Katara Art Centre, Doha

his biggest exhibition to date called Relics at Alriwaq Doha

facing page BOTTOM: The Shard from Tower Bridge, London

high profile event of the exchange will be Damien Hirst’s first solo show in the Middle East, at the Al Riwaq Exhibition Centre. Qatar sponsored Hirst’s retrospective solo show last year at Tate Modern. Qatar’s choice of Britain as cultural collaborator sits within the larger economic context of the growing relationship between the two nations. The UK is an important importer of Qatari gas, and the scale of Qatari investment in the UK is imprinted upon London’s skyline; the Shard, Harrods and The Olympic Village are just three of the capital’s landmarks that are majority owned by Qatar. Last year’s inaugural exchange with Japan had a similar economic impetus; Japan is Qatar’s biggest trading partner. It is no secret that local Qatari institutions for the production of home grown talent, such as the prestigious Qatar Music Academy, have yet to reach a point of producing a steady supply of world-class artists. Rather than viewing this asymmetry with Britain’s established cultural scene

wo r l d LONDON MEETS Q ATAR

Kaltham Al Mutawah, by Brigitte Lacombe

as a drawback, Qatar has smartly chosen to view it as an opportunity to enhance its position as a champion of regional talent, acting as a unifying force in Arab cultural production. The Shubbak Festival brought two weeks of cinematic, dramatic and artistic encounters to London, including street art from Syria and theatre from Palestine. Similarly, the Create and Inspire festival saw promising young photographers and filmmakers from the Gulf region heading to London for the month of August to hone their burgeoning talent. The arts are not the only area in which Qatar is sculpting its identity as a relatively liberal society at the vanguard of regional practice – both creative and societal. Several events have a strong pro-women focus. In May the Springboards development

platform hosted a month-long workshop aimed at empowering women to achieve their professional goals, and for two months the QMA Gallery in Katara played host to Hey ‘Ya; a photography exhibition that chronicles the progress of Arab women in sport. In 2013, Britain is like a cultural supermarket from which Qatar can buy certain produce, and exchange its own goods for others. Contemporary Britain could learn from the value its Gulf partner places on investment in new talent. In Britain the budget for arts funding is being slashed year on year, while in Qatar more and more artistic education is being offered for free. In a generation’s time, Qatar may be producing home grown protégés to rival their British contemporaries thanks to native support as well as cultural imports.

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W o r d s : S a b i n a L l e w e ll y n D a v i e s

Selections shares some outstanding destinations around the world - from luxury to artistry via snow, chocolate and kitsch

Moorish Magnificence Mamounia, Marrakech, Morrocco Marrakesh exudes a sensuality and mystery that set the scene for this decadent medina palace. The Mamounia has featured in numerous fashion shoots, adored by the Gypset for its ornate decoration and retro glamour. Reformed into a hotel in the 1920s it recently received a grand makeover by the designer Jacques Garcia, who blends French flourish with Moroccan craftsmanship. This colonial treasure overlooks 17 acres of parkland and a lake-sized pool, and boasts a dazzling 2,500sqm spa where you can while away the languid hours. www. mamounia.com

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ÂŠPeter Lundstrom and Fredrik Broman

Treehotel, Harads, Sweden Nature hotels need no longer be rustic. From the folk who brought us the Ice Hotel comes the latest whimsy: the Treehotel. Located deep in a forest, these tree rooms have each been designed and built by a different architect primarily using locally sourced wood. The rooms are accessible by ramps or ladders, and each includes floor heating and eco-friendly sanitation. The most stunning is the Mirrorcube which even includes a small kitchenette and bath, a living room and roof terrace. And, because this is Sweden, expect also a TreeSauna. If visiting in the winter months be sure to arrive in style by snowmobile. www. treehotel.se

ÂŠPeter Lundstrom and Fredrik Broman

Tree Top

Top Nosh Rivea by Alain Ducasse, St. Tropez, France Sublime food had never been first priority in a town that’s more into poolside tanning and bar-top dancing. But this summer St.Tropez’s culinary credibility has risen a notch with the arrival of Alain Ducasse on the dining scene with Rivea. His latest eatery is set in the infamous Hotel Byblos and features neo-1950s décor. Living up to his reputation as one of the world’s most decorated chefs, Ducasse has come up with some phenomenal culinary offerings using local produce, such as sardines confits and the Salade Rivea. Anyone for dessert? Go for the Tarte Tropezienne. www. byblos.com

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Choc-a-Hol Hotel Chocolat, St Lucia British confectioner Hotel Chocolat is the only company in the UK to grow cocoa on its own plantation. It is also the only one to own its own hotel. The Boucan is a delicious idea - a unique hotel set high in the rainforest cocoa groves of Saint Lucia’s plantation, Rabot Estate. Guests sleep in wooden luxury lodges with dreamy views of the Caribbean Sea. Of course chocolate is an obsession here - you can take a stroll through the plantation and harvest cocoa in the morning, mould it into chocolate in the afternoon, taste it in exquisite savory dishes such as cacao-marinated snapper for supper, then savour it at night while sipping a Cacao Bellini. And if you are still lusting after more of this black gold then go for some pampering in the Cocoa Juvenate Spa where they spread it all over you. Is this a fantasy? No, it’s for real… masseuse, pass me another one of those delectable little truffles. www. hotelchocolat.com

