T Qatar Issue 9 by Oryx Group of Magazines

31 man-abouttown from Alfred Dunhill and shoes from Bottega Veneta's fall collection

31 Remix Qatar

A rmani’s face sculptor, A Day at The Pearl Qatar. Plus this season’s must-haves.

50 Qatari Artists go back in time

46 Seen Qatar

8 contributors

11 remix

The New York Times Style Magazine Style & travel, 2011

Styled to a T: Kim Petyt, Lea Seydoux, Carole Baijings and Stefan Scholten, Anna Calvi and Lapo Elkann. New to the market: a bookstore and a furniture collection. Map: Turin, Italy. In-Store: Unknown Union in Cape Town. Profile in Style: Yasmin and Christian Hemmerle. Plus The Selby stops for coffee at Blue Bottle in San Francisco, a parade of shoes, jewelery with matt finishes and a bounty of bags.

heikha Hend Al Qassemi: Designer S of Dreams. The brain behind the Qatar Fashion Week (QFW) works at a pace that will leave you breathless. By Vani Saraswathi.

50 Tracing Memories

Artists at Swalif: Qatari Art Between Memory and Modernity. By Sindhu Nair.

86 Chunky sweaters are in this winter.

55 made to treasure FROM ZEGNA.

66 Beyond the Melting Pot

Part Chinatown, part Bollywood, cosmopolitan Kuala Lumpur is a blueprint for a new Asia. By Pankaj Mishra.

71 The Wading Game

On the banks of the Thames, amateur archaeologists find luck in the muck. By Jean Hanff Korelitz.

74 The Last Casbah

With Marrakesh now Miami in a caftan, Tangier remains the destination du jour for romantic dropouts. By Christopher Petkanas. Photographs by Ambroise Tezenas.

58 At Home with Olivier Baussan

Meet the founder of L’Occitane and learn about the new peony inspired perfume. By Orna Ballout.

62 The Wellfleet Ten 35 The RR BESPOKE MODEL IN A RARE COLOR

A colony of Bauhaus-style bungalows on Cape Cod evokes the summer idylls of a lost bohemia. By Jessica Lustig.

86 Trends

No:1 The novelty knit. This falls chunky sweater is what’s up top.No2: The maxi coat. A long, lean look just got longer.

100 timely

The New York-based artists Colin Snapp and Daniel Turner, a k a Jules Marquis. By Jacob Brown. Photograph By Cameron Krone.

On the cover: the big reveal THE NEW EROGENOUS ZONE — THE CALF. Rodarte coat, price on request. at ikram. etro dress, QR9,125. Hakaan boot, price on request. hermès coat, QR41,600. maison martin margiela dress, price on request. Alexander Wang boots, QR5,230.

*All prices indicative

contributors

Mishra

The acclaimed writer Pankaj Mishra wrote his first novel, about a neurotic Indian teen with lots of ambition and no skill, at age 17. Mishra is grateful that it was never published. “It would destroy my reputation,” he says. Born in North India, Mishra, 42, often writes for the New York Review of Books and The Guardian. For “Beyond the Melting Pot” (Page 66), he spent 10 days in the “charmingly youthful” city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “There are many places in the world that are incredibly rich and not written on at all,” Mishra says. “KL is very much in the making.”

Jean

Dahabieh

Fashion is among the most exciting forms of self expression, according to the image-maker Mohieb Dahabieh. For him, the thrill largely derives from the dreamy theatricality of haute couture. “The couturier, as an artist, is essentially faced with a canvas. With that notion in mind, haute couture is always set to remain a pure art.” In this issue, Mohieb brings us a fantastical shoot, putting couture on a pedestal like never before (Page 90). He confesses that it was somewhat of a dream job to photograph Erin O’Connor in haute couture at the Victoria & Albert Museum. “Couture does not get any more haute than on Erin.” When Mohieb isn’t indulging in high impact image-making, he is the creative director at MoDa’s Touch, a London-based agency, handling image management for luxury brands.

Paul

Hanff Korelitz Jasmin

“Some people cannot imagine anything more horrible than digging up garbage. But I love it,” says the Vogue contributor Jean Hanff Korelitz, explaining the appeal of mudlarking along the Thames River (“The Wading Game,” Page 70). As a child, Korelitz and her dad dug up bottles behind her backyard in Westchester, N.Y. (Her poem about it, “Bottles,” was published in her 1988 poetry collection.) Korelitz’s 2009 novel, “Admission,” which takes place at Princeton University, is being developed by the “About a Boy” co-director Paul Weitz, with Tina Fey attached to star.

Mohieb

“For me to be impressed today in pop culture – to be blown away – is refreshing,” the photographer Paul Jasmin says before raving about the artwork of David Lynch, whom he photographed with his canvases at the William Griffin Gallery for “Master Mind” (Page 16). “His paintings are just as altering as his films.” That’s quite a statement from Jasmin, 76, whose own influences range from Alfred Hitchcock to Andy Warhol to Sofia Coppola.

& editor- in- chief Yousuf Jassem Al Darwish chief executive Sandeep Sehgal executive vice president Alpana Roy vice president Ravi Raman

publisher

managing editor Vani Saraswathi deputy editor Sindhu Nair fashion & lifest yle correspondent Orna Ballout correspondent Rory Coen Ezdihar Ibrahim Ali editorial coordinator Cassey Oliveira art director Venkat Reddy asst director – production Sujith Heenatigala assistant art director Hanan Abu Saiam senior graphic designers Ayush Indrajith Sampath Gunathilaka M D photography Rob Altamirano managers – marketing Mohammed Sami Zulfikar Jiffry senior media consultant Chaturka Karandana media consultant Hassan Rekkab clockwise from top left: gabriela sciolino plump; Nina Subin; jeff henrikson; jean philippe-delhomme; timothy saccenti

Pankaj

BY k at h r y n b r a n c h

marketing research

& support

executive

accountant

sr. distribution executive

Amjeth Ali Pratap Chandran

Bikram Shrestha Arjun Timilsina Bhimal Rai

distribution support

Qatar

published by

Oryx Advertising Co WLL P.O. Box 3272; Doha-Qatar Tel: (+974) 44672139, 44550983, 44671173, 44667584 Fax: (+974) 44550982 Email: tqatar@omsqatar.com website: www.omsqatar.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY A m i S i o u x

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The Designers Carole Baijings and Stefan Scholten are the real-life couple behind the Amsterdam studio Scholten & Baijings.

fashion assistant: elliot soriano. Hair and Makeup by Anita Jolles at House of orange using Sisley.

The Things Their Butte Tuna and Butte Turtle containers for Established & Sons and Colour Plaid blankets and Grand Bernard vases for Thomas Eyck.

The Look

The designers sprinkle their intellectually rigorous work with pops of neon and whimsical line drawings to create uniquely Dutch products for the home.

for more information on the designers, go to scholtenbaijings.com. on baijings: chloĂŠ blouse, QR2550*, and skirt, QR4,215. Go to neimanmarcus.com. on scholten: Adam kimmel shirt, QR1040, and jumpsuit, QR3560. shirt at maxfield La. jumpsuit at barneys.com. both wear their own shoes. Fashion editor: Andreas Kokkino. * All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

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Rafael de Cárdenas might be

the hippest thing going in interior design, and there’s certainly nothing square about his first collection of furniture, on display starting May 13 at Johnson Trading Gallery in New York. His angular benches, cabinets and tables (above) were inspired by the architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Goff. De Cárdenas says the cabinets in particular turn the concept of creature comfort on its ear: ‘‘I see them as anthropomorphic features — friendly beasts.’’ Alix b rown e

Pick up a book about a young New York artist these days, and you’re likely to spot Brendan Dugan’s name in the fine print. As the founder of the graphics firm and indie publishing imprint An Art Service, Dugan has become a go-to designer for galleries like Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth, or for virtually anyone in Dan Colen’s crowd. Now he’s slowly making his presence known with Karma (21 Downing Street; open ThursdaySunday from noon to 7 p.m. or by appointment), a tiny shop in the front of his office where he sells his own catalog of gritty pop-minimalist art books and posters alongside books and objects that inspire him. Dugan started the publishing arm of his business in 2009 as an additional platform for the artists whose Web sites, books and ephemera he was already designing. ‘‘Allan Kaprow, Ed Ruscha and a lot of the Fluxus artists were designing all these amazing objects to help support their projects,’’ he says. ‘‘I guess I think of us as trying to help continue that lineage.’’ MONICA KHEMSUROV

Space Invaders ‘‘Home Show, Revisited,’’ opening this month at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum in California, puts a new spin on the expression ‘‘mi casa, su casa.’’ Now in its third iteration, the site-specific exhibition pairs 10 Los Angeles artists with 9 area residences, inviting the artists to explore the notion of home. Some of the work, like the circular swimming pool that Piero Golia built in the yard of an updated Spanish-style gem or Jennifer West’s experimental surf films, which will screen at sundown at a Carpinteria surf shack, makes direct references to life in Southern California. Other installations play with personal space: the sculptor Ry Rocklen’s tiled floor piece speaks to the work of the mosaic artist who is hosting him, and Bettina Hubby (above) has created curtains — depicting her ‘‘living’’ inside a Montecito Tudor — that will hang outside the windows, ‘‘providing privacy for the owners but exposing me,’’ she says. For info on self-guided tours, go to sbcaf.org. STEFFIE NELSON 12

clockwise from top left: claudia uribe; trevor tondro; Dave jones.

high browse

fashion assistant: elliot soriano. Grooming by Anita Jolles at House of orange using Sisley.

