Jumeirah | June 2017

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Novel Ambition The Agatha Christie writers’ workshop

Chill Out

Dubai’s best five-star summer experiences

Eastern Influence Making billions in China’s art scene

Dolce & gabbana The Italian tastemakers enter haute horlogerie

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Image: Dolce & Gabbana

June 2017

Jumeirah Magazine Jumeirah Corporate Office, Al Sufouh Rd, PO Box 73137, Dubai, UAE, Tel: +971 4 366 5000, Fax: +971 4 366 5001.

Website: www.jumeirah.com Jumeirah is a trading name of Jumeirah International LLC. A Limited Liability company.

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The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of Jumeirah Group or of the publishers.

Readers are advised to solicit advice before acting on the information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. Jumeirah Group and the publishers take no responsibilty for the goods and services advertised. All materials are protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (Including photocopying or storage in any medium by electronic means) without the written permission of the copyright owner, except as may be permitted by applicable laws.

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Editor-in-Chief

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer Managing Partner & Group Editor

lan Fairservice Editorial Director

Gina Johnson Group Editor

Sophia Serin Deputy Editor

Nina Catt Senior Editorial Assiatant

Cecilia D’Souza Designer

Hiral Kapadia Picture Editor

Diana Bell-Heather Contributors

Tahira Yaqoob, Gareth Rees, Claire Hill General Manager – Production

S Sunil Kumar Production Manager

R Murali Krishnan Production Supervisor

Venita Pinto Chief Commercial Officer

Anthony Milne Group Sales Manager

Ziad Saleh ziad@motivate.ae For Jumeirah

Charlie Taylor

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Contents This Month 13 City watch Discover the most exciting events of the month 20 Monitor Essential news and previews

Featured Head Office: Media One Tower, Dubai Media City, PO Box 2331, Dubai UAE, Tel: +971 4 427 3000, E-mail: motivate@motivate.ae Dubai Media City: Office 508, 5th Floor, Building 8, Dubai, UAE, Tel: +971 4 390 3550, Fax: +971 4 390 4845 Abu Dhabi: PO Box 43072, UAE, Tel: +971 2 677 2005, Fax: +971 2 677 0124, E-mail: editor-wo@motivate.ae London: Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK, E-mail: motivateuk@motivate.ae Printed by Emirates Printing Press, Dubai

24 Watch this space Dolce and Gabbana are bringing Italian chic and glamour to the haute horlogerie market 30 Murder we wrote The legend of Agatha Christie lives on in Dubai 34 Beat the heat Your guide to Dubai’s coolest experiences

June 2017

Contents 50

Lifestyle 40 Fall for you A peep into Louis Vuitton’s pre-fall collection 46 A royal touch The Earl of Snowdon talks about his love for watches

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50 Pack it in Summer travelling in style with Rimowa

Travel 62 China’s new icons Why leading art institutions and galleries are looking towards China 66 Insiders’ guide to Kuwait Life with the locals of Kuwait 72 Privacy please Jumeirah Vittaveli is the perfect private playground 76 Ramadan treats Where to enjoy the best iftars and suhoors during the holy month 80 Featured spaces The Terrace, Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel 82 The high life Es Fanals, Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa Mallorca

City Watch

Key dates for your diary

Dubai

Good Sports June 1 to 20 Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex (NAS) hosts its sports tournament. Created to encourage those fasting during Ramadan to keep fit, the tournament invites men and women (both able-bodied and disabled) from across the world to compete in Futsal, volleyball, basketball, running, cycling, panel and fencing competitions, as well as an obstacle course challenge.

Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament, NAS Sports Complex, Dubai. registration.nasst.ae

KEEP FiT June 1 to September 3 Dubai Sports World takes over Dubai World Trade Centre’s Sheikh Saeed Halls and arena for the summer months. The city’s amateur sports enthusiasts can enjoy football, cricket, table tennis, rugby, tennis, basketball, running, badminton, volleyball and padel (a combination of tennis and squash). There is also a skate park, trampoline park and a gym as well as sports academies and a Just Play sports camp for children.

Dubai Sports World, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai. dubaisportsworld.ae

THE BuSiNESS OF ART until June 11 Dubai-based Indian artist Vikram Divecha takes over Warehouse 82 in Dubai’s art district Alserkal Avenue for his latest work, Vikram Divecha: Warehouse Project. compiled by Gareth Rees

Commerce becomes art as a general trading company uses the warehousegallery space to store its goods and conduct its day-to-day business and the public is able to view its activities.

Vikram Divecha: Warehouse Project, Warehouse 82, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. alserkalavenue.ae

RETRO SHOW until June 30 Jean-Paul Najar Foundation in Alserkal Avenue explores the art scene in 1970s New York in Artist Run New York: The Seventies. The exhibition covers the worlds of visual and performance art, film, theatre, dance, writing and music during what was one of the most vibrant decades of the 20th century for the New York art scene.

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Abu DhAbi/istAnbul

Tear it Up June 10 Manarat Al Saadiyat’s Deconstructing Decollage will teach you the artistic technique of cutting or ripping up existing images to create a new work.

The class is inspired by the work mid20th century French mixed media artist Jacques Villegle. deconstructing decollage, Manarat al Saadiyat, abu dhabi. saadiyatculturaldistrict.ae

IT IS UNUSUaL Until June 21 The 45th Istanbul Music Festival promises performances from celebrated

MIxed MedIa Until June 15 Al Qattara Arts Centre in Al Ain hosts a show devoted to collage art, a form popular among UAE artists, with works by 23 Emirati and UAE-based artists. The collage exhibition is part of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority’s extensive programme.

Collage exhibition, al Qattara arts Centre, al ain. tcaabudhabi.ae

soloists such as pianists Huseyin Sermet and Fazil Say, violinist Alina Pogostkina, baritone Matthias Goerne and some of the world’s foremost classic ensembles, including the St Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. More than 600 local and international musicians will perform in 15 venues across the city. The theme of this year’s festival is unusual.

Istanbul Music Festival, various locations, Istanbul. muzik.iksv.org

Pop-up Show Until July 30 Istanbul Modern presents a pop-up exhibition of the work of 20th century Turkish artist Fahrelnissa Zeid. The exhibition, which coincides with a retrospective of the artist’s work at London’s Tate Modern, focuses on the artist’s output between the 1940s and 1970s. The abstract pieces on display are chosen from the museums collection.

Fahrelnissa Zeid, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul. istanbulmodern.org

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london

Contemporary Culture June 8 to September 10 One of the UK’s foremost contemporary artists, Grayson Perry, presents Grayson Perry: The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever in London’s Serpentine Galleries. The exhibition is comprised entirely of new work by the artist.

Grayson Perry: The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!, Serpentine Galleries, London. serpentinegalleries.org

Park Life June 3 The annual Field Day music festival in London’s Victoria Park celebrates its 10th anniversary with an impressive line-up of artists that includes established acts such as Aphex Twin, Arab Strap and Flying Lotus as well as relative newcomers such as Aine Cahill and Flamingods.

Field Day, Victoria Park, London. fielddayfestivals.com

Foodie Fun June 14 to 18 Billed as the world’s greatest restaurant festival, the biannual Taste of London extravaganza in London’s Regent’s Park showcases the capital’s best restaurants and star chefs. Visitors can enjoy live cooking demonstrations, masterclasses and more than 200 food and drink stalls.

Taste of London, Regent’s Park, London. london.tastefestivals.com

Back to the Future June 3 to September 1 Curated by Swiss historian and writer Patrick Gyger, Barbican Centre’s Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction explores the history of sci-fi from Jules Verne to Star Trek and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. The exhibition comprises more than 800 pieces, including art, film props and interactive displays.

Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction, Barbican Centre, London. barbican.org.uk

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frankfurt/Shanghai

Summer SymphOny June 1 Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit conducts a performance of Richard Strauss’s 1905 opera Salome, based on British playwright Oscar Wilde’s 1891 play Salome, in Shanghai Symphony Hall. German soprano Gun-Brit Barkmin performs the title role.