Tropical Treat Carnoustie Ayurveda & Wellness Resort, Kerala, India Just imagine a sandy unspoiled beach and an eco-friendly villa set in a tropical green setting with palms swaying in the breeze. The Carnoustie resort is the embodiment of calm. The moment you step your weary feet on to the ground you will want to chant “Om”. The resort’s luxury villas, most of which come with their own private pools, are sustainably constructed using local materials like rattan and bamboo. There are daily yoga and meditation sessions and plenty of pampering Ayurveda treatments to help you relax, detox and give you back your sparkle. www. carnoustieresorts.com

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De-Luxe Pad The Shack at Cloudy Bay, Marlborough, New Zealand The architects of this marvel were inspired by the simple design of a traditional bach, the typical Kiwi holiday house. Granite walls and oxidised metal, original furnishings and artworks from local designers, plus a ceiling-mounted central revolving fireplace, make this the ultimate crash pad. The vast glass windows provide incredible views of the Richmond Ranges and it is bang in the middle of a vineyard known for its fine Riesling. www.cloudybay.co.nz

©Amanresorts

Plush Peace Amanzoe, Porto Heli, Greece The pristine coastline of Porto Heli just acquired even more allure with the arrival of Amanzoe. This hilltop oasis is Greece’s first offering from Aman Resorts and a mere half an hour from Athens by helicopter, because, of course, this is the best way to make your grand entrance - unless you are sailing by yacht into the private bay. It features thirty-eight pavilions each with private pools situated on top of a hill with heavenly views of the Peloponnese coastline and the island of Spetses. Absolutely gorgeous. www.amanresorts.com

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Lavish Lodge Hotel Aurelio, Lech, Austria Lech has come a long way since the first ski lift was installed in this tiny village in 1941. As a smart winter resort it now boasts some of Austriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most luxurious ski lodges. The chalets attached to Aurelio Lech hotel are aimed squarely at the millionaire market, with giant rooms, huge fireplaces and a degustation menu. Of course it is ski-in, ski-out and the spa has herbal steam rooms to ease aching limbs. www. aureliolech.com

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Sparkling Spa Brenners Park Hotel & Spa, Baden-Baden, Germany The Romans built the first baths in Baden-Baden (German for bathe-bathe), to take advantage of the medicinal springs. Centuries later, visitors continue to benefit from the waters at this exquisite spa resort in Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most renowned wellness city. Brenners Park, an Oetker Collection Masterpiece Hotel (owners of Hotel du Cap and Le Bristol), is set in lush parkland and over the years has become a favorite of celebrities and dignitaries alike. The hotel spa boasts a team of doctors to oversee everything from preventive check-ups to nutritional coaching, and the therapists specialise in Asian and South Pacific treatments. And because all that pampering builds up an appetite there is a plush Michelin-star restaurant on hand to satisfy even the most health conscious of your culinary yearnings. www. brenners.com / oetkercollection.com

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Café Kitsch Barbie Café, Taiwan The motto of this new destination for tea and cake in the Far East can only be Think Pink! The world’s first Barbie Café is Mattel’s latest venture. Everything here comes in hyper-coloured plastic. Table legs resemble stiletto heels, chair backs are shaped like bustier tops, light fittings look like teapots, and Barbie dolls adorn the walls. The cakes are sugarcoated in pink and the waitresses wear tutus. It goes without saying that there are lots of dolls, clothes and, accessories on sale - all in Barbie’s favorite shade. Children can even play on pink computers, for an immersive branded experience for the truly Barbie besotted. www. facebook.com/BarbieCafe

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art&design

news

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{ Film at Frieze Art Fair }

{ Mural defaced in the Ukraine }

{ Kodachrome e-book }

London’s annual gathering of the world’s leading galleries is almost upon us again. Frieze Art Fair is a shopping spree for collectors and a chance for art fans to grab an overview of the commercial scene from around the globe at this particular moment in time. As part of the Frieze Foundation’s support for film in art it will host a one day think tank where experts from both fields will discuss existing genres and markets, as well as new possibilities for developing films through hybrid financing, ownership, exhibition and distribution. The think tank is by invitation only on 17th October but there is a public panel discussion open to the public the following day, in which the outcomes of the think tank will be presented and debated.

The Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Kuznetsov has suffered the censorship and insult of having his artwork defaced by the very museum that commissioned it. Natalia Zabolotna, director of the Mystetskyi Arsenal in Kiev, doused Kuznetsov’s painting Koliyiyshchyna: Judgement Day in black paint before hosting the Ukrainian president at the museum. The work was created for the exhibition Great and Grand that claims to examine ‘The civilising effect of Christianity on the development of Ukrainian culture.’ The Arsenal has attempted to defend its destruction of the work by claiming that the work was, ‘A provocation’, adding, I feel that anything said against the homeland is immoral.’ Righteously provocative indeed, the work depicted a recent episode of violent police brutality against a young woman in the Ukraine. Zablotna’s actions have done more to damage the Ukraine’s reputation than a painting ever would have, revealing that the Arsenal, at least, is not ready to accept the critical function of art. Zablotna has since apologised and her deputy has resigned.

In 1978 the revolutionary Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri published his first book, Kodachrome, an avantgarde manifesto on photography. Famed for his poetic, often ambiguous images of Italy, Ghirri continuously paid homage to his homeland through his chosen medium. The fantastic British publisher of beautiful artistic e-books MAPP has created the first digital edition of Kodachrome to mark the 20th anniversary of Ghirri’s death. The e-version has kept the simple charm of the original design and added an essay by Francesco Zanot, to give a contemporary perspective on the historical impact of Kodachrome, which was the best example of early colour film. Launched by Kodak in 1935 and discontinued in 2009 following the rise of digital photography, early Kodachrome film defined the look of seminal nature magazine National Geographic in the twentieth century and was known as ‘a photographer’s liberation’.