PHOTOGRAPH BY A m i S i o u x

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The Designers Andrea Trimarchi, left, and Simone Farresin are Studio Formafantasmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Netherlands-based partners.

The Idea

After their successful 2010 installation in Milan, featuring everyday objects made of flour and agricultural waste, this year they showed designs made of pre-Bakelite plastics.

for More information on the designers, go to formafantasma.com. On Trimarchi: Miharayasuhiro vest, QR2,522, and shirt, QR1,930. at H. Lorenzo. antonio azzuolo breeches, QR1,442. go to antonioazzuolo.com. On farresin: Miharayasuhiro jacket, QR4,322, pullover with tie, QR1,592, half-pants, QR1,592, and leggings, QR927.

The Look

These plastics, replicated using early materials like tree resin or sawdust mixed with animal blood, give the duoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s timeless vases, bowls and light fixtures a refreshingly tactile spin.

Fashion editor: Andreas kokkino. * All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

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BY m a u r a e g a n

Museum piece Clockwise from left: Mondrian cake at Blue Bottle; the Rooftop Coffee Bar at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; a perfect cappuccino; the Blue Bottle Kiosk in the San Francisco neighborhood of Hayes Valley.

Two for the road Above: James and Caitlin Freeman riding on a tandem Schwinn in their neighborhood. Right: a traditional Japanese method of brewing at the siphon bar at the Mint Plaza Blue Bottle store.

P H O T O G R A P H s B Y the S elby

MR. COFFEE How one San Francisco man turned his jones for java into a booming business.

en years ago James Freeman was roasting his own coffee beans on a baking pan in his Oakland, Calif., kitchen. Today the former clarinet player and owner of Blue Bottle outposts in the Bay Area and Brooklyn (Williamsburg, naturally) is the leader of the artisanal Japanese-style, slow-drip brewing movement. Using organic, shade-grown beans that are sold within 48 hours of roasting, Freeman and his wife, Caitlin, a pastry chef, are converting customers one perfectly brewed cup of joe at a time. About his cult status among the caffeinated, he maintains an aw-shucks attitude. ‘‘I got burned out on the music playing,’’ he said. ‘‘This was my wacky plan B.’’ n

Bean counter Clockwise from below left: Freeman at work; roasting beans; a salt-roasted chicken dinner at the Freemansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; home; brewing coffee.

The SElby

Turning up the heat Clockwise from above: son Dashiell helps his mom cook in the woodburning oven; Caitlinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lino-cut holiday cards of their dogs; Tony Cragg sculptures and a Blue Bottle ice cream cone at SFMOMA; a Kyoto-style dripper.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY p a u l j a s m i n

master mind

David Lynch is best known as a director, but it was the paintings he made in Philadelphia as a young art student that gave him the idea to make his first film. The work he is showing nearly 50 years later at the William Griffin Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif., straddles both genres — illuminated light bulbs protrude from the canvases, and abstract figures dance across them. The installation includes eerie watercolors and a number of lamplike sculptures. Lynch’s proclivity for ‘‘shape and light’’ drew him to another project, Silencio, a nightclub set to open this summer at 142 rue Montmartre in Paris, for which he designed the interiors and the furniture. ‘‘I enjoy how architecture and design create mood,’’ he says. The club was named for the spooky theater in ‘‘Mulholland Drive,’’ so no telling what that mood will be. jacob brown 16

remix books

BY STEPHEN HEYMAN

Bookshelf Justin Martin’s ‘‘Genius of Place’’

This Little Piggy Built a Glass House Steven Guarnaccia’s twists on ‘‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’’ and ‘‘The Three Little Pigs’’ (Abrams, QR70) recast the fairy tales as only a design dork could. So Papa Bear’s chair has a ladder back (by Charles Rennie Mackintosh). Goldilocks eats out of an Eva Zeisel bowl. The Three Little Pigs are (above, from left) Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright. And the house before which the Big Bad Wolf hopelessly huffs and puffs is none other than Fallingwater.

(Da Capo, QR102) is about Frederick Law Olmsted — yes, the Central Park landscape designer, but also the abolitionist, early-adopter environmentalist and roving journalist. The filmmaker Albert Brooks’s first novel, ‘‘2030’’ (St. Martin’s Press, QR95), imagines a cancer-free future in which parents live longer than ever and children resent them for it. ‘‘Beaten, Seared and Sauced’’ (Clarkson Potter, QR88) is Jonathan Dixon’s memoir of learning to cook at the Culinary Institute of America. ‘‘This is useless!’’ one instructor screams about a failed spaetzle before throwing it on the ground and stomping on it. ‘‘Joan Mitchell, Lady Painter: A Life’’ (Knopf, QR146), by Patricia Albers, is the first biography of the stellar Abstract Expressionist, a steel heiress who made herself into a bohemian exemplar. In Simon Van Booy’s ‘‘Everything Beautiful Began After’’ (Harper Perennial, QR55), an artist, an archeologist and a prep-schooled philology enthusiast sweat through a fictional summer in Athens — ‘‘a world of despair and sudden beauty.’’ And then, a real-life love triangle in Victorian England: Suzanne Fagence Cooper’s ‘‘Effie’’ (St. Martin’s Press, QR98) is about the socialite Effie Gray, who left her (unconsummated) marriage to the art critic John Ruskin after falling for the Pre.Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais

SHOW some SPINE

The new Web site DesignersAndBooks.com collects reading lists from esteemed architects, critics and designers. Some picks make sense: Norman Foster chooses four books by Le Corbusier, while Milton Glaser has a thing for John Berger. Others are more personal: ‘‘Old Yeller’’ was the first book to make Michael Sorkin cry. Assembled here are annotated titles from the legendary adman and art director George Lois, culled from his collection of 7,000 books. ‘‘The most breathtaking antiwar story ever recounted.’’ ‘‘The book includes the story of the greatest act of salesmanship in art history.’’

‘‘The opening moves of the great chess champions prove (to me) that without an idea in solving each graphic assignment, you’re unarmed.’’

‘‘The best autobiography ever written.’’

‘‘The story of a man who lived his life rivaling Homer’s heroes.’’

Book STack: Spencer Higgins

‘‘The book that propelled me through the High School of Music and Art.’’

PHOTOGRAPH BY c a m e r o n k r o n e

The Trend

Le smoking summer. Nothing accentuates wily femininity like a modern tuxedo, dramatically deconstructed at the prefall collections of Burberry Prorsum and Viktor & Rolf.

The Girl

The critical reaction to the English singer Anna Calvi and her self-titled debut (recently released by Domino Records) would seem to confirm Brian Eno’s description of her as the ‘‘biggest thing since Patti Smith.’’

The Look

Ralph Lauren channels Marlene Dietrich (sans jacket) with this spread-collared shirt, black pants with classic tux stripe and a man’s white cotton piqué vest with a shawl collar.

* All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

Ralph lauren purple label vest, QR1,643, black label shirt, QR1,088, and pants, QR3,278. Christian louboutin shoes, QR2,537. TEM pin, QR1,370. Fashion Editor: andreas kokkino.

fashion assistant: Elliot soriano. Hair by Seiji at the wall group. Makeup by Karan franjola at marek & associates.

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inside source

1. Cristiani Art & Design If your appetite for Italian design is as big as it is for Italian food, come here, where the owner Giancarlo Cristiani stocks iconic pieces by the likes of Giò Ponti, Franco Albini and Gae Aulenti. An original Carlo Mollino Polaroid makes a nice souvenir. Via Porta Palatina 13;+39-011436-2092; cristiani.net.

Franco Noero Art Dealer

close encounter

Turin, Italy Locals might scoff at the idea of Turin being convenient to Milan, but a fairly efficient recent high-speed railway link from Milano Centrale to Torino Porta Nuova has brought the two Italian cities within an hour’s reach. Which means that should you find yourself in Milan, it’s entirely possible to pop over for a leisurely lunch, stroll Turin’s elegant city center and even take in some art — and still make it back by curtain time at La Scala. MARC O VEL ARD I

2. Eataly A hungry eye could spend an entire afternoon browsing the counters and shelves at the original emporium of gourmet Italian delights, which just celebrated its fourth anniversary. Via Nizza 230/14;+39011-195-06-801; www. eatalytorino.it.

3. Porto di Savona Classic Piemontese dishes like agnolotti al sugo d’arrosto and brasato have made this trattoria wildly popular since it opened in 1863. At lunchtime, the QR44-QR52 monopiatti (prix fixe) is worth the wait for a table. Piazza Vittorio Veneto 2;+39-011-817-3500; portodisavona.com.