Salome, Shanghai Symphony hall, Shanghai. shsymphony.com

Paper Art until June 25 Vanguard Gallery’s Pieces exhibition features the work of Chen Xingye, Xue Mu, Xiao Jiang, Ye Linghan, Yuki Onodera. The exhibition is a celebration of the use of paper in artistic creation in the digital era. pieces, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai. vanguardgallery.com

pICture perFeCt until August 13 Staedel Museum’s exhibition Photographers Become Pictures explores the influence of the German photographers and educators Bernd

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GO WILD

and Hilla Becher on students of the Dusseldorf

June 3 to 6

School of Photography. The exhibition features

Join the citizens of Frankfurt in celebrating

200 photographs and features work by Volker

Waldchestag (Forest Day) in Frankfurt city

Dohne, Andreas Gursky, Candida Hofer, Axel

forest. The traditional national holiday is

Hutte, Tata Ronkholz, Thomas Ruff, Jorg Sasse,

held on the first Tuesday after the spring

Thomas Struth and Petra Wunderlich.

Whitsun holiday.

photographers Become pictures, Staedel

Waldchestag, Frankfurt City Forest,

museum, Frankfurt. staedelmuseum.de

Frankfurt. frankfurt-tourismus.de

MahallatiJewellery

MahallatiJewellery

Mrs.Mahallati

night owls In the past few years Alserkal Avenue in Dubai’s Al Quoz neighbourhood has grown into a hub for the city’s creative community with regular exhibitions and events held throughout the year. The holy month of Ramadan will be no exception.

Every Wednesday during Ramadan from 8pm to 11pm will see Alserkal Avenue’s galleries and other venues open their doors to the public for Ramadan Lates, a concept that proved popular when it debuted last year. If you’re looking for a unique way to celebrate Ramadan with friends and family or work colleagues, the culinary venue Inked in Warehouse 57 will be available to hire for private iftar and suhoor events to mark the start and end of each fast.

Nadi Al Quoz will host the Good Vibes Market, where vendors will offer casual dining options each evening throughout the month.

During the day Nadi Al Quoz will provide a space to kick back, spend some time in quiet contemplation or meet up with friends.

If you have to work, freelancer creative hub A4 Space will be open from Saturday to Thursday, from 10am to 4pm.

Words: Gareth Rees

Ramadan at Alserkal Avenue takes place throughout Ramadan in Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. See alserkalavenue.ae for more details

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monitor

beating the competition This month Dubai Opera will welcome the stars of the squash court – not the stage -– in the PSA Dubai World Series Finals.

The final tournament in both the men’s PSA World Tour and the women’s WSA World Tour, it brings an exciting championship to a close in Dubai. The tournament will see the eight highest-ranked male and female players in the world compete for their respective World Tour titles and $160,000 in prize money.

Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad currently tops the men’s rankings, thanks to victories in the Qatar Classic and the Tournament of Champions and second place finishes in the Hong Kong Open and El Gouna International but France’s Gregory Gaultier, currently ranked second, will be looking to defend the World Series Finals title he won last year.

France’s Camille Serme is the woman to beat, having earned her place at the top of the rankings with wins in the US Open and the Tournament of Champions.

PSA Dubai World Series Finals takes place from June 6 to 10 in Dubai Opera, Dubai. See worldseriesfinals.com for more details

night shopping Dubai World Trade Centre’s popular Ramadan night market returns for 10 days this month.

Held every night from June 1 to 10, the market starts at 8pm and runs a brisk trade until 2am, sprawling across two huge halls in the trade entre, with entry costing just over $1.

Visitors will be treated to a cornucopia of consumer goods from clothing, jewellery and cosmetics to electronics, food and children’s toys.

While parents shop for bargains and Eid gifts, children can visit the kids' play area, which will offer activities such as faceprinting, a mini-basketball court, a climbing wall, merry-goround, clowns, balloon twisting, arts and crafts and soft play.

There will also be a food court, an Arabic-themed grand majlis, or lounge area, henna painting for women and a play and win area, where games including spin the wheel, basketball and roller ball can be played for prizes.

Ramadan Night Market takes place from June 1 to 10 in Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai. ramadannightmarket.com

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Featured 24 Watch this space

Dolce & Gabbana take on the haute horlogerie market

34 Beat the heat

Image: Getty

Dubai’s coolest summer experiences

WATCH THIS SPACE

Words: Tahira Yaqoob

Dolce & Gabbana have won legions of fans with their blend of Italian chic and glamour.

Now for the first time, the pair have dipped toes into the haute horlogerie market

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featured: Dolce & Gabbana

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How do you top bringing Naples to a standstill with Sophia Loren holding court on a velvet throne, dripping in diamonds and swathed in your latest creations? Easy. You make your first foray into the fine art of mechanical watchmaking and set the world of haute horlogerie abuzz with your extraordinary creations, a compact version of the opulence and flamboyance with which you have become synonymous.

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roots and traditions and our main source of inspiration with its beautiful cities, its landscapes, its culture, its food. We are proud to be Italian and to love pizza and [the] mandolin.” The country, adds his 58-year-old business partner Dolce, is “a benchmark for the whole world”. He says: “We have no alternative but to be proud of it. I am Sicilian and I feel even more the bond that ties me to my native land. I love walking around the streets and looking at the people, feeling the heat they emanate, their sincere passion.”

While they might be small(ish) in size, Dolce & Gabbana’s first alta orologeria watches are anything but miniature in impact. Unveiled earlier this year at the fashion designing duo’s Alte Artigianalità, a twice-yearly extravaganza showcasing their couture, the four watches were unmissable on the wrists of models in the Alta Sartoria men’s section of the show, all baroque embellishments and high drama with curlicues and solid gold casing. Bejewelled and painstakingly hand-engraved, they are as heavy as they are lavish and were paraded on the runway with all the pomp and ceremony one has come to expect of signori Dolce & Gabbana, amid a flurry of velvet capes, silk robes, top hats, embroidered tailcoats and crystallised slippers. The names, too, mirror the theatrical nature of their unveiling (enacted, of course, in Milan’s Teatro alla Scala). Inspired by Giuseppe Verdi, the watches Otello, Nabucco, Don Carlo and Macbeth pay homage to some of the Italian operatic composer’s greatest works.

Dolce & Gabbana launched their first collection in October 1985 at Milan Fashion Week, using friends as models and a bed sheet for a backdrop because they did not have enough money. More than three decades on, they have launched ranges of swimwear, lingerie, footwear, handbags, sunglasses, perfume, cosmetics (the latter fronted by the actress Scarlett Johansson in an ad campaign) and even hijabs. So ubiquitous was their blend of Italian glamour and sensuality that it led The New Yorker to comment in 2005 that “Dolce & Gabbana are becoming to the 2000s what Prada was to the 1990s and Armani was the 1980s - gli stilisti [fashion connoisseurs] whose sensibility defines the decade”.Yet it was not until 2012 that the brand took its first serious step into the luxury watch market (the discontinued D&G line had featured $200 watches but this was an altogether different proposition with gem-encrusted models costing up to $195,000).

But if there is one Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have become renowned for, it is distilling the essence of one of the most romantic, and glamorous places on the planet and channelling it into designs which trumpet ‘la dolce vita’. “Italy is everything for us - the country that we love the most and where we come from,” declares Gabbana, 54. “It represents our

The duo have upped the ante though with their latest designs, featuring sophisticated Swiss-made mechanisms from Pierre Favre’s Genevabased Manufacture de Hautes Complications. Dolce says: “All our watches designed for men are already equipped with Swiss automatic mechanisms so it was natural to grow [in] this direction using the complexity in alta

featured: Dolce & Gabbana

‘‘ ‘‘

Men historically love engines and appreciate a manual processing technique. We have tried to combine the best of Swiss engines with the best Italian goldsmith tradition

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orologeria [haute horlogerie]. The passion for mechanical watches [has been] part of us for a long time, even before we started in the watch sector eight years ago. All that is related to handicraft in some way really fascinates us. Men historically love engines and appreciate a manual processing technique. We have tried to combine the best of Swiss engines with the best Italian goldsmith tradition.”