{ Young Arab artists train in UK } The Crossway Foundation is expanding its annual Create and Inspire competition to include the UAE and Qatar, as well as Saudi Arabia. The competition is part of the London-based foundation’s project Offscreen Expeditions, which promotes collaboration and better understanding between young artists from the UK and Arab nations. The young winners from the Middle East will travel to the UK this autumn to work with professional designers, photographers, curators, artists and filmmakers, with a view to developing their key skills in leadership, communication and creativity. The trip will also include visits to the Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth in Wakefield, Christie’s Education and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Winners include Mohanna Tayeb and Mohammed Alhajji, whose work is pictured here.

{ Nadim Karam’s Urban Zoo }

{ Christie’s looks East }

The Beirut branch of Ayyam Gallery is exhibiting new work by artist and architect Nadim Karam in a solo show that runs until 10th October. The exhibition called Urban Zoo displays paintings and sculptures that build on ideas of instinct and intention, also found in his larger scale architectural projects around the world. One of the artist’s strongest recurring symbols is the cloud, which he uses to represent freedom and escape within a changing landscape. Most famous for his emblematic elephants, Karam’s stainless steel sculptures often take the form of naïve animal shapes. In this latest series his creatures with names such as Amber and Queen of Spades are wood-based and covered in mother of pearl buttons. They take tribal, anthropomorphic shapes that give them a primitive, empathetic resonance.

In the coming months the world’s leading auction house of fine art and antiques will host its first auction in Shanghai, China, as well as its first in Mumbai, India. The British company has seen a 15 per cent rise in Asian bidders so far this year. Christie’s is further consolidating its existing presence in the Middle East with the appointment of Hawazen Nazieh Nassief as director of Middle East Relationship Management. In her new role she will focus particularly on new buyers from Saudi Arabia, a strong growth area for the auction house. Nazieh Nassief was previously in charge of Corporate Social Responsibility for the Olayan Financing Company in Saudi Arabia – of particular interest to Christie’s, which has raised over $20 million for charitable causes in the region since establishing itself in the region in 2005.

{ The art world’s female figureheads } The fashion designer and creative director Reed Krakoff has produced a superb new book with Assouline called Women in Art: Figures of Influence. Krakoff heads up his own eponymous label, a favourite of Michelle Obama, and was the creative director of the Coast fashion brand until recently. His new book pays tribute to today’s leading female figureheads from art institutions, museums and galleries around the world, including Dominque Levy, Lucy Chadwick, Almine Rech, Caroline Bourgeois and Valentina Castellani, among others. Each is photographed by Krakoff in black and white, and their portrait appears with their responses to the Assouline Art Questionnaire, giving the reader some insight in to what makes these luminaries tick.

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Words: Rich Thornton

Selections picks out some of the best art events not to miss in the coming months

Linder

Philip-Lorca diCorcia: Hustlers

September 14 2013 – October 26, 2013 Blum and Poe, Los Angeles, USA Emerging from the creative melting pot of 1980s Manchester, and friends with musicians such as Morrissey and Pete Shelley, Linder has gained recognition through music, visual art and now performance. This show focuses on the visual and themes of being an outsider, religious non-conformism, ecstatic states and female divinity.

September 12 – October 26, 2013 David Zwirner, New York, USA This renowned private gallery commemorates the 20 year anniversary of diCorcia’s first solo show with a look at his early photography, which was shot in 1990s Los Angeles. By discreetly selecting his models, choreography and locations, diCorcia creates a narrative that continues to develop as you gaze at each image.

Philippe Pareno: Anywhere, Anywhere Out of this World

May 18, 2013 – February 17, 2014 Dia: Beacon, New York, USA Highly respected for his mesmeric embroidery, Boetti’s work has such a material-centred practice that it is impossible to appreciate with it being physically present. This show displays some of his larger works and most famous piece, Untitled (Victoria Boogie Woogie), which consists of 5,040 envelopes that the artist mailed to himself in Turin from different cities in Italy.

October 21, 2013 – January 13, 2014 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France Pareno was given carte blanche by Paris’s leading contemporary art space. He chose to create an exhibition in which, “The architectural modification of the space becomes a work in itself ”. The show is displayed across multiple rooms through which the audience is guided by an orchestration of sound, image and performance.

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Alighiero e Boetti

Pouran Jinchi: The Blind Owl

Group Show and Sydney Contemporary

Tatsuo Miyajima: I-Model

September 18 – October 17, 2013 The Third Line, Dubai, UAE The New York-based Iranian artist Pouran Jinchi continues her quest to dig deeper into the complexities of the written word and the complex aesthetics of calligraphy. In this show, she uses Sadegh Hedayat’s book The Blind Owl to explore the physical form of text and its signified insinuations.

17 September – 18 October, 2013 Mcmlemoi Gallery, Sydney, Australia This group exhibition showcases Diego Singh’s excursions into the contemporary nature of painting and Alexandra Standen’s visually and mentally stimulating “subconscious-awareness” rooms. This is a chance to experience a collaborative installation between two artists at the cutting edge of Contemporary Surrealism.

September 27 — November 2, 2013 Lisson Gallery, London, UK After two previous solo exhibitions of Miyajima’s work, the Lisson Gallery is now hosting a third monograph by this prolific Japanese artist. Miyajima’s immersive and interactive experience with LEDs will appeal to those who like their art to be experiential, lean and super-contemporary.