6. Museo Casa Mollino The architect Carlo Mollino planned this 19th-century apartment to be his final resting place. He never did spend a night in his extravagant private pyramid, but visitors can book a tour. Via Napione 2; e-mail casamollino@ fastwebnet.it.

4. Top Ten This cutting-edge fashion boutique, which was designed by the architect Toni Cordero and has been run by the same family since the 1970s, is a landmark of design in every sense of the word. Via Soleri 2;+39-011-535-360. 5. Caffé al Bicerin You cannot truly say you have been to Turin until you have tried the local specialty, Bicerin, a drink made of coffee, chocolate and cream. Piazza della Consolata 5;+39-011436-9325; bicerin.it. 22

P H O T O G R A P H s by danilo scarpati

Who said a blind date can’t turn out to be the love of your life? That’s how the art dealer Franco Noero hooked up with Casa Scaccabarozzi (known as La Fetta di Polenta, or ‘‘the slice of polenta’’), snatching it up at auction without so much as taking a tour. Designed by Alessandro Antonelli, the impossibly slender 19th-century building has been home to Noero’s eponymous gallery since 2008. ‘‘We conceived the space as a laboratory of ideas,’’ says Noero, whose roster includes space invaders like Francesco Vezzoli, Jim Lambie and Mike Nelson. Book your visit soon: once all of the artists have had their way with the building, Noero plans to move on. Via Giulia di Barolo, 16/D;+39011-882-208; franconoero.com.

remix profile in style

Left: Christian and Yasmin Hemmerle at home in Munich, he in a Yves Saint Laurent suit and she in a Miu Miu dress. Right: antique Asian busts. Below: an Egyptian eye and a Hemmerle box. Background: a white gold, garnet and sapphire necklace by Hemmerle.

Yasmin and Christian Hemmerle

No strangers to mouthwatering gems, the youngest members of the venerable German jewelry house Hemmerle have taken the concept a step further with ‘‘Delicious Jewels,’’ a cookbook they created with the chef Tamasin Day-Lewis to accompany their latest collection — a bounty of exquisite vegetable brooches and earrings. ‘‘We like to entertain,’’ says Christian Hemmerle. ‘‘But we don’t want to stand in the kitchen for 10 hours. The book is full of good, honest food that people can actually cook.’’ SAN D R A BALLENTI NE

P ortrait by monika h ö fler

Left: copper, white gold and sapphire carrot earrings from the Delicious Jewels collection. Above: a Buccellati cabbage next to Hemmerle silver beakers.

Jewelry Still Lifes by Simon Wheeler; All other photographs by Monika Höfler.

Left: the couple’s living room. Below left: a copper, white gold and tourmaline bangle. Below: the table is an updated family heirloom.

Below: Yasmin on the terrace wearing a dress by Maria Buccellati and Hemmerle jewels. Right: books and art in the living room. Far right: copper, coral and white gold earrings.

Earthly Delights From spiced aubergine charlotte to ricotta and artichoke torta, every recipe in ‘‘Delicious Jewels’’ has a multicarat counterpart. Cauliflower Salad With Yogurt and Tahini Dressing Adapted from ‘‘Delicious Jewels’’ by Tamasin Day-Lewis and Hemmerle Serves 6 About 7 ounces whole organic Greek, cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s yogurt 1 small white and 1 small green cauliflower, or any combination that suits you 1 tablespoon light tahini 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses

1 clove garlic 2 teaspoons runny honey (a strong-flavored one like chestnut is best) Sea salt and black pepper 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley 4 to 6 mint leaves (optional).

Strain the yogurt through a muslin or cheesecloth into a bowl for an hour to rid it of its watery whey. Transfer the thickened yogurt into a clean bowl. Break the cauliflower into small florets and steam for around 7 minutes; they should be tender, not al dente, so pierce with a skewer to check before draining and covering with ice to prevent further cooking; or run cold water briefly over the florets before drying them in a tea towel. Stir the tahini well and spoon it into the yogurt with the pomegranate molasses and a crushed clove of garlic. Add the honey and seasoning; taste and adjust. Place the florets on a serving plate and dribble the dressing over them, then strew with the herbs. Let the flavors marry for 30 minutes before serving. 26

Above: a copper, white gold and aquamarine cuff. Left: a view of the jeweler’s workshop. Below: a white gold, silver and spinel aubergine.

Jewelry Still Lifes and Cauliflower Dish by Simon Wheeler; All other photographs by Monika Höfler.

Below, from left: a white gold, silver and diamond cauliflower; the cookbook.

Hemmerle’s streamlined Munich shop. Above: a porphyry sculpture by Adam Henein.

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pulse points the little things that set your heart racing Photographs by anthony cotsifas fashion editor: ethel park

LOOK SHARP WHETHER ON A STILETTO BOOTIE OR A CHUNKY slingback, THIS SEASON’S TOE COMES TO A POINT. from left to right: Balenciaga by nicolas ghesquière shoe, QR6,077. Gianvito Rossi Shoe, QR2,960. go to gianvitorossi.com. Emilio Pucci SHoe, QR2,372. go to emiliopucci .com. Christopher Kane Shoe, QR3,814. Manolo Blahnik shoes, QR2,390.

* All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

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the new black in chains and cuffs, and a variety of matte finishEs. from left to right: Ralph Lauren Watch, QR23,360. Givenchy by riccardo tisci necklace, QR6,442. go to neimanmarcus. com. Tom ford necklace, QR7,920. go to tomford.com. Alexis Bittar cuff, QR1,260. go to alexisbittar.com. vhernier necklace, price on request. go to vhernier.com. blumarine bracelets, QR985 each. go to blumarine.com. Proenza schouler necklace, QR2,464. at kirna zabĂŞte. fenton necklace, QR1,277. go to barneys.com.

* All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

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pushing the envelope chic cousins of the classic clutch clockwise from top: Louis vuitton clutch, QR53,875. Hermès clutch, QR17,702. Jil Sander clutch, QR2,190. Tod’s clutch, QR47,268. Marc jacobs clutch, QR6,917.

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Bottega Veneta

The Vivid: For fall, Bottega Veneta presents a women’s collection poised between restraint and exuberance. The palette is vivid and bright, grounded in the lustrous white of Canova plaster. Colors range from pale yellow to deep red and include jasper, topaz, resina, fire opal, corniola, garnet and rust, illuminated with flashes of peridot green. The silhouette is measured and gentle, a single line that starts from a soft shoulder and finishes in a slight A. Handbags are sporty and relaxed in shape, elaborately hand-worked in construction. Jewelry offers a mix of scale, technique, color and mood. “Designing this collection was like being in a laboratory,” says Creative Director Tomas Maier. “We wanted to push the boundaries, to experiment with technique and craftsmanship to an extreme degree. I felt the right canvas for this kind of innovative workmanship was a silhouette that was clean and uncomplicated. The result is very particular, with a mix of control and passion that I think reflects the mood of the moment.”

The Somber: For men, Bottega Veneta has kept the palette for fall somber and moody, grounded in dark shades of espresso brown, tourmaline blue, stone, rust and pyrite gray. The silhouette is narrow and close to the body, with a natural shoulder and skinny, tapered pants. Jackets are lean and uninflected, some as lightweight and unlined as a shirt, others sharply tailored but without shoulder pads. The suiting fabrics, all designed by Bottega Veneta, are produced from a specially finished wool that has a crisp, Old World feel. In a collection characterized by clarity and restraint, the most noteworthy accessories offer versatility, utility and low-key sophistication. Bags are soft, lightweight, and above all, functional. Shoes are classic in inspiration but remade in a way that blurs the boundaries between formal and informal. “We started thinking about the way we make things and what effect that has on the outcome,” explains Maier. “If you make a piece of clothing in a new way, what else can you achieve? The elements that comprise a man’s wardrobe don’t vary that much over time. So to evolve you have to reinvent what you already have.”

* All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

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Alfred Dunhill Cut to Sophistication

This season’s collection is a celebration of two distinct but complementary sides to the British character: the suave and suited man-about-town and the spirited adventurous outdoorsman. With the debonair Duke of Windsor and pioneering Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton as sartorial touchstones, Dunhill weave a classical narrative that subtly reinvents the story of the modern gentleman’s wardrobe. The collection comprises: Culture – designed as elegant everyday wear, from sophistication at a cocktail party to office perfection; Provenance – designed for those who travel, Camdeboo will never crease. Elegant and resilient; Discovery – designed to keep you looking impeccable whilst warm and dry. Contemporary aesthetics, time-honored craftsmanship and expertise; and Elegance – designed to blow them away.

Crafted Leather

Crafted from gray printed Italian cowhide, the Dunhill Bourdon collection provides a relaxed approach to business leather. Unstructured designs provide a modern alternative to the traditional briefcase, with durable construction and complete functionality. Every piece of Bourdon large leather boasts multiple interior compartments lined in black microfiber. Each design is finished with stainless steel hardware detail branded with the ‘AD’ logo. Five masculine large leather styles are distinguished by a soft shape. A Double Document Case with Lock holds pockets for every necessity, including a padded laptop compartment. The Double Zip Briefcase boasts the same generous features and is also available in a more compact Single Zip style, each with soft grip handles. For further casual elegance a Messenger Bag or smaller North South Bag have flaps with magnetic closure and come complete with adjustable shoulder straps. Bourdon small leather pieces boast the same durable cowhide leather and soft construction. The collection comprises ten styles of wallets, card cases and organizers.