Gabbana adds: “Men today want to be stylish and elegant, just like women.

They are attracted to what is beautiful.” He compares the watches to “a piece of art”, adding: “We realised four wonders, unique and rare, that combine aesthetic beauty with great technical skills and manufacturing.” And while far from understated, the watches are things of beauty indeed. Nabucco, like its namesake opera, is a tribute to the archangel Michael, whose gold sculpted face sits in pride of place on the bezel. A flying tourbillon with a micro rotor is set in a yellow gold ornately engraved case with a single ruby, finished with an alligator skin strap. Otello resembles a mini grandfather’s clock with a squarely baroque bezel encasing a winged Venetian lion and engraved lantern supporting a mother of pearl dial, powered by a restored vintage winding mechanism. Don Carlo is perhaps the most extravagant, its dial carved from a single piece of jade engraved with gold numerals, obscured by a gold cover set with hand-cut emeralds, inspired by Sicilian gated homes. It says much that Macbeth is perhaps the subtlest of the four. Taking eight months to create, the handmade dial is meticulously and lavishly engraved with a leaf motif and made from solid 18-carat gold, with a window at six o’clock revealing a tourbillon and the initials DG on the gold bridge. All the creations can be customised.

“We are very lucky to work with expert technicians,” says Dolce. “Their work and collaboration are very important to us.” The alta orologeria range is an extension of their couture, he adds, because of the “balance between the extreme attention to detail, proportion, decoration and technical skill”.

Gabbana says it was a natural evolution of the brand: “It was a great challenge, very exciting and interesting. So many things have changed in 30 years.

The world is evolving as well as our fashion ideal - but not the way we work.”

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featured: Dolce & Gabbana

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Words: Tahira Yaqoob / Images: Getty

Agatha Christie

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Culture: Books

Murder We Wrote the legend of Agatha Christie lives on more than 40 years after her death. A dubai writers’ workshop led by her successor teaches the art of crafting a page-turner

Sophie Hannah has murder in mind. So too do the assortment of mothers, academics, company managers and even a 15-year-old schoolgirl in our midst.

By midday, we have bumped off a host of unsuspecting victims, from vicars and millionaires to socialites and even the Pope. As we mull over increasingly gruesome ways to dispose of the bodies, Hannah nods approvingly and utters words of encouragement. “The more outlandish, the better,” she declares.

“The most successful books are the ones whose first pages do a whole range of useful things,” says Hannah. “[The writer] Ruth Rendell always said you have to hook your reader with the first line. There does not have to be a dead body in the first page but you do need to make it clear it is a crime novel with the sense of lots being at stake. If you get that feeling quickly and efficiently [as a reader], you are far more likely to read on.”

Hannah has made a career out of knowing where the bodies are buried. The 46-year-old British author revived the world’s best-known detective, Hercule Poirot, 39 years after his last appearance and is continuing the legacy of his creator Agatha Christie, with the blessing of her family estate. Poirot has already reappeared in two new novels since 2014, The Monogram Murders and Closed Casket, with another two in the pipeline. Now Christie’s continuation author is in Dubai to teach us how it is done as part of a series of creative writing workshops and talks organised by the Emirates Literature Foundation, the umbrella organisation behind Dubai’s annual literature festival. She takes us step by step through the challenges of crafting a cleverly constructed mystery, which will keep readers guessing until the last page.

Taking on Christie’s mantle was a daunting task. As the bestselling novelist of all time - she sold more than two billion books, coming third only to Shakespeare and the Bible - Christie published 80 books before her death in 1976 but her legacy as the world’s greatest crime writer lives on. An allstar cast, directed by Kenneth Branagh and set to include Dame Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Derek Jacobi, will appear on the big screen in a new version of Murder on the Orient Express from November, more than 80 years after the book was first published. Fans of her work still flock to the Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah in Istanbul, where she is said to have written it (in the book, Poirot catches the train from Stamboul to London, solving a murder mystery on the way).

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‘‘

The best thing is that I get to go around the world being a sort of Agatha Christie missionary

British actor Albert Finney on the set of Murder on the Orient Express

Sophie Hannah

Room 411 is still perfectly preserved as it was during her stay, with mahogany and burgundy furnishings, a vintage typewriter on an antique writing desk and the same view of the jumbled streets of Tepebasi and the sweep of the Golden Horn she would have gazed upon.

Hannah had already made a name for herself with her poetry and her own contemporary psychological thrillers when she sat down with Christie’s grandson Mathew Prichard, then the chairman of her estate, to discuss reviving the Belgian sleuth, by far the most popular of Christie’s characters. Nevertheless, going from lifelong fan to legacy holder - thanks in large part to a chance conversation between her agent and Christie’s publisher - was intimidating. “I was a passionate Christie fan,” she says.

“I discovered her when I was 12. My father, who went to a lot of secondhand book fairs, brought back a copy of The Body in the Library and I got completely hooked. Within two years, I had collected and read everything Agatha had published. At the age of 14, I was one of the world’s leading authorities on Agatha Christie.”

Still, she never thought she would ever get the chance to write a Christie mystery. Prichard, who was in Istanbul in 2015 to celebrate his grandmother’s 125th anniversary, was adamant. “He said: ‘My grandmother was a great believer in fate and so am I. I think you have been sent to us for a reason.’ It was quite terrifying but at the same time, every minute of the discussion we all just agreed about [how to do] it. The best thing is that I get to go around the world being a sort of Agatha Christie missionary.” Christie’s books were, says Hannah, “beautifully and elegantly written and so cleverly constructed.

I do think they are perfect works of art.” She set about recreating Christie’s legendary character by plotting and structuring her novel meticulously, writing a detailed 120-page plan first and going back to fill in the chapters, not

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always in a linear way. While not all writers are planners, she tells our masterclass that structure is crucial to a great murder mystery story to build suspense properly. “I am a formal structure obsessive,” she says. “I do not see it as boring, I see it as an essential part of the process. I think of it like an architectural plan of a house.” She gets us writing a blurb for a mystery novel, one which we never have to write. As outlandish plots pour forth, she tells us reverse psychology can sometimes trigger brilliant ideas. “Saying you do not have to write it actually inspires you,” she says. Then she has us writing a page in which we have to bury a significant clue to see if our classmates can spot the hidden detail.

While you never want your reader to guess the outcome from the outset, the clues have to be there, hidden among red herrings, with the eventual resolution a plausible one. “You have to plant clues and the reader has to see them,” she says. “You want the reader to think: ‘Of course, it was mentioned 15 times but I never noticed it.’ It is all the elements working together that I get a kick out of - it is like a Rubik’s cube.” We leave the three-day workshop with the first pages of our crime novels and heaps of ideas on how to progress with our writing, from pointers on what to include in a first page, how to structure a plot and how to fix a novel if it is not working. Hannah says it is a great starting point. “It is easier to improve a flawed thing that exists than to work on something that does not exist. Give yourself permission to write something flawed. The most important thing is to finish your first draft.”

Find out more about Emirates Literature Foundation workshops on elfdubai.org.

For a stay in Dubai while attending a workshop, see jumeirah.com. To stay in the Agatha Christie room of the Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah, Istanbul, see jumeirah. com. The hotel hosts the crime writing festival Black Week Turkey every winter. blackweekturkey.com

Culture: Books Murder mystery writer Agatha Christie

Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah; Agatha Christie room

Pera Palace hotel Jumeirah; Agatha Christie room

Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah, senior suite

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Words: Tahira Yaqoob / Images: Getty

Snow Park in Mall of the Emirates

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BEAT THE HEAT

Staying out of the sun doesn’t mean cutting back on fun. Here’s our guide to the best summer experiences in Dubai

Featured: Travel

Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo in Dubai Mall

t

he temperature might be soaring into the 40s but there are plenty of ways to cool off while still enjoying the best of five-star Dubai.

From adventures for thrill seekers to luxury spa experiences, upmarket family entertainment and the best places to chill out, here is our guide to staying cool in the summer heat.