David Kramer: Malibu on the Mediterranean September 10 – October 30, 2013 Galerie Tanit, Beirut, Lebanon This American artist’s self-aware humour pervades all of his double-edged artworks, which simultaneously dream of life’s promised riches and criticises them as well. Kramer’s work expresses the disappointment and disillusionment that come from believing in the allure of contemporary commerce and advertising.

Nick Relph, Tomorrow There Is No Recording September 20 – November 10, 2013 Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK This influential London gallery provides New York-based artist Nick Relph with a space in which to display his new commission that examines handicraft, high-tech materials and ideas of value and exchange. His work uses humour, graphics and the documentation process to consider the visual language of branding today.

Florian Japp & Jeffrey Teuton September 6 – October 19, 2013 Rockelmann &, Berlin, Germany This gallery focuses exclusively on conceptual installations and new media and opened this new space in the hipster district of Kreuzberg earlier this year. The two young artists featured have an understated, relational and wistful style that communicates a downtown mood of ad hocism and everyday life.

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a rt & dEs ig n ARAB ART N OW

Words: Miriam Lloyd-Evans

As we cruise into the slipstream of the Arab Art boom curator Miriam Lloyd-Evans examines the simmering scene as contemporary works from the region are integrated into the collections of international museums worldwide

gasp followed by raucous applause filled the glitzy gold ballroom in Dubai in April 2011, as Abdulnasser Gharem, a practising artist and Saudi Arabian Lieutenant Colonel, became the highest selling living Arab artist of all time, with a final hammer price of $842,500 for his Message/Messenger. The sale of Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art by Christies auction house, a British institution founded in 1766, who set up in the Middle East only six years ago, raised the question of if and how Contemporary Art from the Arab world can maintain its identity without speaking to a ‘Western’ art world. Though the piece was bought by Dr Farhad Farjam of the UAE for his private Middle Eastern collection, it was representative of his internationally derived status that this record was set surrounded by, as Gharem’s biographer describes, “Women in leopard-skin shoes clutching sales catalogues, … Arabic, Iranian and

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European collectors, ex-pats in open necked shirts, dealers, waiters, curators, a scrum of journalists and the mass of hangers-on that you tend to find at major auctions”. Until then, the work of now-famous Gharem was found more widely in the West (the British Museum and the V&A Museum in London, the Greenbox Museum in Amsterdam, the François Pinault Collection in Italy, LA County Museum of Art in America) than in the Middle East. Private collections in the region still far out-number public collections, meaning it will continue to be institutions outside the region that will bring these works by Arab artists in to the international canon. Because of this we must ask: How should Institutions and curators in the West characterise and categorise artwork from the Middle East? And can Western art Institutions justify continuing to apply the term ‘Middle East’ to such a vast and complex area with many vernacular and shifting identities?

Dont Forget This is Not You (for Sahar Lotfi) by Newsha Tavakolian, exhibited in She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA until 12th January 2014

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a rt & dEs ig n ARAB ART N OW

Abdulnasser Gharem, Message/ Messenger, Installation, 2010 Image copyright the artist and Edge of Arabia

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Detail from Message / Messenger, 2010 Image copyright the artist and Edge of Arabia

Artists from the region have complained of reductive readings from the art world. Firstly, in the context of the now-termed Arab Spring uprisings, their work is continually read as having political or economic meanings. Secondly, there is a ‘so-hot-right-now’ attitude towards ‘Middle Eastern contemporary art’ by a US and Eurocentric art world that pounces upon it like an on-trend handbag and misrepresents the region as if it has only just opened up to artistic expression. These pressures are not placed on their western counterparts, and so we find artist Manal AlDowayan complaining of a new Middle Eastern photography exhibition at Boston’s MFA through her Facebook status, “Aaaaand another “middle eastern/women” exhibition ...#‎lazycurators‬‬‬‬‬”. Her point being – couldn’t this work be read in more interesting ways? It can, of course, and gradually will be. The geographical categorisation of work is often down to the funding and acquisition policies of museums, rather than due to the willful marginalisation or fetishisation of a group; it is a means to buy the work of important individuals through local resources, intelligence-gathering and curators

undertaking research trips abroad. Contemporary artists, curators and gallerists are international, often diasporic or holding multiple nationalities, making them adept at moving past stereotypical assumptions and able to focus on producing, understanding and appreciating art from the region. Artists themselves often negotiate this space of shared nationality with a clever pick-and-choose approach. Gharem purposefully signed with Ayyam Gallery, who have art spaces in Damascus, Beirut, Dubai, Jeddah and London, to reach out to both Arab and non-Arab audiences. Inside the dome of Message/Messenger, a three-metre wide wood and copper dome symbolising the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, “Guide us to the straight path” is written in Arabic and English, speaking to both a regional and foreign audience. Ahmed AlSoudani was born in Iraq and is based in Berlin. He first exhibited at Charles Saatchi’s breakthrough regional survey ‘Unveiled: new Art from the Middle East’ and went on to participate in the 2011 Venice Biennale in both the Iraq pavilion and an Arab group exhibition ‘The Future of a Promise’. AlSoudani cites Western masters Goya and George Grosz, artists who portray

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atrocities of war of the 19th and 20th centuries, as inspirations. Some Middle Eastern exhibitors at Venice 2011 chose to exhibit at The Future of a Promise rather than in their national spaces, perhaps wanting to capitalise on recent regional allure. While the sort of commercial buzz we are speaking of can be misleading and unhelpful, it has always been the case that institutional acquisition policies are stimulated by auctions and commercial collectors, in turn giving grass-roots artists both space and incentive to create and producing a growing committed local audience. This is being nurtured by developments in the region itself, with museums such as The Mathaf in Doha, the Guggenheim and Louvre outposts in Abu Dhabi and the upcoming King Abdulaziz Center in Dhahran. In 2013, more than 100 artists, architects, and musicians participated in the Sharjah Biennale, with over one third of them creating new commissions, and new residency and outreach programmes.