Mulberry’s Carter

Mulberry welcomes a brand new member to the family for its fall/ winter season: the Carter! A stand-out day-to-evening bag, Carter, with her double-wrapped chain handles and smooth-plated double Postman’s Lock plaque, perfectly captures the dichotomy of the fall/winter season, which is all about the mix of urban glamour and the nostalgia of country life. Beautiful Carter comes in a choice of three delicious finishes: super-soft suede, tactile Croc Nappa and the intricate snake embossed printed leather. And there are three sizes to choose from. The Carter Camera Bag is a neat size with enough space for daily (or evening) essentials and a secure zip-around closure. The Mini version is dinkier but no less chic, and the Double Handle style is a more substantial size with all the signature detailing in place.

The Ocean Blue

David Morris presents the Ocean Blue, an exceptionally rare blue and white pear-shape diamond necklace, mounted in platinum and featuring some of the finest blue diamonds and ‘D/IF’ white diamonds. Here is a quick diamond recap. Diamonds with deeply saturated color are known as “fancy” and sold at premium prices. In nature, yellows, browns and champagnes occur most frequently, while blues, pinks and greens are much scarcer. Natural blue diamonds are so rare that most jewelers in fact have never seen one. It is estimated that the earth produces 10,000 white diamonds for every one colored diamond. White diamonds are graded by color and clarity, with the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) being the most highly regarded certifier of diamonds. Their color is graded alphabetically, with D being the purest white (there is no A, B or C), all the way down to Z (a yellowy-brown). The most desirable clarity is Internally Flawless (IF), with many lower grades following this. The most desirable and thus expensive diamonds are the ones that have the astonishing combination of D color and ‘Internally Flawless’ clarity. Each and every one of the 18 pear-shaped diamonds in the Ocean Blue necklace has this prized combination, while the largest and rarest, at 22.22 carats, is nothing short of a phenomenon.

* All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

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Burberry’s Tasseled Finesse This season Burberry is all about oversized sculptural outerwear from a range of fabrics – resonated compact wool to spongehand camel hair coating. Tonal buttons, handwoven leather buttons, leather rope martingales and gathered pleats are among the fine detailing, and the colors are all about grays and blues, camel and honey. The accessories are traffic-stoppers, and the most eyecatching are the black leather zipped ankle boots with amber rubber sole, black leather brogue with white rubber sole, black leather tasseled shoe with white rubber sole, sprayed alligator wood detail briefcase, canvas leather-trimmed wood detailing briefcase, and faceted aviator sunglasses.

Charms Mini Van Cleef &

Arpels dedicated the Charms collection to those who believe in luck. The house has now created a new lucky charm for them: the Charms Mini watch. The Charms Mini watch reinvents an interpretation of time which is both personal and precious. On the dial itself, the Alhambra motif is a symbol of true love, good health, fortune and luck. The dial and the Alhambra motif are entirely hand-set with diamonds. Whether adorned with a double row of gems or entirely pave-set, their miniature size demands an even greater level of precision and skill. Each diamond is of exceptional quality, equal to those included in the most beautiful 'high jewelry' creations. The case, in white or rose gold, enhances the watch’s refined femininity. The guilloché sun-burst effect on the dial replicates the lucky clover motif. The Charms Mini has interchangeable straps. The wearer can match her strap with her watch, with a preference for colored alligator or black satin.

A Turquoise RR Phantom

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha welcomed the first ever turquoise-coloured Rolls-Royce Phantom Bespoke Edition through its doors in August. The color was a special request from the dealership. The delivery was made possible through the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Program, which has met with overwhelming success in Qatar. The program is a specialized service offered to Rolls-Royce drivers whereby they may custom its features of the car in order to create their own unique model. Mirroring the way the blue ocean meets the clear sky, the car features a blend of the Marine White color complementing the Turquoise interior, evident in the White instrument dials, Silver Bezel White clock face and Marine White veneer across the dashboard. Commenting on the Bespoke Commission, Joseph Tayyar, Rolls-Royce Brand Manager in Qatar, said: “Turquoise radiates peace, calm and tranquility, with an uplifting energy effect. We are delighted to work with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to introduce such an exquisite color, once again taking the core values of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and creating advanced contemporary luxury. Overall, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Bespoke Edition in Turquoise is a blend of positive energies.” Rolls-Royce Phantom Bespoke Edition in Turquoise will be showcased at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha showroom in The Pearl-Qatar.

New Ferrari showcased in Frankfurt

The new Ferrari 458 Spider, the world’s first mid-rear engined berlinetta equipped with a retractable hard top, debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in August. The 458 Spider joins the 458 Italia, widening the range of Ferrari’s mid-rear engined V8s and offering the same technological solutions, handling and performance in a refined open-top configuration. It is powered by Ferrari’s naturally-aspirated, direct-injection 4.5 litre V8 engine, which was nominated as the 2011 International Engine of the Year for its engineering excellence in terms of driveability, performance, economy and refinement. The power is transferred to the road by Ferrari’s class-leading dual-clutch F1 paddle-shift transmission through the sophisticated E-Diff, itself integrated with the F1-Trac traction control and high-performance ABS for maximum handling dynamics. Some of the car’s features, such as its accelerator pedal mapping and the damping of the multilink suspension, have been calibrated to guarantee maximum sportiness and absolute driving pleasure with the top down, in line with Maranello’s exclusive spider tradition. Even the engine soundtrack has been honed to ensure that the car’s occupants are completely captivated by the drop-top driving experience. The rear of the car is characterized by innovative forms, with the buttresses designed to optimize the flow of air to the engine intakes and the clutch and gearbox oil radiators. * All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

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sculpting Faces

Bubbly Brazilian Ceasor Santos has worked closely with Giorgio Armani Cosmetics since its launch in 2000, and is Head National Face Designer for Giorgio Armani Cosmetics in the UK. Based in Harvey Nichols in London, he can usually be found passing on his know-how to keen customers, although you’ll also find him working behind the scenes of Milan and Paris catwalk shows perfecting models’ make-up. Orna Ballout talks to him during the Doha launch.

Doha is the future. “It’s amazing here. I have some Qatari clients based in London, and they couldn’t believe I was going to be here while they’re in London!” Santos is happiest when dealing with real people. “Of course I like working backstage, but I find everyday women fascinating. The trends for autumn/winter are all about bold greens, browns and purples. “We have a few fascinating palettes coming out soon, but I can’t say much as it’s a surprise!” The products are all fabulous. “Luminous Silk Foundation is the best in the market. I also love Eyes To Kill mascara and Rouge d’Armani lipstick. Our brand is at the forefront of technology; Mr. Armani doesn’t want to launch anything that isn’t new in terms of formula, lightweight and good for women.” Biggest makeup faux pas is too much blusher. “Less is more!” The models are fantastic to work with, although “Linda Evangelista has the best structure.” Giorgio Armani’s best advice: “Elegance is not to be noticed, it’s to be remembered.” Giorgio Armani is available at Salam Plaza.

‫سانتوس‪ ...‬إبداعات تتواصل‬ ‫عمل البرازيلي سيزور سانتوس بشكل وثيق مع جورجيو أرماني منذ انطالقتها في عام‬ ‫‪ ،2000‬وهو الرئيس الوطني لمصممي الوجوه في شركة جورجيو أرماني لمستحضرات‬ ‫التجميل في المملكة المتحدة‪ .‬ويتخذ سانتوس من هارفي نيكولز في لندن مقرا له‬ ‫إذ يمكن رؤيته هناك وهو يقدم خبراته للعمالء الحريصين على معرفة المزيد حول‬ ‫يجمل عارضات األزياء وراء كواليس‬ ‫مستحضرات التجميل‪ ،‬كما يمكن رؤيته أيضا وهو‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫عروض األزياء في ميالنو وباريس ليبدين في أبهى صورة‪ .‬تحدثت أورنا بلوط معه خالل‬ ‫حفل التدشين في الدوحة‪.‬‬