Get your skates on While the sun is blazing outside, you can enjoy a blast of real snow, toboggan through a snowdrift, snowboard or slalom down the slopes at Ski Dubai, the Middle East’s first indoor ski resort. The sprawling 22,500-square-metre Snow Park in Mall of the Emirates features five slopes of varying difficulty and offers group and individual lessons to get you up to speed. If you don’t fancy strapping on skis, you can zorb down the mountain instead in a giant ball - it’s certainly a quicker way to get down the tube slides. Or there is the the Snow Bullet, a 150m zipline that will have you giggling hysterically as you soar 16m over the heads of skiers. For those who like their fun a little more sedate, there is always a chairlift ride or sipping a hot chocolate while enjoying the view.

There are plenty of ways to cool off at Dubai Mall too - and not just with a caramel frappuccino from one of the hundreds of cafes and restaurants. The

Olympic-sized ice rink in the mall has public skating sessions and lessons throughout the day and discos in the evening. For ice hockey fans, the season might be over but you can watch the Dubai Gazelles, a women’s team made up of a range of ages and nationalities, practising every Monday and Wednesday from 8.30am to 9.45am.

Close enCounters They weigh an average 340 kilograms and have 300 razor-sharp teeth but if you fancy coming face to face with one of the world’s ultimate predators, you can get into a wetsuit and dive with sharks in Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo in Dubai Mall. Matching the sharks pound for pound is a five-metre-long king crocodile from Australia in the zoo. For those looking for a less hair-raising experience, the aquarium has hundreds of brightly coloured marine species and more than a dozen Humboldt penguins.

Nature-lovers can have another special encounter with gentoo and king penguins at Ski Dubai. The march of the penguins can be seen four times a day for free from windows overlooking the slopes but for a memorable experience, you can book a peng-friend encounter to watch the majestic birds swimming underwater and even swim with them yourself for 15 minutes in a 5ft chilled deep pool.

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Skydive Dubai

The Boulevard in Jumeirah Emirates Towers

IPilot

Rock Republic

Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, The Avenue of Indulgence

Talise Spa in Madinat Jumeirah

Burj Al Arab Jumeirah

Jumeirah Al Naseem, Sinbad’s Kids’ Club

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Featured: Travel

Shop till you drop The name says it all. The Avenue of Indulgence in the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray has every luxury you have ever lusted after, from handbags and designer wear to jewellery, cashmere and perfumes. Browse stores like Al Dukan, Rodeo Drive and Vittori Jewels for the finest in luxury souvenirs to take home. In the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, you can pick up custom-made jewellery and stunning Persian rugs. And in The Boulevard in Jumeirah Emirates Towers, you can enjoy some fine dining in one of eight restaurants, indulge in a manipedi, choose gifts like Cuban cigars, watches and antiques and even get a cryotherapy treatment, said to help anti-ageing. If you still have enough energy, Dubai Mall - the world’s largest shopping mall - boasts 1,200 shops, including a shoe-lover’s paradise featuring 300 brands and a Vogue cafe (the Level Shoe District is said to sell more than 600 pairs a day). Both Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates have fashion avenues packed with designer brands from Dior to Jimmy Choo and Balenciaga, with the very latest runway designs on offer.

Spa dayS Exhausted after all that shopping? Get some much-needed R&R at the Talise Spa in Madinat Jumeirah, which has 26 treatment rooms and cabanas on the beach for an ultra-luxurious massage to the sound of the sea. Private plunge pools, sauna and steam rooms are complemented by full moon yoga classes and the Alphasphere, a sensory experience which aims to induce deep relaxation and relieve stress with colour, sound, light and vibration. With wellness, health and skin analysis packages available for couples and individuals, you’ll have trouble tearing yourself away. For something different, try the flotation pool in Jumeirah Emirates Towers’ Talise Fitness centre. An hour of floating on 200 gallons of water with 300kg of healing Epsom salts is said to be as rejuvenating as an eight-hour sleep.

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The name says it all. The Avenue of Indulgence has every luxury you have ever lusted after while the Level Shoe District is said to sell more than 600 pairs a day

thrilling timeS If you crave excitement and an adrenalin rush, never fear. The summer heat puts paid to a midday parachute jump but those enterprising people at Skydive Dubai have simply moved their dives to early morning (between 5am and 10am). If freefalling over the Palm Jumeirah at 120 miles per hour or the early hour doesn’t appeal, iFly Dubai offers an indoor skydiving experience in a wind tunnel in Mirdif City Centre mall. Taking to the skies is a popular theme: iPilot Dubai lets you take the controls of a Boeing 737 in a flight simulator and take off from any one of 24,000 airports. Still looking to burn off energy? You can jump at Bounce trampoline park and climb at Rock Republic, one of a number of climbing walls in the city.

it’S a kid’S life KidZania will thrill any child with its mini-city, which offers the chance to be a firefighter, doctor or radio presenter and earn kidzos. Magic Planet in Mall of the Emirates offers hours of entertainment with a huge indoor games centre testing reflex skills, together with rides and a 4D cinema. Gamers will love Sega Republic, a 7,000sq m indoor space with 14 rides and more than 170 games. Children of guests at Jumeirah Al Naseem have complimentary access to Sinbad’s Kids’ Club during their stay, where fully-trained staff supervise young ones as they make the most of a 1,000sq m play area, which includes swimming pools, face painting, sports, arts and crafts and film screenings. It means you can go for an altogether more grown-up cinema experience at Theatre by Rhodes in Vox Cinemas, where fully reclining seats come with blankets and pillows, waiter service at the press of a button and a menu created by Michelin-starred British chef Gary Rhodes.

Now what could be more luxury than that?

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lifestyle 40 Fall for you

Start preparing your pre-fall wardrobe

46 A royal touch

The Earl of Snowdon’s love for watches

50 Pack it in

Still Life Photography Dirk Weyer, Courtesy of Rimowa.

Travel in colourful style with Rimowa

LifestyLe: accessories LifeStYLe:

fa for you You might be thinking of sun and sandy beaches but it’s never too early to start preparing your pre-fall wardrobe. Let Louis Vuitton give you a nudge in the right direction

Compiled by: Sophia Serin

The Louis Vuitton pre-fall 2017 collection will be in stores from June.

Dubai: The Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates Abu Dhabi: Sowwah Square.

Kuwait: The Avenues Doha: Villaggio Mall.

Louisvuitton.com

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LifestyLe: accessories

From left to right: Silhouette thigh-high boots (black, white, orange) Monogram Reverse Triangle Softy bag Twist Epi chain bag, denim

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Collarless denim jacket Shearling coat

Salsa Air MultiwheelÂŽ in Ultra Violet

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Bicolour Intarsia hooded parka Colourblock insert coat Raglan sleeve coat

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Leather shrug, knit sweater with belted sleeveless minidress and flower lace Twist bag

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Below, Graphic Switch City Steamer The Louis Vuitton pre-fall 2017 collection will be in stores from June. Dubai: The Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates Abu Dhabi: Sowwah Square.

Kuwait: The Avenues Doha: Villaggio Mall.

Louisvuitton.com

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Words: Tahira Yaqoob / Images: Getty

Watches: Earl Of SnOwdOwn

A RoyAl Touch The Earl of Snowdon is a lover of watches - thanks to an early lesson in appreciating beauty

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s a child, David Armstrong-Jones remembers his mother taking him to the National Gallery in London and showing him just one Vermeer painting - then taking him home. “I do that with my children,” he says now. “It teaches them that you need to come back and look for yourself and be observant.”

But then, this is no ordinary family. David Armstrong-Jones is better known by his formal title the Earl of Snowdon, previously Viscount Linley, while the mother in question was Princess Margaret, sister to Queen Elizabeth II, making him 18th in line to the throne. The Queen’s sister was renowned for her love of beautiful things and her appreciation of the exquisite and sublime has been passed on to her son, the founder of Linley bespoke furniture company and honorary chairman of Christie’s for Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India. From his father, the late photographer and first Earl of Snowdon Antony Armstrong-Jones, he inherited an eye for detail and a love of watches.