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Those watching the latest developments in the thriving pan-Arab art scene from London tend to agree with Phil Hoad, who wrote in his review of the new cinema sensation Wadjda in the respected British newspaper The Guardian, “Ultimately, it’s up to Arabs to define their own future in their own terms”. Languages, mediums and categories are merging further to create a multi-layered arrangement of shifting artistic practices from throughout the region. Art from Arab territories is now coasting in to the long tail of its status on the international scene and those being recognised around the globe will continue to experience the commercial and critical expansion that international institutional integration can foster. Edge of Arabia will present the first major solo exhibition of work by Abdulnasser Gharem in partnership with Ayyam Gallery & Side by Side Gallery 9th October - 8th November in London.

Miriam Lloyd-Evans is a UK-based curator of Middle Eastern Art. She was previously head of exhibitions and Publications at Edge of Arabia, where she curated exhibitions in Berlin, Istanbul, Dubai and Venice. She transported the taxidermied dove that features in Message/ Messenger by Gharem from London to Dubai and edited his monograph, Abdulnasser Gharem: Art of Survival. Her MA thesis from the Courtauld took the subject of the different strategies of the British Museum, the V&A Museum and Tate Modern for collecting contemporary Middle Eastern art.

www.beirut-art-fair.com

Biel, Hall 2 Beirut, Lebanon

Sponsored by:

Words: India Stoughton

a rt & dEs ig n G EORG E ZO UE IN

Photographer George Zouein captures the peaks and troughs of human existence in his striking portraits

FACING PAGE TOP: Celestine, 2012, by George Zouein

FACING PAGE BOTTOM: Still Hungry For Beauty, 2013, by George Zouein

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t was Hera, goddess of women and of marriage, who created the Milky Way, according to ancient Greek mythology. One day, while engaged in suckling the infant Heracles, her milk sprayed across the heavens, branding the night sky with a thousand twinkling stars. The Egyptians, meanwhile, believed it was the goddess Nut, arching her star-spangled body over the earth, who was responsible for the awe-inspiring beauty of the night sky. The beauty and drama of such epic tales is conjured up by Lebanese photographer George Zouein in his beautifully composed, thoughtprovoking portraits of women isolated in nature. His work celebrates the beauty of the female form, while exploring some of life’s most complex and meaningful moments.

One such image, full of visual poetry, captures a veiled woman in a black dress as she stands alone on a hilltop, surrounded by a night sky alive with a thousand stars. The simple composition draws the eye to the woman’s face, turned skywards as though contemplating the mysteries of the universe. Zouein is fascinated by the extremities of human feeling. The young photographer, who is set to take part in two group shows as well as giving a solo exhibition in Beirut this autumn, explores this concept in his latest series, which captures women caught in a night-time sea. “These are representations of emotional struggle in a way,” Zouein explains, “Of those intense situations where you don’t have much control. Emotions are something we all go through. This series of work is based on trying to aestheticise that specific moment in time. You are within the wave that hits you and you feel like you’re losing control, like something bigger is taking over and everything rational doesn’t matter anymore.” Zouein’s poignant photographs combine stunning seascapes with a moving approach to portraiture, capturing - in these images of a lone woman adrift - the essence of the human struggle to stay afloat in a chaotic world.

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a rt & dEs ig n DESIG N TR E NDS

London-based trend forecaster Hannah Robinson introduces four rising moods for Autumn 2013

BOLD INDUSTRIAL 1,2 - Dining chair by Studio WM; 3 -Muller van Severen by Fien Muller and Hannes Vanseveren; 4,7 - Transformers by Nicolas LeMoigne for Verbier Mountain Climbers exhibition by Annik Wetter; 5,6 - Silo pendant lamp by Note for ZERO lighting

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In recent months we have seen industrially influenced products being pepped up with vibrant accents of matt colour that offer a playful update on the functional look. Key features include exposed utilitarian fixtures and fittings that have flexible elements. These give an ad hoc, temporary, sporty feel to the trend.

TEXTURAL MASH UP

7. 1 - Crowd by David Taylor ; 2 - Crystal Brick Vase by AurĂŠlie Mathieu & Philippe Karrer for Baccarat; 3 - True Colours vases by Lex Pott; 4 - Figurines by Hannah Kruger; 5 - Fossil table by Nucleo for Ammann Gallery; 6 - True Colours shelves by Lex Pott; 7 - Pathway by Taher Chemirik at Galerie BSL; 8 - In Between by Johan Lindberg

More and more we are seeing contemporary designers going for an eclectic 3D collaged look. This is achieved through unusual material combinations that are usually the result of an experimental approach to mixing and matching in the design process. In these products we can see geological textures alongside precious metals for a high tech meets earthy look that has echoes of eighties postmodern design to it. Dominant keynotes to pick up on include copper, concrete, brass and marble.