‫‪ -1‬الدوحة هي امل�ستقبل‪�" .‬إنه لأمر مده�ش هنا‪ .‬لدي بع�ض العمالء القطريني يف لندن ومل ي�صدقوا‬ ‫�أنني �س�آتي هنا يف حني �أنهم يف لندن!"‪.‬‬ ‫‪ -2‬ي�شعر �سانتو�س ب�سعادة غامرة عندما يتعامل مع �أنا�س حقيقيني‪" .‬بالطبع �أحب العمل من وراء‬ ‫الكوالي�س لكنني �أعترب �أن املظهر اليومي للن�ساء رائع"‪.‬‬ ‫‪ -3‬متيل اجتاهات ‪ A/W‬نحو التدرجات اخل�رضاء والبنية والبنف�سجية اجلريئة‪�" .‬سوف نطلق قريبا‬ ‫عدة جمموعات لونية رائعة لكنني ال ا�ستطيع الإف�صاح عنها لأنها مفاج�أة!"‪.‬‬ ‫‪ -4‬جميع املنتجات رائعة‪“ ،‬فكرمي الأ�سا�س ‪ Lumionous Silk‬هو الأف�ضل يف ال�سوق‪ ،‬كما �أنني‬ ‫�أحب ما�سكارا ‪ ،Eyes To Kill‬و�أحمر ال�شفاه ‪ .Rouge D’armani‬فعالمتنا التجارية هي يف طليعة‬ ‫التكنولوجيا‪ ،‬وال�سيد �أرماين ال يحب �إطالق �أي �شيء ما مل يكن جديدا من حيث الرتكيب‪ ،‬وخفة الوزن‪،‬‬ ‫ومنا�سبته للن�ساء”‪.‬‬ ‫‪� -5‬أكرب خط�أ يف املاكياج هو املبالغة يف و�ضع �أحمر اخلدود‪" .‬فالقليل يكفي!"‪.‬‬ ‫‪ -6‬من الرائع العمل مع عار�ضات الأزياء‪ ،‬على الرغم من �أن "ليندا �إيفاجنلي�ستا لديها �أف�ضل بنية‬ ‫ج�سمية"‪.‬‬ ‫‪� -7‬أف�ضل ن�صيحة من جورجيو �أرماين‪" :‬لي�س الهدف من الأناقة �أن يالحظها الآخرون بل �أن‬ ‫يتذكرونها"‪.‬‬ ‫منتجات جورجيو �أرماين متوفرة يف ال�سالم بالزا‪.‬‬ ‫‪37‬‬

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Stopover for a day Adventures at The Pearl-Qatar. Scrumptious food and fall/ winter fashion envy were on the cards for Orna Ballout as she kicks off a hot summer weekend sampling the flavors of Doha’s hottest destination. Santoni

Stepping into the Santoni store is every shoe lover’s dream, with plenty of dazzling designs commanding attention. The Italian brand is renowned for its exquisite and comfortable hand-made shoe collections that cater to shoe-savvy men and women. Twice a year, customers are invited to the store to witness shoe-making in action. An artisan and a Santoni principal from Italy are brought in especially for this event which encourages clients to customize their style. They pick a colorless leather shoe, specify the colors, and then watch the artisan work his magic using his finger tips to paint. Material options range from crocodile and lizard to ostrich or calf leather – customers are really spoiled for choice! For ladies, a range of bold and beautiful designs are present with some stand-out pieces speckled with sparkling Swarovski crystals. Wearing a Santoni shoe is easily recognizable to style-savvy fashionistas as they can be spotted a mile away from the pop orange colored sole. Adding to the exclusivity factor, if you look closely you’ll notice small black numbers etched onto the shoe inner which indicate how many pieces of that certain style have been created.

Lancel

The Lancel boutique boasts an admirable bag gallery theme containing rows upon rows of luxurious colorful bags and accessories. Twinkling proudly towards the entrance of the shop are some styles from the popular Brigitte Bardot collection, often referred to as the BB bag. BB bag is the brainchild of Italian designer Leonello Borghi and is the ultimate tribute to the style icon Brigitte Bardot. Bardot herself also had an influence on the design as a human rights activist; all the materials used are natural or organic. Immense thought has been put into the features – the shape emulates the waist of Bardot, while the boho style guitar strap pays homage to her favorite band, ‘The Gipsy Kings’. She was a groupie in disguise, who travelled with them, donning a wig to avoid recognition. Another showstopping style is the Adjani bag inspired by French actress Isabelle Adjani, available in luxurious crocodile and ostrich print in an array of effervescent colors. Let’s not forget the attractive clutches, key chains and bracelets. Sporting luxury leather bracelets on the wrist has been a megatrend in Doha, and the pieces have gone down quite a treat with local ladies. For men, there is a collection of wallets, passport holders, briefcases and leather accessories. However, the focus seems to be more geared towards luxury ladies' goods. Rock and Roll is another promising range. The neat collection is perfect for a traveler as the bags can easily be folded into a nifty circular pouch which looks similar to a sleeping bag holder, conveniently stored in your luggage, and then whipped out when you run out of space!

Rene Caovilla

Girls with a sparkly shoe obsession, tread carefully when you enter the Rene Caovilla boutique! On entry, you’re immediately swept into a realm of fairytale fantasy where pretty princess shoes sparkle from the shelves and on red regal-inspired cushion puffs. The Italian brand has built up its reputation for its collection of luxurious bejeweled designs which all exude Glamour with a capital G. It’s easy to define a Rene Caovilla shoe, as the signature style is characterized by the glittering silver sole and the snake logo which can often be found crafted into the designs. Rene Caovilla has a huge A-list fan base and the shoes can often be spotted strutting along the red carpet. All the crystals used are Swarovski and come in a mesmerizing palette of sparkling hues. A collection of cute clutch bags is also on offer – what lady can resist a matched shoe and clutch set for a night out on the tiles! Aside from towering high heels, wedges are available and prove a hit with abaya wearing ladies due to their stylish comfort and easy-to-wear attributes.

Etro

One could spend hours in Etro keenly consuming all the fun, cool and colorful collections for men and women. The layout of the store itself is a funky portrayal with manikins lounging on glass table tops, showing off the bold designs. On the runway, Etro was all about shiny fabrics, animal print and military-inspired pieces. Reference to this can be seen around the shop fused with a small oriental touch. The most prominent feature, and what the brand is recognized for, is the paisley print which can be found emblazoned everywhere – from bags to tops, shoes to dresses, it’s paisley print paradise! There’s also a large collection of flashy floral-inspired pieces which has strong attributes with the signature style of the brand. You’ll find casual clothing offerings for men and more classic pieces too. The casual wear is more of a hit with the boys, and I could identify why when my friend slipped into a light blue t-shirt teamed with a timeless white suit jacket. It looked extremely stylish, and it wasn’t long before he was admiring the style benefits. A massive collection of beautiful long and short dresses, casual and evening wear pieces and mouthwatering accessories does it for the girls. I tried on a cutesy mini number with a pair of black high heels. The dress was comfy and perfect to wear, casual with gladiators and yet so easy to glam up for an evening ensemble.

remix qatar Salvatore Ferragamo

The Florentine designer built up his empire with his reputation as a shoemaker to the stars. The brand has evolved since, catering clothing collections for men and women, accessories and homeware too. Salvatore Ferragamo is renowned for his innovative luxurious designs, and is also classed as one of the first designers of the wedge. I had to try on a pair of cream patent wedges to experience the feeling, and they proved to be extremely comfortable and oh so chic. In Italy, the Ferragamo Museum contains the moulds of celebrities’ feet. These moulds were used to design exclusive pieces for stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo. The Marilyn-inspired style is available in store – I especially adored the brown leather pair featuring a leopard print touch. The brand always has an exotic line consisting of out-of-this-world exclusive pieces made in materials like snakeskin or ostrich. An added bonus is that the ultra luxe bags always come with a matching shoe. The great thing about Ferragamo is the understated luxury of the designs. There’s no screaming logo, just the subtle Gancino design which distinguishes a Ferragamo product and speaks volumes of sophistication. A wonderful collection of silk scarf pieces is on show; these are well worth the investment as they can easily be worn as a top, a bag design, over the head or tied chicly around the neck.

Missoni

It’s zigzag mania in the Missoni boutique. The multicolored zigzag design for which the brand became famous is absolutely everywhere – on wedges, dresses, bikinis, kaftans and scarves. It’s evident that the brand likes to play around with materials, with touches of sequins incorporated into layering designs. An attention-grabbing layered dress on display in the middle of the store is a real showstopper – it’s the epitome of a classic Missoni design with its layered zigzag skirt and intricately beaded detailing to add that extra pizzazz. The fall/winter collection has an added edge to it as it’s now designed by the granddaughter of Missoni; along with the usual zigzag and lurex offerings, on the runway there were youthful funk-inspired pieces such as fabulous python coats. The Mare Collection, an all year round beach line, is promising and perfect for warm Qatari winters! It is decked out with cute shorts, kaftans and matching bikinis-brilliant for nailing the F/W trend of wearing the same print head to toe. A bambina collection is soon coming out, also available in Mare, meaning mummies can create a ‘mini me’ by dressing their little ones in the exact same outfit!

Breakfast

Alison Nelson’s Chocolate Bar Don’t be fooled by the name, there’s more to the trendy chocolate bar than an abundance of sweet offerings – think salads, sandwiches and breakfast options too. The cafè’s dècor is refreshing, featuring pale blue walls adorned with gold and silver stencil designs and comfy cream leather couches. Large windows provide ample light and look out to the glistening waterside: a great place to sit with friends, or alone with your laptop, and enjoy a wholesome meal. That is, when you can eventually sway your attention off the enticing cakes, cookies and chocolate treats on the counter. Unfortunately, I couldn’t resist my sweet tooth and opted for a maple walnut scone and espresso. My friend was more daring and went for the American Breakfast – for QR75 a fusion of coffee, veal bacon, eggs, hash browns and a basket of bread ensued, and by the emptiness of his plate I’m gathering he thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a variety of merchandise available for purchase including bags, t-shirts, teddies and boxes of chocolate in case you haven’t indulged enough!