The Earl of Snowdon

1950s Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso

Rolex

Today, immaculately dressed in a grey suit, the Queen’s nephew and second Earl of Snowdon is in the Godolphin ballroom of Jumeirah Emirates Towers for one of his regular sojourns to Dubai, where Christie’s auction house is holding one of the biggest events in its calendar, a two-day sale of collectible watches and modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art. (The watch auction ends up raking in a record $5.36 million this year, the highest figure for any similar events in the Middle East, which includes the sale of a 1981 Patek Philippe with an 18-carat perpetual chronograph for $499,500 while art sales total more than $8 million.)

Patek Philippe Nautilus

Omega

The 55-year-old earl himself is wearing a Bamford Watch Department customised Rolex Milgauss SE Stealth GV Green, a 50th birthday present from his friend George Bamford. They share a love of craftsmanship; indeed, they co-curated an exhibition in Linley’s London store in Belgravia in 2014 celebrating the best of British design, engineering and innovation. The stainless steel watch coated in black military grade titanium was the earl’s first Rolex, its green second hand shaped like a lightning bolt.

He also boasts a 1950s Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, a 40th birthday present from his wife Serena, a stainless steel Omega Speedmaster gifted to him by his father on his 21st birthday – still going strong after 34 years – and a 1970s Montine automatic, a present from friends of his parents when he was a child, with Linley etched on the gold-plated casing. But it is his beloved 2007 Patek Philippe Nautilus which was his hardest-won acquisition. White gold with a porthole-shaped face (he had made furniture for and long admired Gerald Genta, the late Nautilus creator), he bought it after selling 12 watches from his prized collection.

He will not be drawn on how much it cost but twinkles mischievously: “It was 12 times a normal watch. Does that make me a sinner?” Genta, he says,

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Watches: Earl Of SnOwdOwn

was a “formidable man and a great designer. It is always lovely just to admire man’s creation in miniature.” Withstanding the bashing and dust clouding his furniture design workshop is a key requirement for any watch too. The earl, who has a Rolex Daytona on his wishlist, says he vacillates in taste though: “Some days it is as lovely to have a watch by David Tang, which is a silver watch and beautifully simple but very luminous in the dark, as it is to have a higher complication watch.

“There is so much choice that it is fun to mix up what you wear and how you wear it. With the 12 I sold, I had enjoyed them enormously in their own individual way. I just thought, I really love the Nautilus and I could not think of a way of achieving it. We cannot bid in auctions ourselves so I left a bid. I did not get it the first three times so each time the opportunity came up, I took another go. I got rid of quite a few, although I kept ones from my childhood.

There are lots you cannot get rid of.”

He is an admirer of Old Masters and contemporary art too, although he will not go so far as to say he has a collection: “The house is just full of things we found along the way. One of the great privileges of working with Christie’s and travelling an enormous amount is bringing back something from somewhere quite extraordinary like trips around the Far East, eastern Russia and Kazakhstan.” The earl is a regular at Art Dubai every March and has bought works in India and Russia – “a tiny Russian drawing of a girl seated – just a beautiful, very calm picture” – as well as a “postage stamp” sized Old Master painting. His role in Christie’s has led him to make exciting discoveries about artists he knew little about. When the auction house held its inaugural sale in Shanghai in 2013, he was blown away – quite literally – when Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang created new artwork on paper by igniting gunpowder. “To watch that process was absolutely fascinating,” says the earl. “The noise and the smoke and the drama and the spectators – it was extraordinary.”

Meanwhile his 32-year-old luxury furniture and interior design store heralding the best of British designers and craftworkers is flourishing, leaving him a long way from the cooperative where he first opened a carpentry workshop after graduating from Parnham College for Craftsmen in Wood. Last year Linley sales doubled to more than $17 million and the firm opened a new store in Piccadilly, central London. The Earl of Snowdon says the firm’s appeal is showcasing the work of a “crucible of talent”, from potters and weavers to silversmiths and gunsmiths. His praise for their craft, though, could just as easily be applied to watch manufacturers: “I just love beautiful things. I love the way things are made. The way things were made in factories to me was all about mass but I became interested in the detail of one and how to make a beautiful one-off – and we have been doing that for 30 years.”

Linley furniture store in Belgravia, London, is a short walk from the Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel. jumeirah.com

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LifestyLe: accessories LifeStyLe:

Salsa Air Multiwheel in ultraviolet

Pack it in Leave your black suitcase at home and brighten your summer travels with these colourful options

All products by Rimowa Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Mall and Tryano. Dubai: Bloomingdales, Galeries Lafayette and Jashanmal boutiques in The Dubai Mall, Dubai Marina Mall and Dubai Festival City Compiled by: Sophia Serin Photography: Horst Diekgerdes, Still Life Photography Dirk Weyer, Courtesy of Rimowa.

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Salsa Air Multiwheel in ultraviolet

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Topas Cabin Multiwheel

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Think of your suitcase as the new ‘it’ bag

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Bossa Nova Multiwheel Electronic tag in jetgreen-green

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Topas Titanium

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THE WORLD CAN WAIT

To reconnect with what’s important, you need to disconnect first - get caught up in a special moment and not in the worries of the world. At Jumeirah Zabeel Saray moments like these are abundant. That’s because we take care of every detail of your holiday.

Some call it a luxury, we call it quality time.

Time to let go. For more information, visit jumeirah.com or call +971 4 453 0000

travel 62 China’s new icons

Why leading art institutions and galleries are looking towards China

66 Insiders’ guide Kuwait Life with the locals of Kuwait

82 The high life

Image: Getty

Es Fanals, Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa, Mallorca

Words: Tahira Yaqoob / Images: Art Basel Hong Kong/Getty

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The Deep Blue Sea, Dinh Q Le. Courtesy Art Basel Hong Kong (ABHK)

Travel: art

China’s new iCons China’s art scene is thriving, thanks to a spend of $11.5 billion a year. tahira Yaqoob finds out why blue-chip galleries are hungry for a slice of the action

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View of the Sifang Art Museum

Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing

Camille Henrot, Hello & Thank you, 2015

When critic Jack Bankowsky first coined the somewhat derogatory term “art fair art”, the world

from Shanghai, including Pearl Lam Galleries, ShangArt, Osage Gallery and Leo Xu Projects.

was a different place. His now infamous 2005 essay was trying to pin down an “older condi-

Meanwhile the first global art market report from UBS bank revealed China was the world’s third

tion of Warhol as socialite” and a seen-it-all art crowd fatigued by the rigmaroles of pinballing

biggest spender on art after the US and UK, a market leader in auctions and the most buoyant

between the epicentres of Miami, London, Paris and Basel, says Philip Tinari, the director of

country globally in a difficult climate, spending $11.5 billion on art last year.

the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing. Indeed, Tinari recalls working in Beijing for the art fair giant Art Basel as recently as 2011 “in the mode of a war reporter in Spain in the

Little wonder then that the world’s leading art institutions and gallerists have been scrambling

1930s, sending reports back about the interesting locals and their artistic activities in this great

for a slice of the pie. The past few years have seen blue-chip galleries like Gagosian, White

continental mass”.

Cube, Ben Brown Fine Arts and Lehmann Maupin opening spaces in Asia. At the same time, there has been a boom in wealthy Chinese collectors opening private art museums, sending

That was just two years before Art Basel first ventured into the Asian market with its Hong Kong

the number of venues ricocheting from 2,601 in 2009 to 4,164 in 2014, according to the China

fair catering to Chinese art collectors and institutions - and what a difference the last five years

Museums Association.

have made. While art fair organisers cannot be entirely credited with carving an art scene, the presence of Art Basel Hong Kong (ABHK) has certainly transformed the landscape.

“The biggest change is the age difference among collectors. They start young and are not just buying from their own generation. Young people are buying serious work,” says Adeline Ooi,

The art showcased might have had a distinctly international flavour but more than half the 242

ABHK’s Asia director. “We have collectors as young as 26 coming but they are serious. They

galleries exhibiting at this year’s event had spaces in the Asia-Pacific region, among them 15

might be young billionaires or perhaps have inherited wealth but they are intensely cosmopol-

Making Pretty, Ji Wenyu ShangArt Gallery

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Travel: art Hamra Abbas, paint on silk (2016), at ABHK. Courtesy Lawrie Shabibi and the artist

All the Flowers are for Me - Red, Anila Quayyum Agha, Aicon Gallery at ABHK

Yuz Museum.