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ELEGANT CRAFTWORK

6. 1 - Latency by Emil Krøyer for Metamorphosis at the Danish Academy of the Arts; 2,5 Trialog by Philipp von Hase for The Word is Wood by Bergen Academy of Art and Design photography by Bjarte Bjørkum; 3 - LEAN coat rack and side table by Kengo BABATA for Design soil; 4 - Lilla Ateljen collection by Haruka Furuyama Design & Craft; 6 - Untitled by Mads Sætter-Lassen for Metamorphosis at the Danish Academy of the Arts

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The traditional design cues of handwork and craftsmanship are being refined and redefined by designers who want to bring a new take to the established skills within craftsmanship. Structures bare their natural grains in neutral tones and joints are left exposed to describe the carpentry behind each piece. The products in this trend are worked and honed to bring out the understated elegance of wood, taking us back to a lean, reassuring and sober aesthetic.

KALEIDOSCOPIC CUES

1,5 - Moonrise by Ejing Zhang; 2,3 - Works by Anton Alvarez at Libby Sellers at Design Miami/Basel 2013; 4 - Occasional table from the PRISM series by Frederik Paulsen at Ă&#x2013;rnsbergsauktionen 2013; 6 - ColoRing by Schemaa Architects

Abstract shapes and bright pigments come together for this look that is full of energy and imagination, and which feels optimistic and fresh. Curious surface finishes that have been generated by experimental production methods bring out intriguing details and add depth to these designs. The outcome is a vivid and vibrant selection of pieces that combine to create an upbeat feeling of New Age positivism.

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Words: Kasia Maciejowska

Influential young British designer Faye Toogood brings her distinctive touch to Dubai for Mohani, the Emirate’s first concept store

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All images: Mohani, Dubai

hen Faye Toogood was asked to design the first concept store in Dubai she knew she wanted to create a little drama. So naturally she conjured up something theatrical. Retail theatre, but with extra flair. Determined to make a space that contrasted with its surroundings, the first step was to screen off the shop window, so you can’t see in from outside. The second was to build a neutral base, mainly in concrete, to form a canvas. “We made spaces within spaces - a series of rooms, backdrops and platforms that could offer the retailer the opportunity to play on front and backstage.”

When asked if she considered Mohani’s location in the Gulf when creating the design, Toogood responds that it was at the heart of the Mohani scheme. “This space is entirely a reaction to the reality of Dubai and the current retail environment here, compared to which I feel that Mohani is extremely avant-garde.” It is indeed a lesson in experiential retail, with a catwalk running the length of it and a teashop bakery by creative food studio Arabeschi di Latte. “We like to combine scent, food, objects, and space so we can tell stories through the environments we create.”

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“I am adamant that our work is devoid of formula and so I begin each project with fresh eyes” All images: Browns Focus, London

Although the first in the Middle East, Mohani is far from the first store to call in the Toogood mix of beautiful, tough and artistic. Fashion label 3.1 Philip recently enlisted her for a pop-up shop at Selfridges department store in London, as did Browns Focus, the edgier of the two landmark Browns Fashion stores on South Molton Street, in Mayfair. The latter is dark and slick, with shining metal and neon details that make it feel like an underground nightclub – albeit a conceptual one – while the former is romantic, taking inspiration from 17th-century English literature.

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“For his latest collection Philip Lim was inspired by John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost, so we decided to forge a pre-lapsarian world for the designer.” Here a contemporary geometric chair in peppermint green sits against an uplifting backdrop of glorious printed fabric. Glowing copper and green bolts finish the look, alongside a centrepiece table that shows off products arranged as one of Toogood’s signature assemblages. The designer is determined to stay spontaneous and to treat each client brief as a fresh start to be approached instinctively. “I am adamant that our work is devoid of formula and so I begin each project with fresh eyes.” Despite the highly different overall looks that Mohani, the Philip Lim pop-up and Browns Focus have, they all bear the Toogood stamp in their colours, materials and unique eye for bringing odd things together. Her signature style relies on a subtle, experimental approach to texture and an outstanding eye for colour combinations that are both understated and off-beat. Her unique palette has made this former magazine stylist one of the most inspiring names

“For his latest collection Philip Lim was inspired by John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost”

All images: 3.1 Philip Lim pop-up shop at Selfridges, London

in design today. Sculptural, expressive, intelligent and postmodern, the work of Studio Toogood makes spaces feel unique, creative, and engaged with contemporary culture. Perhaps it is her education in fine art and art history that sets her apart, or perhaps her experience at World of Interiors magazine that gave rise to her unconventional aesthetic. For a style that bears keynotes ranging from industrial to geological via painterly and surreal, Toogood’s work has a counterintuitive serenity that manages to bring poetry into the most commercial of spaces - the store. “I like to transcend reality and take people away from their everyday world using design.” Look out for her hand in the upcoming spaces of new Hermès brand Petit H and at Established & Sons during the London Design Festival.

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a rt & dEs ig n CORPORATE ART C OL L E CTION S words: Lucy Knight

The world’s leading corporations take the business of art collecting seriously. From smart investments to creative CSR programmes, it goes deeper than decorating the office

hen you Google the words ‘corporate art collections’, one of the first results is a link to the Microsoft Art Collection. With pieces including sculpture, photographs, ceramics and multimedia works, the company states its mission for the collection, which began in 1987, as being to reflect their “innovation and creativity” and to “humanize and energize the work environment”. Employees may be staring at a computer screen for most of the day but they can still gaze over at the vast The Wilds by Gala Bent every once in a while, or perk themselves up with a quick glance at Devorah Sperber’s Three Beaded Figures (Beaming-In) which is held at the company’s headquarters in Washington. Even with its current total of over 4,000 artworks, Microsoft by no means has the largest collection. Deutsche Bank is probably the world leader when it comes to curating corporate collections. Currently, it has over 53,000 art works, which reside not only in its multiple museums in Germany but also in the company’s offices around the world.