Lunch

Burj Al Hamam The modern surroundings of this eatery are a far cry from the traditional Lebanese I had imagined! Nevertheless, I was impressed by the high ceilings, pretty pillars decorated from top to bottom with fairy lights and white chandeliers enclosed in chic pinkish shades. The enormity of the restaurant is great for dining with a group of friends, although some of the tables are rather large, which removes the intimacy and makes it a little difficult for sharing. As we were meeting friends for lunch, we left the ordering to a native Lebanese foodie. The feast that followed was exceptional. We started off with a cold mezze consisting of a colorful vegetable platter, vine leaves, aubergine salad, artichoke salad, hummus, tabbouleh and a mix of fresh yoghurts all accompanied with steamy fresh puffs of delicious pita bread. The hot mezze quickly followed, made up of a vivid spread of delicious dishes in the form of tasty cheese and meat pastry puffs, juicy chicken liver, kibbeh and hindbeh. A plate of scary-looking lamb’s brain was presented for the adventurous, and it was most enjoyable watching my guests’ facial expressions as they sampled it. At this stage of the meal, it’s fair to say that belts were being loosened... and a hot grill consisting of lamb, chicken and kofte, and a serving of prawns and calamari was yet to come! The finale was a mountain of fresh fruit and a selection of crispy and extremely sweet traditional Lebanese sweets.

Dinner

Tse Yang At the end of a bustling day of shopping, a relaxing evening meal was well received. Although I was still digesting the enormous Lebanese lunch, as I entered the sophisticated interior of Tse Yang and got a whiff of Chinese food, my appetite quickly resurfaced. The restaurant itself radiates luxury, with its chic decor featuring red illuminated glass mirrors and huge chandeliers crafted in tassels. I learned that it's named after a section of Beijing’s Forbidden City and the interior design reflects the luxurious lifestyle of Chinese emperors. We ordered a selection of dim sum and crispy spring rolls for starters, and opted for scallops and duck for mains. In the mean time, a crispy prawn toast starter, compliments of the chef was served along with three tasty dipping sauces. The dim sum was delicious and I was pleased we tried a variety of flavors. For QR298 the duck seemed steep; however, when a whole duck arrived we thought it was well worth the bucks. The waitress carefully carved the succulent meat before our eyes before professionally creating pancakes coated in sweet hoisin sauce, cucumber and spring onion, and delivering perfect pancakes onto the table. I was completely stuffed but couldn’t resist a sweet finale. I went for the black sesame ice cream, and my friend the apple fritter: delicious, and the perfect conclusion to our Chinese culinary adventure.

‫‪remix qatar‬‬

‫الفطور‬ ‫بار الشوكوالته أليسون نيلسون‬ ‫ال تنخدع با�سم هذا املقهى‪ ،‬ف�ألي�سون نيل�سون ‪ Alison Nelson‬ي�ضم ما‬ ‫هو �أكرث من جمرد احللويات �إذ يقدم �أي�ضا ال�سلطات وال�سندويت�شات والعديد‬ ‫من اخليارات للإفطار �أي�ضا‪ .‬وديكور املقهى منع�ش‪ ،‬يتميز بجدرانه الزرقاء‬ ‫ال�شاحبة املزينة بت�صاميم ب�ألوان ذهبية وف�ضية‪ ،‬ويحوي �أرائك جلدية مريحة‬ ‫باللون البيج‪ .‬وتوفر نوافذ املقهى الكبرية �ضوءا وافرا وهي تطل على مياه‬ ‫البحر الالمعة‪ ،‬مما يجعلها مكانا رائعا للجلو�س مع الأ�صدقاء‪� ،‬أو اجللو�س مبعية‬ ‫الكمبيوتر املحمول‪ ،‬واال�ستمتاع بتناول وجبة �صحية عندما يتمكن املرء من �أن‬ ‫يحيد انتباهه عن مغريات الكعك والب�سكويت وال�شوكوالته املعرو�ضة يف املتجر‪.‬‬ ‫لكنني للأ�سف مل �أمتكن من مقاومة حبي للحلويات فجل�ست لأتناول كعكة اجلوز‬ ‫توقعت‬ ‫والقيقب مع فنجان من قهوة �إ�سربي�سو‪ .‬وقد كانت الكعكة �أق�سى قليال مما‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫لكن اجلوز املقرم�ش �أ�ضفى عليها مل�سة رائعة‪ .‬غري �أن �صديقي كان �أكرث جر�أة‬ ‫فطلب فطورا �أمريكيا ثمنه ‪ 75‬رياال ي�ضم قهوة‪ ،‬وحلم العجل املقدد‪ ،‬وبي�ضة‪،‬‬ ‫وب�سكويت بال�شوكوالته‪ ،‬و�سلة خبز‪ .‬و�أعتقد �أنه قد ا�ستمتع بوجبته بدليل �أنه‬ ‫الغداء‬ ‫قد �أكل كل ما يف طبقه‪ .‬وهنالك �أي�ضا جمموعة متنوعة من الب�ضائع املتاحة‬ ‫برج الحمام‬ ‫ت�صورت �أن البيئة احلديثة التي حتيط بهذا املطعم هي بعيدة عن التقاليد اللبنانية لكنني لل�رشاء مثل احلقائب‪ ،‬والقم�صان القطنية‪ ،‬ودمى الدببة‪ ،‬وعلب ال�شوكوالته‪ ،‬يف‬ ‫لقد‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أعجبت ب�أ�سقفه العالية‪ ،‬و�أعمدته اجلميلة املزخرفة من �أعالها �إىل �أ�سفلها‪ ،‬وثرياته البديعة حال مل يكتف املرء مبا تناوله! متو�سطالتكلفة ل�شخ�صني‪ 150 :‬ريال قطري‪.‬‬ ‫�‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫املغلفة بالظالل الأنيقة الوردية‪ .‬و ُتعترب �ضخامة املطعم مثالية لتناول الطعام مع جمموعة‬ ‫من الأ�صدقاء‪ ،‬على الرغم من �أن بع�ض الطاوالت كبرية جدا لدرجة تزيل الألفة وجتعل‬ ‫من ال�صعب قليال تقا�سم الطعام‪ .‬ومبا �أننا كنا �سنقابل �أ�صدقاء لنا لتناول طعام الغداء‬ ‫فقد تركنا مهمة طلب الطعام ل�صديق لبناين يع�شق الأكل‪ .‬وقد كان الطعام ا�ستثنائيا حيث‬ ‫بد�أنا باملقبالت الباردة املكونة من طبق اخل�ضار امللونة‪ ،‬وورق العنب‪ ،‬و�سلطة الباذجنان‪،‬‬ ‫و�سلطة اخلر�شوف‪ ،‬واحلم�ص‪ ،‬والتبولة‪ ،‬و�رشاب اللنب الزبادي الطازج‪ ،‬مع املعجنات واخلبز‬ ‫الطازج ال�ساخن اللذيذ‪ .‬و�رسعان ما تبع ذلك املقبالت ال�ساخنة التي تتكون من جمموعة‬ ‫�أطباق �شهية من معجنات اجلنب واللحم اللذيذ‪ ،‬وكبد الدجاج‪ ،‬والكبة‪ ،‬والهندباء املقلية مع‬ ‫الب�صل والليمون ‪ .‬وقُدم لنا �أي�ضا طبق من دماغ ال�ضان ال�شاحب املخيف لكل من يبحث‬ ‫عن املغامرة‪ ،‬ولكن الأكرث متعة م�شاهدة تعبريات وجوه �ضيويف وهم يتذوقونه‪ .‬ويف هذه‬ ‫املرحلة من وجبة الطعام ُحلَّت الأحزمة قليال ا�ستعدادا للطبق الرئي�سي وهو طبق �ضخم‬ ‫من امل�شويات من حلم ال�ضان والدجاج والكفتة �إ�ضافة �إىل طبق من اجلمربي واحلبار‪ ،‬وقد‬ ‫احلم�ص‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫متكنت من تناول ب�ضع قطع اللحم اللذيذة امللفوفة باخلبز العربي واملغم�سة يف ّ‬ ‫الطازج‪ .‬و�أما اخلامتة فقد كانت جبال من الفاكهة الطازجة وجمموعة خمتارة من احللويات‬ ‫اللبنانية التقليدية اله�شة واحللوة للغاية‪.‬‬