Andy Warhol, Shadows

itan. You can hear in their voices that they have been to school somewhere else like the US or

traditional art to open the very modern, minimalist, architecturally striking Sifang Art Park with a

UK and that exposure is the one thing that is different here.”

contemporary art museum at its heart. Shanghai bustles with its own art fairs, from the biennale

Ooi says Chinese collectors began by collecting regional art in a nascent market - a common

to Art021 and West Bund Art and Design. Meanwhile the Guggenheim in New York is collabo-

theme worldwide among those starting a collection - but tastes have expanded with time. “You

rating with Tinari on a show called Art and China After 1989: Theatre of the World, set to open

tend to begin by supporting artists from your country and then go wider. This time they cast

in the US in October. Not only is there homegrown talent but the world is starting to take notice.

the net globally,” she says. “Every year the audience becomes more sophisticated. The one comment from galleries is that the audience has changed. They are asking the right questions and

“I think the demographics here are diverse. It is not just Chinese [collectors],” says Ooi. “Other

really coming back with more knowledge.”

institutions are interested in works from greater Asia - museums from Turkey through to Australia and New Zealand.” Marc Spiegler, the global director of Art Basel, adds audiences in the region

Those sophisticated tastes are increasingly visible everywhere from Shanghai to Beijing, from

are hungry for “a much broader platform to see art and discover artists from all over the world”.

Shenzhen to Nanjing and are reflected in the artists, galleries and institutions springing up in

This year’s Hong Kong show saw crowds of 70,000 pouring through the doors over three days,

China. Shanghai now boasts the Rockbund Art Museum, opened in 2010, the Long Museum

up from 20,000 in 2013. He says: “It has managed to build bridges not just between Asia and the

Pudong and Long Museum West Bund, owned by husband and wife team Liu Yiqian and Wang

western art world but within Asia too.”

Wei, featuring everything from traditional Chinese paintings to contemporary exhibitions of socialist propaganda art and the Yuz Museum opened by Chinese-Indonesian businessman Budi Tek.

The Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel is in Pudong, Shanghai, with other venues set to open in Haikou,

In Nanjing, a young Lu Xun broke away from his property magnate father’s love of antiques and

Wuhan and Nanjing. jumeirah.com

Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel , Shanghai Club deluxe room

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travel

The InsIders’ GuIde To‌

Kuwait

Interviews by Gareth rees / Images: Getty.

Inside the lives of the Kuwait's most talented tastemakers

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Liane al Ghusain

Liane aL Ghusain

hind aL aWadi

Writer and teacher

Co-founder and creative director of PantryBee

My parents were living in Muthanna Complex in Kuwait City when I was born. They made friends with the owners of The Kuwait Bookshops, a large and popular bookstore near where I grew up. It's really sad that it is closing. I miss good bookstores. Often the first thing I do when I travel is go to a bookshop. Muthanna Complex and its surroundings have changed a lot.

Not many Kuwaiti families live in the city centre these days. I live in Mishref now. I love it. We have a great Co-op and really green streets, especially relative to the rest of Kuwait. Mishref is a really sweet, functional suburb. I get my nails done at Nail Talk, sometimes indulge in a spicy doner kebab and bike the backstreets. What makes Kuwait special is that it has a diverse population with a great entrepreneurial drive and sociability. Kuwait is slowly but surely recognising the importance of the written word. This is the best time to enter the field I work in. I’m also interested in the healing arts and the community of practitioners has grown exponentially over the last six or seven years. There are way more opportunities for young people here than there used to be. I studied in the United States and graduated the year of the economic crash. It was a terrible time to be a fresh graduate. I went from interning at Wikipedia and waitressing at a start-up incubator cafe in the US to becoming the first director of the Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) when I moved back to Kuwait. My favourite book about Kuwait is Failaka Island: The Ikaros of the Arabian Gulf by Jehan Rajab. I love peeling back layers of Kuwait's history and discovering ancient rituals and artefacts. If somebody was visiting Kuwait for just 24 hours, I would advise them to spend their time eating - then eating some more. My favourite places to eat are Q Cafe by The Yard, Ovo and all the Indian and Thai hole-in-the-wall spots.

I was born in Kuwait but moved to London as a result of the Gulf War. I was there between the ages of five and 18 and then continued on to the US for university. I now live in Kuwait, in Egaila. My husband has an apartment here that I tore down and lovingly remodelled. I am a dog owner and I love that Egaila is a dog-friendly neighbourhood by the beach and that I can walk to my favourite Thai joint in Kuwait, Subaidee. The people are what make Kuwait what it is. The type of friendships you make here are unlike anywhere else.

If I want to escape, I visit Failaka island and Bnaider [beach]. For work, I like the shared workspace community in Reyada. I also feel fantastic at Warqa's yoga studio and in Manifesto 13, a great space where I also learned to paint with Jawaher al Bader, an art educator extraordinaire. The biggest misconception about Kuwait is that there's nothing to do. It's really hard to leave Kuwait once you've gotten used to it.

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Hind al Awadi

I have definitely noticed a tangible increase in tech and food and beverage startups since I moved back seven years ago and with the increased assistance from an SME [national] fund and the sprouting of local hubs for entrepreneurs, that sector is going from strength to strength. PantryBee is Kuwait's first recipe box business. We offer a bilingual experience for our customers, work with local chefs to create speciality boxes and we pride ourselves on getting the best ingredients from local and international suppliers.

If you only have a short time in Kuwait, I would recommend a visit to the Abraj water towers followed by a walk through Mubarikiya [souq], lunch at Shimam and afternoon coffee at Somu.

Then head to Al Shaheed park to learn about our flora and fauna from the museum before heading to Sadu [traditional Bedouin] House.

Swing by Ecru for some homegrown brand shopping and end the night with dinner at Barba in Shuwaikh. My favourite restaurants are Cocoa Room for breakfast, Ovo for Lunch and Raw Sushi for dinner.

If I want to escape, I go to Mutla [the highest point in Kuwait]. It’s one of the few places you can go on a hike when the weather allows and a great place to enjoy a picnic with friends. The best thing about Kuwait is its people. Did you know that we have Greek ruins in Kuwait? Visit Failaka island.

travel Abdalla Abdelrahman

AbdAllA AbdelrAhmAn

Graphic designer

I grew up in the Ras al Salmiya area, which was a lively community made up of both Kuwaitis and expats, in residential buildings new to Kuwait at the time. The area is currently going through redevelopment so it is not the neighbourhood it used to be during the late 1980s and early 1990s. I currently live with my family in Rumaithiya. Its proximity to both the coastal areas in Kuwait and Kuwait City makes it very convenient in terms of location and access to services and it also has a friendly residential feel. I spend time in nearby Salmiya, which is a lively and thriving area.

Lucia Topalian

Dream Suspended. It provides an interesting perspective on what Kuwait was going through socio-economically in the late 1980s, right before the invasion of Kuwait. If somebody was visiting Kuwait for just 24 hours, I would advise them to go to the old traditional market in Kuwait, Souq al Mubarakiya. It is a combination of a traditional Kuwaiti souq and up-andcoming local retail concepts and restaurants. For breakfast I would visit Q at the Yard for breakfast, Dar Hamad or Gia cafe for lunch and Tatami or Almakan for dinner. My favourite place is Kuwait waterfront. It is a great public space with restaurants, biking paths and other family-friendly activities. The best thing about Kuwait is the people and their spirit. luciA TopAliAn

There are a huge number of shopping malls, stores and restaurants to choose from. Marina Mall has a great selection of high-street stores and cafes. I really like having breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien in the Crescent in Marina Mall, which overlooks a pier on the Arabian Gulf. I think the city's mixture of modernity and tradition sets it apart from many other GCC cities.