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Banking has a longstanding relationship with patronage of the visual arts. According to Shirley Reiff Howarth, editor of the International Directory of Corporate Art Collections, there are records of the Medici family commissioning artists to adorn the walls of their bank in the 15th century. More and more different types of business are investing in art collections today, from the US department store Neiman Marcus to the airline Air India. Most auction houses now have a corporate art department, indicating that corporate collections are big business. Nick Orchard, head of corporate collections at Christie’s Europe explains that there are two approaches to building a corporate collection. The first approach is led by a senior executive and is essentially a reflection of their personal taste that may have built up gradually during their time at the company. The second is newer and more strategically put together with the help of an advisor or curator, usually with a view to investment. Raymond Audi, chairman of Bank Audi, makes no bones about the fact that he sees art as an investment. In a recent interview with Lebanon’s Executive magazine he described how he bought up

Gary Hume’s ‘Madonna’ auctioned off by the Lehman Brothers in 2010. Courtesy of Christie’s

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3 Beaded Figures by Devorah Spencer, detail view, part of the Microsoft Collection

work by local artists such as Paul Wakim and Jean Marc Nahas as tax investments when he moved back to Lebanon after the civil war. Orchard, at Christie’s, adds that the public feeling around corporate collections has been muddied by the ongoing financial crisis since 2008. “Companies with collections have been careful in the last few years as this has become a sensitive matter and might not sit well with the general public, or clients.” When the global economic crisis hit, a swathe of banks, including Lehman Brothers, sought to sell off various artworks in an attempt to buy back some cash. Lehman made a tidy $12.3 million through art re-sales. While corporate collections are unquestionably investment led, for some firms such as Deutsche Bank they also serve as a hybrid form of employee

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ABOVE: The Wilds by Gala Bent part of

below: Imran Qureshi: Artist of the Year

the Microsoft Collection. Courtesy of G.

2013 at the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle.

Gibson Gallery, photograph by Zack Bent

Courtesy of Deutsche Bank

engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility. ArtWorks, the company’s global art programme, extends beyond the bank. Public exhibitions are held at the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle in Berlin and the programme expansively includes partnerships with external museums and art fairs, awards emerging talent and organises annual residencies – this year’s artist is the Pakistani painter Imran Qureshi. “Art questions. It inspires people,” says Alina Friedrichs, head of Corporate Citizenship at Deutsche Bank’s Art Projects. “It opens us up to new perspectives and thus enables people to embrace unusual and innovative solutions.” This brings us back to Microsoft, and the art on its office walls. Innovative solutions are the foundation of success in Silicon Valley – as they are to effective corporate strategy across the board.

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C U R AT ED BY PAS C A L O DIL L E

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e have been experiencing globalisation in the art world since the late nineties, with Chinese and Indian artists coming to the market and the growing interest among collectors and the public in Arab, Iranian and Turkish art. As a result, the artistic production of many so-called â&#x20AC;&#x153;emergingâ&#x20AC;? nations has finally been allowed into the international spotlight. Many collectors who were initially only focused on their local markets are now clearly directing their attention towards the artists of these territories who had previously been overshadowed. No one artistic medium or mode of creative expression can be said to dominate among the

artists showing at the ME.NA. SA (Middle East North Africa and South Asian) art fair. The different mediums of painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video and digital art are all represented. It is worth noting, however, that there are some adapted but specific modes of expression, such as the use of calligraphy on various different materials, which do appear time and again. The conditional existence of those modes contains within it an inherent and meaningful relationship between form and content. Like all artists that pay testament to their time, those from the ME.NA. SA regions often refer to subjects surrounding the social and political shifts that have shaped their histories, to create notable works of memoir about the conflicts that have deeply shaken these regions in recent decades.

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Heap

Said Baalbaki Through his distinctive, quasi-abstract treatment of paint, the Lebanese artist Said Baalbaki speaks of his countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history and civil war with modesty and discretion. Through his intertwined forms and subtle colours he constructs his representations of suitcases, of departures, and of exiles.

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Untitled (3380) Eduardo Hoffmann

Much like their Middle-Eastern and North African counterparts, Latin American artists have only recently gained commercial visibility in the Western-centric art world. Eduardo Hoffmann already has an established reputation in his native Argentina however, where his profile is second to none. He has exhibited internationally several times and his auction sales are on the rise. His painting was originally figurative and has gradually evolved towards the semi-abstraction seen here, in which his rich colours and textures communicate a poetic personal universe.

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Liberty Leading the People Mohammed al Hawajri

Mohammed al Hawajri, a Palestinian artist who was born in a refugee camp, subverts paintings by art historyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grand masters, engraved in the collective consciousness thanks to their universal subjects. Because the meanings of these paintings are still relevant, the artist can create his pastiches to critique todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political issues. The humourous twist that is central to subversion can be seen in the improbable encounters and timetwisting montages that his work depicts. This image gives the viewer the same point of view as the artist, forcing us to see those around us who live in the shadows and whose plight is little talked about.

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Implosion

Driss Ouadahi Driss Ouadahi is an Algerian artist who worked as an architect before turning his hand to painting. After experimenting with abstract, figurative and realist art he began to focus on a subject dear to his heart: urban planning. His suburban cityscapes are faceless in that they could be found on the outskirts of Paris, Algiers, his birth-city of Casablanca or any other capital. They can be interpreted as socio-political comment in that they denounce these modern buildings that were once symbols of hope, modernity and progress, and now populate our suburbs.