‫العشاء‬ ‫تسي يانغ‬ ‫يف نهاية يوم من الت�سوق احتجنا �إىل وجبة ع�شاء تبعث على اال�سرتخاء‪ .‬وعلى الرغم من �أنني مل �أكن جائعة‪� ،‬إال �أنني‬ ‫و�شممت رائحة الطعام ال�صيني انفتحت �شهيتي‪ .‬ودخلنا �إىل منطقة البار‬ ‫دخلت �إىل مطعم ت�سي يانغ ‪Tse Yang‬‬ ‫عندما‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ال�ضخمة امل�ضاءة ب�إ�ضاءة خافتة‪ ،‬وتطل على منظر رائع يف الهواء الطلق‪ ،‬وقد كان املطعم نف�سه ي�شع فخامة من خالل‬ ‫ديكوراته الأنيقة التي تتميز مبرايا م�ضاءة باللون الأحمر والرثيات ال�ضخمة امل�صنوعة من احلبال القما�شية املعقودة‪ ،‬وقد‬ ‫علمنا �أن املطعم قد �سمي بهذا اال�سم تيمنا با�سم جزء من املدينة املحرمة يف بكني و�أن الت�صميم الداخلي للمطعم يعك�س منط‬ ‫احلياة الراقية للأباطرة ال�صينيني‪ .‬وعندما ُق ِّدمت �إلينا قائمة الأطباق الأنيقة واملغطاة باحلرير ف�إن �أول ما جذب انتباهنا‬ ‫طبق دمي �سوم ‪ .Dim Sum‬و ُق ِّدم لنا طبق مقبالت من اجلمربي اله�ش واملحم�ص كتحية من رئي�س الطهاة مع ثالث �صل�صات‬ ‫لذيذة للتغمي�س‪ .‬وطلبنا جمموعة خمتارة من دمي �سوم حيث اخرتنا اللفائف املح�شوة والأ�سكالوب وبطة كطبق رئي�سي‪.‬وقد‬ ‫كان دمي �سوم لذيذا للغاية كما �أنني قد ا�ستمتعت بتجربة خيارات خمتلفة من الأطباق وكان ثمن البطة ‪ 298‬رياال‪ ،‬وقد بد�أ‬ ‫لنا �أن هذا ال�سعر مبالغ فيه‪ ،‬لكن عندما و�صلت البطة ب�أكملها ت�أكدنا �أنها ت�ستحق هذا ال�سعر‪ .‬وقامت النادلة بتقطيع البطة‬ ‫�أمام �أعيننا قبل تزيني الطبق بالفطائر املغلفة ب�صل�صة هوي �سني ‪ hoi sin‬احللوة واخليار والب�صل‪ .‬وبعد ذلك متت �إعادة‬ ‫ما تبقى من البطة �إىل املطبخ وعادت �إلينا كطبق جديد متاما من الووك ‪ wok‬املقلي مع �صل�صة الفلفل الأ�سود‪.‬‬ ‫‪42‬‬

‫سلفاتوري فيراغامو‬ ‫لقد بنى الفلورن�سي �سلفاتوري فرياغامو ‪� Salvatore Ferragamo‬إمرباطوريته من‬ ‫خالل �سمعته ك�صانع �أحذية‪ .‬وقد تطورت هذه العالمة منذ ذلك احلني لت�شمل جمموعات‬ ‫املالب�س للرجال والن�ساء والإك�س�سوارات والأدوات املنزلية �أي�ضا‪.‬‬ ‫وي�شتهر �سلفاتوري فرياغامو بت�صاميمه الراقية املبتكرة كما �أنه ُي�ص َّنف كواحد من‬ ‫جربت حذاء منخف�ضا ال�ستك�شاف �شعور‬ ‫امل�صممني الأوائل للأحذية املنخف�ضة‪ ،‬وقد‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ووجدت �أنه مريح و�أنيق للغاية‪.‬‬ ‫ارتدائه‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫وي�ضم متحف فرياغامو يف ايطاليا قوالب لأقدام امل�شاهري ا�س ُتخدمت ل�صنع الأحذية‬ ‫احل�رصية لكثري من النجوم مثل مارلني مونرو وغريتا غاربو‪ .‬وتتوفر يف املتجر �أحذية‬ ‫م�ستوحاة من منط مارلني مونرو �أعجبني منها ب�صورة خا�صة حذاء من اجللد البني‬ ‫مطبوعا عليه �صورة منر‪.‬‬ ‫ويوجد يف هذه العالمة التجارية دائما خط للمنتجات الغريبة امل�صنوعة من مواد‬ ‫ح�رصية مثل جلد الثعبان �أو النعامة‪ .‬وال�شيء الإ�ضايف الذي يح�صل عليه العميل عند‬ ‫�رشائه حلذاء من هذا النوع هو كي�س رائع وراق‪.‬‬ ‫�إن ال�شيء الرائع يف فرياغامو هو فهمها لرفاهية الت�صاميم فهي ال حتوي �أية �شعارات‬ ‫متيز منتج فرياغامو وتروي الكثري‬ ‫بارزة و�صارخة‪ ،‬و�إمنا جمرد طبعة خفيفة ل�شعارها ّ‬ ‫عن تطور هذه العالمة التجارية‪.‬‬ ‫ويوجد يف املتجر جمموعة رائعة من الأو�شحة احلريرية التي ت�ستحق االقتناء‬ ‫�إذ ميكن و�ضعها ب�سهولة فوق املالب�س �أو على الر�أ�س �أو لفها ب�أناقة حول الرقبة‪.‬‬

‫ميسوني‬ ‫ي�شبه متجر مي�سوين ‪ Missoni‬مهرجانا للتعرجات‪ .‬فالت�صاميم املتعرجة واملتعددة‬ ‫الألوان التي ا�شتهرت بها هذه العالمة التجارية موجودة يف كل مكان على الإطالق مثال‬ ‫الأحذية املنخف�ضة‪ ،‬والف�ساتني‪ ،‬وقطع البكيني‪ ،‬والقفاطني‪ ،‬والأو�شحة‪ .‬فمن الوا�ضح �أن‬ ‫هذه العالمة التجارية حتب اللعب باملواد من خالل �إ�ضافة مل�سات من قما�ش الرتتر‪.‬‬ ‫ومما ي�شد االنتباه ف�ستان مكون من طبقات معرو�ض يف منت�صف املتجر ُيعترب مثاال حيا‬ ‫لت�صاميم مي�سوين الكال�سيكية يتميز بتنورة متعرجة مكونة من طبقات ومطرزة بتفا�صيل‬ ‫دقيقة كي ت�ضيف �إثارة للقطعة‪.‬‬ ‫�أما جمموعة ‪ F/W‬فتتميز بتفردها‪ ،‬وهي من ت�صميم حفيدة مي�سوين‪� ،‬إذ بالإ�ضافة �إىل‬ ‫خطوطها املتعرجة املعتادة ف�إن هذه املجموعة ت�ضم قطعا �شبابية م�ستوحاة من فل�سفة‬ ‫الفونك مثل املعاطف الرائعة‪.‬‬ ‫كما ت�ضم جمموعة مري ‪ Mare‬فهي خط ملالب�س ال�شاطئ لكل ف�صول ال�سنة‪ ،‬فهي تعترب‬ ‫مثالية ل�شتاء قطر الدافئ حيث ت�ضم بنطلونات و�شورتات لطيفة‪ ،‬وقفاطني‪ ،‬وقطع بكيني‬ ‫رائعة تتميز ب�أناقتها وجمالها‪.‬‬ ‫و�سيتم قريبا �إطالق جمموعة بامبينا ‪ bambina‬التي �ستن�ضم �إىل جمموعة مري‪ ،‬والتي‬ ‫�ستتيح للأمهات ب�أن يلب�سن بناتهن ال�صغريات مالب�س تطابق مالب�سهن بال�ضبط لكن‬ ‫بن�سخ م�صغرة!‬ ‫‪43‬‬

‫‪remix qatar‬‬ ‫رينيه كاوفيلال‬ ‫على الفتيات اللواتي يتميزن بهو�س الأحذية توخي احلذر عند دخولهن‬ ‫متجر رينيه كاوفيلال ‪ !Rene Caovilla‬فبمجرد ولوجك �إليه ف�إنك‬ ‫�ستدخلني �إىل عامل الق�ص�ص اخليالية التي تلمع فيها �أحذية الأمرية‬ ‫اجلميلة على الرفوف وعلى الو�سائد احلمراء امل�ستوحاة من الرفاهية‬ ‫امللكية‪.‬‬ ‫وتتميز جمموعات هذه العالمة الإيطالية بت�صاميمها الراقية والأنيقة‪.‬‬ ‫ومن ال�سهل التعرف على �أحذية رينيه كاوفيلال لأنها تتميز بالنعل‬ ‫الف�ضي الالمع و�شعار الثعبان الذي غالبا ما يزين معظم ت�صاميمها‪.‬‬ ‫وتتمتع العالمة التجارية رينيه كاوفيلال بقاعدة ع�شاق �ضخمة من الفنانني وكبار‬ ‫ال�شخ�صيات‪ .‬وال ت�ستخدم هذه العالمة �إال قطع كري�ستال �سواروف�سكي التي تت�ألق‬ ‫ب�ألوان رائعة‪.‬‬ ‫ويحوي املتجر �أي�ضا جمموعة من احلقائب اجلميلة التي تنا�سب الأحذية املوجودة‪،‬‬ ‫�إ�ضافة �إىل الأحذية ذات الكعوب العالية‪ ،‬هنالك �أي�ضا �أحذية منخف�ضة مريحة و�أنيقة‬ ‫تنا�سب ال�سيدات اللواتي يرتدين العباية‪.‬‬