Kuwait has a rich cultural history embedded in everyday life but there is a striving for modernity in all aspects of life that is evident throughout our society. Cultural diversity and tolerance as well as avid involvement in politics is also a big part of why Kuwait stands out in the region. Kuwait is a great place for a graphic designer because there is a huge entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to compete on an international level.

The Kuwaiti client is well-informed in terms of taste and design and I think that pushes and inspires me to always stay informed about trends and design standards and to produce visuals that are culturally relevant. The old architecture and urban aesthetic of Kuwait, popular during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, really influences my aesthetic. I especially love the patterns and colours used on prominent buildings in Kuwait during that time. I designed a book about the architecture of Kuwait from 1949 to 1989 for Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah [culture and arts centre]. It is the only visual documentation of architecturally important buildings built in Kuwait during that time, many of which have either been demolished or are in the process of being demolished. My favourite film about Kuwait is a documentary called Kuwait: A

executive partner, dar al Funoon art gallery

I was born, raised and educated in Lebanon. I came to Kuwait in 1976, running away from the civil war in Lebanon. I settled in the Behbehani compound in 1979 and I still live and work there. It consists of 28 traditional houses around an inner central courtyard. Daylight seeps in from different angles throughout the day, giving good energy to the dwellers.

Lately I have been spending a lot of time in the Sheikh Jaber al Ahmad Cultural Centre (JACC). It’s in the next block and offers local and international performances. There are also some lovely restaurants in the neighbourhood. My favourites are Baker and Spice, Ovo and Gia for their light and delicious menus and well-chosen fresh ingredients. Further afield, I highly recommend the Japanese restaurant Edo. As well as dining out, I like taking long walks along the Gulf Road by the seashore. The contemporary art scene in Kuwait is active. Since its inception in 1994, Dar al Funoon has evolved from just promoting Arab art to promoting artists from the Middle East, Europe the United States and Japan. The gallery also supports young artists by organising a group exhibition once a year.

We also offer some young artists solo exhibitions. This year's artists are painter and sculptor Abdullah Alotaibi and photographer and installation artist Najd Al Taher.

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For more For more For information, more information, information, please please visit please visit jumeirah.com/jvroyalresidence visit jumeirah.com/jvroyalresidence jumeirah.com/jvroyalresidence or call or +960 call or +960 call 664+960 664 2020664 20202020

@JumeirahVittaveli @JumeirahVittaveli @JumeirahVittaveli #RoyalResidenceVittaveli #RoyalResidenceVittaveli #RoyalResidenceVittaveli

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Words: Claire Hill

travel TRaVel

Privacy Please

The perfect playground for the discerning traveller has officially opened at Jumeirah Vittaveli in the Maldives.

Take a step inside and discover the Royal Residence

Personalised concierge At the Royal Residence, no demand is beyond reach and no luxury spared. Guests of the residence enjoy access to a personalised concierge service, including private butlers, dedicated golf buggies and chauffeurs. The range of exclusive experiences available includes award-winning chefs, a celebrity photographer to document your stay and a personal astronomer. All watersports and activities are offered directly from your own beach for complete privacy.

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Room for extended family Created with families in mind, the Royal Residence also houses two guest villas, one king-sized suite and one twin-bedded suite, flanking the main Sanctuary suite on either side. The main entrance leads into a separate living area and dining pavilion, ideal for quality time with the family, which opens out onto a fullsized swimming pool. Connected to the residence is a two-storey, two-bedroomed guest house with its own swimming pool and private white sandy beach.

The Sanctuary suite In the heart of the residence sits the Sanctuary suite.

Here you’ll find a king-sized bed, a walk-in wardrobe and separate indoor living area. The bathroom includes an oversized stone bathtub by Kelly Hoppen, complemented by his and hers Hermès vanities. To complete the opulence, the Sanctuary has its own outdoor jacuzzi with TV, a private Talise Spa massage room and a gym.

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A resort within a resort Just 20 minutes from Male airport by luxury catamaran, you’ll find the Royal Residence cocooned in a Maldivian hideaway. It’s home to two swimming pools overlooking the private residence beach, a secluded island grill restaurant, which offers live cooking and teppanyaki-style cuisine (set atop a deck shaped like a dhoni, or traditional sailing boat), an opulent dining room, a sunken lounge surrounded by a fragrant lily pond and an overwater bar and sundeck.

Dive into the deep Home to one of the healthiest and most abundant house reefs in the South Male Atoll, Jumeirah Vittaveli offers incredible diving and snorkelling trips. The more adventurous can explore five wreck dive sites nearby and explore the marine life and blooming corals. The resort also offers tours along its house reef by semi-submarine - a comfortable way for the entire family to enjoy the beauty of the underwater world.

Island life Guests staying at Jumeirah Vittaveli have access to the luxurious leisure facilities including the five-star PADI dive centre, an award-winning Talise Spa, Talise Fitness and one of the largest children's clubs in the Maldives. The spa is surrounded by lush, natural gardens and offers Asian-inspired treatments, all using organic or natural products. The spa team also produces an island-made 100 per cent pure coconut oil for signature treatments, which is available to buy in the spa's boutique. Discover your inner zen with daily yoga sessions, stay fit with exercise classes or find out more about the personalised wellness programmes.

The Royal Residence can accommodate up to 14 people. Prices start from $35,000 per night during high season. For more information call +960 664 2020 or email JVMRoyalResidence@jumeirah.com

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Ramadan TReaTs

Words: Tahira Yaqoob

Friends and family mark the holy month of fasting with special dishes. Here’s our guide on where to enjoy the best of Ramadan fare

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Jumeirah Zabeel saray, Lalezar, kunafa

T

his is a special time of year for Muslims around the world.

Ramadan, held on the ninth month of the lunar calendar, is the holy month of fasting in Islam and represents a time when Muslims strive to be more patient, charitable and spiritual. From dawn until sunset, they are required to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and even raising their voices. More than just physical restraint, the fast is intended to be a way to focus on atonement and gratitude and put those fasting in the shoes of the less fortunate.

Visitors to the Arab world during this time are invited to share in the celebrations and nightly festivities that mark the end of each fast. Across the Middle East and Asia, from Istanbul to Dubai and beyond, coloured lights are strung up everywhere and festive Ramadan tents are erected in hotels, restaurants and homes to host iftar, the meal which breaks the fast and suhoor, eaten before dawn breaks to mark the beginning of the fast. In cities, the frenetic pace slows down. There is less traffic on the roads, people work shorter hours and a sense of calm prevails.

The delicacies eaten during Ramadan’s nightly banquets are often unique to the month, taking hours to prepare. In Turkey, the fast is broken with freshly baked pide bread and pickled vegetables; in the UAE, it is done with dates and laban [fermented milk] before tucking into lavish spreads featuring Emirati specialities. Hala al Awadhi, a public relations executive from Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel and Spa in Kuwait, says she loves sharing Ramadan

Travel: Food

treats at big family gatherings. “We gather at home or go to my grandmother’s house - typically around 50 people,” she says. “The family hosting does the cooking. Usually my aunts cook their specialities and do Ramadan recipes or neighbours bring us dishes. I enjoy harees, which consists of crushed wheat and shredded pieces of mutton with a bit of cinnamon on top. It is really savoury and rich. I also love qatayef sweets made from fried dough and filled with cream cheese and nuts. And you can never get enough of the delicious Kuwaiti luqaimat pastry balls coated in rosewater and syrup.”

For Hana al Muhairi, an assistant communications manager for Jumeirah Group, Ramadan in Dubai is a chance to get closer to God and gather food and clothing for charity collections. She says: “The atmosphere is very special with families and friends gathering for either iftar or suhoor while we chat and enjoy the most delicious dishes. Harees has to be on the table and for dessert, luqaimat is a must. Usually I do not eat a lot during iftar and break my fast with dates and laban. During suhoor I like thareed, an Emirati dish made from pieces of bread in a meat broth.” Her family often make trips to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi during the month, where up to 25,000 free meals are distributed among worshippers every night in specially constructed iftar tents. The month culminates in the three-day Eid al Fitr festival, expected to start on Saturday June 24, when families and friends swap gifts and sweets and dress in new clothing.

here are our ToP PicKS oF Where To eNJoy The FeSTiviTieS aNd JoiN iN aN iFTar or Suhoor: Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Palm Jumeirah, dubai

Where: In the Ottoman-themed decadence of Lalezar restaurant with views of the Palm from the terrace, the traditional Arabic setting of Al Nafoorah or in majestic Imperium. Begin with dried fruit and nuts and a glass of laban before tucking in.