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Persepolis Part II Sadegh Tirafkan

The ancient site of Persepolis holds a special place in the heart of Iranian photographer Sadegh Tirafkan and he previously used this ancient city built by Darius I in his work in1995 and 1998. Not only for Tirafkan but also for the rest of the world, this archaeological site symbolises ancient Iran and pays testimony to its former glory. The artist plays with this idea in this work from 2002 by introducing characters from real Iran today. These figures become actors telling the story of an imaginary meeting that bears witness to the ruins.

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Untitled J

Vasilios Paspalis When we usually face a portrait our eyes assess the setting and the details to help us identify the character. But the drawings of Vasilios Paspalis omit these tools. He invites us to create a story, to solve an enigmatic tale, but without providing many clues. The Greek artist, who lives in London, explains, “I’m interested in the tension in the space around my characters, rather than the characters themselves and what they might represent. They are merely vehicles for concepts, forms and energy. Each image captures a moment just before or after an event which itself is not clear.”

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Caroline Tabet Lebanese photographer Caroline Tabet has been shooting her “Beirut Lost Spaces” series since 2000. Her picture of The Dome gives a glimpse into the interior of this downtown building, which sits within the remains of the old Beirut City Centre designed by Joseph Philippe Karam in 1965, and now has a sort of mythical status. The light here is something sacred and the photo is full of nostalgia. Tabet softly summons this disembowelled space to evoke the collective memory of Beirut.

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Words: Kasia Maciejowska

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The Japanese artist Kimiko Yoshida uses costume and role-play to perform dozens of little deaths before the camera

above LEFT: The Red Egyptian Bride (Harry Winston) - selfportrait, by Kimiko Yoshida, courtesy Galerie Tanit

above RIGHT: The Vermeer Bride - self-portrait, by Kimiko Yoshida, courtesy Galerie Tanit

previous PAGE: Ophelia by Delacroix - selfportrait, by Kimiko Yoshida, courtesy Galerie Tanit

facing page: Marie Antoinette by Vigee Lebrun - selfportrait, by Kimiko Yoshida, courtesy Galerie Tanit

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catalogue of self-portraits has defined her fifteen-year career as an artist, yet with every additional image that she creates Kimiko Yoshida erases herself a little more from her oeuvre. The photographer uses her own face to dissemble her very self and through the careful construction of many different characters she represents her own form as resolutely other. That otherness appears across a panoply of geographic, tribal, religious or temporal terms as she re-casts her body as a string of characters from art history. “My work doesn’t ask, Who am I? but asks a more pertinent question about identification - How many am I?”. By erasing herself she represents the replacement of a genuine female self with a beautiful but false and reductive apparition. In this way she calls every character

that she’s ever played for the camera, “a figure of disappearance”, adding simply, “It’s about getting beyond narcissism.” Yoshida created her “Paintings” series between 2007 and 2010 and draws its inspiration from the subjects of famous works by great masters who she quotes in titles such as Pierrot By Watteau, Laughing Girl By Vermeer, and The Rubens Bride. Referring to these photographs as paintings the artist is again seeking to rupture how the works are received. The pictures are taken using an analogue Hasselblad camera and are not digitally edited afterwards. Each one is shot in a single day, with several hours dedicated to costume and makeup – all done by herself. Pascal Odille, co-director of this year’s Beirut Art Fair, praises the constraint that gives rise to such impactful images. “She removes the decorative and anecdotal noise from each picture and draws out a single detail to focus on one emblematic element.” As a result, every one of her

“My work asks, How many am I?”

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THIS PAGE CLOCKWISE:

Suleiman the Magnificent by Titian - self-portrait, by Kimiko Yoshida, courtesy Galerie Tanit

Isabel de Porcel by Goya - selfportrait, by Kimiko Yoshida, courtesy Galerie Tanit

The Watteau Bride - selfportrait, by Kimiko Yoshida, courtesy Galerie Tanit

Self Portrait by Warhol - selfportrait, by Kimiko Yoshida, courtesy Galerie Tanit

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photographs has a stylised and singular beauty that is represented by one or two pieces of costume. “This element may be a lace collar or a ceremonial hat,” Odille continues, “which Yoshida renders powerful enough to symbolise each character alone.” Her highly aestheticised works speak through their form and colour. Yoshida refers to them as “symbolic” and “abstract”, insisting that they are “detached from a narrative of any kind.” This ascetic attitude is one she acknowledges as typically Japanese in its aptitude for self-renunciation through adherence to strict discipline and formalism. The artist states that her use of fashion objects to construct a character is a détournement through which she questions the role of dress. In her own words, she employs “the systematic hijacking or diversion of clothing and fashion accessories so that no object ever conforms with its initial function. Dresses, skirts, pants, shoes or handbags become a headdress out of the 19th century or a piece of classic finery or historical costume.”

By similarly repurposing the characters she performs Yoshida questions the fictions that society constructs around identities of gender and ethnicity. Representing herself as fictional icons of the feminine and the exotic has a way of drawing attention to the false nature of these fantasies as straightjackets within which we are encouraged to conform. With every layer of costume and make-up Yoshida’s self is gradually effaced as she enacts a little suicide time and time again for the camera. “What I know about images is that even though they depict the living, they speak of death. They draw their ambiguity from this, from their being a reflection of near-emptiness.” In addition to taking part in the Beirut Art Fair, where her work is being exhibited by Galerie Tanit, Yoshida’s photographs are also currently showing at Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier in Paris, until 27th September.