TaSTe The TradiTioNal: Feast on mini kofte and boregi (cheese wrapped in filo pastry) in Lalezar and harees (barley wheat with shredded lamb) and lamb kibbeh in Al Nafoorah. Follow with Arabic desserts like qatayef dough parcels, cheese kunafa (sweetened pastry) and umm ali, a rich, creamy version of bread and butter pudding. muST-Try: Moulokhiya in Al Nafoorah is a delicacy which takes hours to prepare. Boneless chicken is slow-cooked with green leaves, garlic and onion. booK iT: Iftar served from 7–8.30pm. Call +971 4 453 0444, email JZSrestaurants@jumeirah.com or see jumeirah.com/jzsramadan Pera Palace hoTel Jumeirah, iSTaNbul

Where: Al fresco on the Orient Terrace under a starlit sky and overlooking the Golden Horn. Iftar begins with a sherbet drink and sweet treats like honeycomb with clotted cream.

TaSTe The TradiTioNal: Turkish manti, also known as Turkish ravioli, is made of thin dough filled with ground meat, then boiled or fried and served with yoghurt and melted butter topped with red pepper. Gullac, a traditional Ramadan dessert, is made of millefeuille filled with milk and sugar and topped with crumbled pistachio. There will also be a grill for marinated meats. muST-Try: Lamb elbasan tava, served with orzo rice, tomato and pepper and the pressed lamb tandir, slow-cooked for hours and dished up with

Pide at Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah

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TRavel: Food

Coloured lights are strung up everywhere and festive Ramadan tents are erected in hotels, restaurants and home to host iftar, the meal that breaks the fast

Al Majlis

Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Li Beirut, private dining room

Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel

mashed aubergine, seasonal vegetables and a meaty broth.

TasTe The TradITIoNaL: There are classics galore from cold and hot

BooK IT: Iftar served from 8.30-10.30pm. Call +90 212 377 4000 or email

mezze to vegetable and meat casseroles and lamb ouzi, a whole roasted

JPPinfo@jumeirah.com

lamb served on a mound of rice. musT-TrY: Al Majlis’ version of harees is made with veal and the umm ali

JumeIrah aT eIThad Towers, aBu dhaBI

is particularly memorable. There are live cooking stations and shisha is

where: Old meets new in the exquisite fine dining setting of Li Beirut,

available after iftar.

which gives a modern twist to Lebanese fare. Sip on karkadi, sweetened

BooK IT: Call +971 4 432 3232 or email restaurants@jumeirah.com

hibiscus juice, before feasting.

TasTe The TradITIoNaL: There is, of course, lamb harees but you will

JumeIrah messILah Beach hoTeL aNd spa, KuwaIT

also find mahashi mushakala, marrow and aubergine stuffed with rice,

where: You will be greeted with a glass of jallab, date juice flavoured

vine leaves and minced lamb and dajaj bil batata, roasted chicken with

with rosewater, as you enter the Badriah ballroom. The best of the region’s

garlic, potato and lemon.

cuisine is on offer at a range of live cooking stations.

musT-TrY: Baked kunafa osmalia is given a special twist with a smothering

TasTe The TradITIoNaL: Shrimp murabiyan is a much-loved Kuwaiti

of caramel honey sauce. Wash it down with qamar al deen, a drink made

speciality made of basmati rice and shrimp flavoured with onions, garlic,

from dried apricots and especially popular during Ramadan.

tomatoes, coriander and cloves. The local version of harees is sweetened

BooK IT: Call +971 2 811 5666 or email JADrestaurants@jumeirah.com

with cinnamon. musT-TrY: The warm chocolate shawarma has to be seen to be believed.

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aL maJLIs, madINaT JumeIrah, duBaI

Shavings from a rotating block of chocolate - rather like the savoury kebab

where: A spectacular 1,000-seater tent in the Madinat Arena near the souk

version - are then folded into a crepe, drizzled with honey and dished up

showcases the best of Arabic cuisine and decor, with iftar served until about

with ice cream.

8.30pm and suhoor until 3am. Best to book ahead as it is extremely popular.

BooK IT: call +965 222 69666 or email Jumeirahrestaurant@jumeirah.com

T HE SA ND BE T WEEN YOUR TOE S IS A

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featured SpaceS The Terrace aT Jumeirah Lowndes hoTeL There is nothing quite like sitting outside in the London summer enjoying drinks and dinner.

Located between Lowndes Street and the Halkin Arcade in Belgravia, The Terrace at Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel takes the top spot for the best location in the city. Named by the London Evening Standard newspaper as one of the top three al fresco restaurants in the capital, the secluded and stylish venue works as well for after-work drinks as it does for dinner.

Not only can you choose from an extensive drinks menu which specialises in gin-based cocktails, the famed barbecue menu, courtesy of executive chef Martin Gabler, returns to The Terrace. Made to order on an outdoor grill, dishes include a selection of gourmet beef burgers and sandwiches, marinated meats and fresh seafood, all served alongside colourful fresh salads, seasonal sides and summery desserts.

Words: Sophia Serin

If you decide to rally a group of friends for lunch over the weekend, why not try your hand at making a cocktail or two with a Bombay Sapphire Twist Box? The make-your-own package presents a box filled with fruits, bitters, fresh herbs and a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, together with a selection of Fever Tree tonic waters – perfect for sharing.

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A hidden gem, The Terrace is dotted with sofas for lounging and tables for sampling the menu. Surrounded by specially planted trees and plants, enjoy being surrounded by juniper, almond, coriander and lemon trees, some of which will be used to add a finishing touch to your cocktail.

The Terrace at Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel is open daily until mid-September from 12 noon until 10pm (7pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays), weather permitting.

To book, call +44 (0)20 7858 7223 or email JLH.LBK@jumeirah.com. lowndesdining.co.uk/theterrace

travel

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The high life:

eS fANAlS, JUMeiRAh PORT SOlleR hOTel & SPA, MAllORCA

The lowdown: Tucked away on the highest point of the resort,

con alioli de azafran y salsa brava (spicy potatoes with saffron and

Es Fanals at Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel and Spa presents an incred-

garlic-infused sauce) and the tartar de ternera con sus verduras

ible location to enjoy delicious flavours inspired by local produce.

encurtidas (beef tartare with pickled vegetables). Seafood lovers,

Words: Nina Catt

rejoice. Indulge in delicacies like the carabinero al ajillo (making the

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Named after the traditional glass lanterns used by local fishermen,

most of the local speciality, scarlet Soller prawns) or the seabass

this bistro and tapas restaurant offers fresh local seafood and an

with tomato vinaigrette, green apple and zucchini. Those with a

exotic combination of Spanish and Asian tapas in a stunning, unfor-

sweet tooth should try the Mallorcan cheesecake as the finale for a

gettable setting.

delectable dining experience.

The ATMoSPheRe: Relax and take in the picturesque views of

InSIdeR’S TIP: Book early for a seat at the chef's table – a two-place

the Mediterranean and the Tramuntana mountain range at this cel-

setting in the kitchen, where you’ll have a front-row view.

ebrated spot in the Balearics.

BookIng deTAIlS: Es Fanals is open for dinner from Tuesday to The food: A vast menu awaits eager tastebuds. Diners will enjoy a

Sunday, from 6.30pm to 10.30pm. Call +34 97 163 7886 or email

range of both authentic and modern dishes such as patatas bravas

jpsrestaurants@jumeirah.com

Tel: (+971) 4 337 7000 Email: ahmad@ahmadkurdi.com www.ahmadkurdi.com https://www/facebook.com/ahmadkurdifinejewellery | https://www.instagram.com/ahmadkurdifinejewellery