‫إيترو‬ ‫ميكن للمرء �أن مي�ضي �ساعات يف �إيرتو ‪ Etro‬وهو ي�ستمتع با�ستعرا�ض جمموعاته الرائعة وامللونة للرجال والن�ساء‪ ،‬ويتميز‬ ‫ت�صميم املخزن نف�سه ب�أنه غري تقليدي حيث توجد على الطاوالت الزجاجية مانيكانات لعر�ض الت�صاميم اجلريئة‪.‬‬ ‫وي�ضم �إيرتو �أقم�شة المعة‪ ،‬ور�سوما جميلة‪ ،‬وقطعا فريدة يف جميع �أرجاء املحل مع مل�سة �رشقية‪ .‬وامليزة الأبرز التي ت�شتهر‬ ‫بها هذه العالمة التجارية هو قما�ش البيزيل الذي ميكن العثور عليه يف كل مكان بدءا من احلقائب والأحذية وانتهاء‬ ‫بالثياب‪� ...‬إنها �أر�ض قما�ش البيزيل! وهنالك �أي�ضا جمموعة كبرية من القطع الرباقة امل�ستوحاة من الزهور التي ترتبط‬ ‫ارتباطا قويا بالعالمة التجارية‪.‬‬ ‫وميكن للمرء �أن يجد يف �إيرتو مالب�س �أنيقة غري ر�سمية للرجال �إ�ضافة �إىل مالب�س كال�سيكية‪ ،‬وتوجد �أي�ضا جمموعة‬ ‫بت‬ ‫جر‬ ‫�ضخمة من �أجمل الف�ساتني الطويلة والق�صرية‪ ،‬واملالب�س غري الر�سمية‪ ،‬ومالب�س ال�سهرة‪ ،‬والإك�س�سوارات الرائعة‪ .‬وقد ّ ُ‬ ‫ارتداء ف�ستان ق�صري رائع مع حذاء �أ�سود ذي كعب عال‪ ،‬وقد كانت مالب�س مريحة ومثالية ومنا�سبة للأم�سيات‪.‬‬

‫‪44‬‬

‫مغامرات في اللؤلؤة – قطر‬ ‫انطلقت أورنا بلوط في عطلة نهاية األسبوع الصيفية الحارة في رحلة إلى أكثر‬ ‫المناطق شهرة في الدوحة كي تتذوق أشهى المأكوالت‪ ،‬وتستمتع بأجمل‬ ‫وأرقى األزياء‪.‬‬ ‫سانتوني‬ ‫�إن الدخول �إىل خمزن �سانتوين ‪ Santoni‬هو مبثابة حلم لكل عا�شق للأحذية لوجود‬ ‫العديد من الت�صاميم الرائعة التي تثري االهتمام‪ .‬فهذه العالمة التجارية االيطالية ت�شتهر‬ ‫مبجموعات من الأحذية الرائعة واملريحة التي تلبي احتياجات الرجال والن�ساء من‬ ‫حمبي املو�ضة‪.‬‬ ‫يدعو املخزن عمالءه مرتني يف ال�سنة مل�شاهدة عملية �صنع الأحذية حيث يتم �إح�ضار‬ ‫�أحد حرفيي �سانتوين مع �أحد املدراء من ايطاليا خ�صي�صا لهذا احلدث الذي يهدف �إىل‬ ‫ت�شجيع العمالء على ت�صميم احلذاء وفق املوا�صفات التي يرغبون بها حيث يختارون‬ ‫حذاء جلديا بال لون‪ ،‬ثم ينتقون اللون الذي يريدونه‪ ،‬ويراقبون احلريف وهو يقوم‬ ‫ب�صبغه‪ .‬وميكن اختيار مادة احلذاء من جلد التم�ساح‪� ،‬أو ال�سحايل‪� ،‬أو النعام‪� ،‬أو العجل‪...‬‬ ‫ف�سانتوين تدلل الزبائن حقا!‬ ‫تتوفر لل�سيدات جمموعة من الت�صاميم اجلريئة واجلميلة املزينة بقطع كري�ستال‬ ‫�سواروف�سكي‪ .‬فع�شاق الأ�سلوب الراقي مييزون حذاء �سانتوين عندما يرتديه �أي �شخ�ص‬ ‫حتى لو كان على بعد ميل منهم‪ .‬و�إ�ضافة �إىل عامل التفرد‪ ،‬ميكن عند التمعن عن كثب‬ ‫يف حذاء �سانتوين ر�ؤية �أرقام �سوداء �صغرية حمفورة على اجلزء الداخلي للحذاء حيث‬ ‫ت�شري هذه الأرقام �إىل عدد الأحذية التي �صنعت من هذا الت�صميم‪.‬‬

‫النسيل‬ ‫يفخر متجر الن�سيل ‪ Lancel‬ب�أنه يحوي الكثري من احلقائب امللونة الفاخرة‬ ‫والإك�س�سوارات‪ .‬ومبجرد الدخول �إىل املتجر ف�إن �أول ما ي�شد االنتباه جمموعة حقائب‬ ‫بريجيت باردو ال�شهرية التي غالبا ما ت�سمى حقائب ‪ ،BB‬وهي من ت�صميم امل�صمم‬ ‫الإيطايل ليونيللو بورغي تكرميا لأيقونة الأناقة والأ�سلوب بريجيت باردو‪ .‬وقد كان‬ ‫لربيجيت باردو نف�سها ت�أثريا كبريا على الت�صميم �إذ نظرا لكونها نا�شطة يف جمال‬ ‫حقوق الإن�سان ف�إن جميع املواد امل�ستخدمة يف �صناعة هذه احلقائب هي مواد طبيعية‬ ‫�أو ع�ضوية‪ .‬وقد مت ت�صميم هذه احلقيبة بحيث مياثل �شكلها خ�رص بريجيت باردو يف‬ ‫حني �أن حزامها ي�شبه حزام غيتار فرقتها املف�ضلة “جيب�سي كينغز” وقد كانت ت�سافر‬ ‫مع الفرقة وهي متنكرة ب�شعر م�ستعار كي ال يعرفها �أحد‪..‬‬ ‫ومن احلقائب الأخرى التي ت�ستوقف املت�سوق حقيبة �أدجاين امل�ستوحاة من املمثلة‬ ‫الفرن�سية �إيزابيل �أدجاين متوفرة ب�أ�شكال راقية م�صنوعة من جلد التم�ساح والنعامة‬ ‫ب�ألوان متعددة ورائعة‪.‬‬ ‫وهناك �أي�ضا �سال�سل املفاتيح والأ�ساور وغريها من الإك�س�سوارات الرائعة‪ ،‬فقد انت�رشت‬ ‫كثريا بني ال�سيدات يف الدوحة م�ؤخرا �أ�ساور جلدية ريا�ضية راقية‪.‬‬ ‫�أما للرجال فهنالك جمموعة من املحافظ‪ ،‬و�أغلفة جوازات ال�سفر‪ ،‬واحلقائب‪،‬‬ ‫والإك�س�سوارات اجللدية‪ ،‬ومع ذلك يبدو �أن املتجر ي�صب جل اهتمامه بال�سلع الراقية‬ ‫لل�سيدات‪.‬‬ ‫وهنالك �أي�ضا جمموعة حقائب روك �أند رول التي بد�أت تزداد رواجا‪ ،‬وهي حقائب �أنيقة‬ ‫ومثالية للم�سافر حيث ميكن طيها ب�سهولة وو�ضعها بني الأمتعة‪.‬‬ ‫‪45‬‬

seen qatar

Hermes to quirky floral collector’s items. She takes us for a tour of her home. Ducks and roosters are stomping around and there’s a stray cat in the corner recovering from a broken leg. “My husband is not a cat person, but I am,” she reveals as she dusts the leaves on the fledgling orange tree – “these leaves need to breathe” – before pointing to the fish pond by the gazebo with a glimmer in her eyes. There is a story to be told. On Saturdays, people from various walks of life and affiliation congregate at her home for the Fish Pond meeting. The agenda? Every single person who comes for the meeting brings something to the table-a home-cooked dish and a story. “No take-aways, please. And most definitely no gossip on the next door neighbor. What we want is an anecdote, an experience or an exchange of ideas.” So what came first? The fish pond or the meeting? The meeting, says Hend. She set it up when she came here first, to create her social circle in a new home. The moniker is drawn from an Arabic saying about everyone coming to a common pond to fish and take their share. Now she is giving the meetings a setting, by creating the actual fish pond.

Designer of Dreams The brain behind the Qatar Fashion Week (QFW) works at a pace that will leave you breathless, and trying to get your head around all her interests is sure to make you more than a little dizzy, writes Vani Saraswathi.

oised, warm and animated beyond description, Sheikha Hend Al-Qassemi is both an easy and a difficult person to quiz. Easy because she has an interesting answer to every question you pose; difficult because you don’t get an opportunity to ask too many as she segues from idea to idea, opinion to observation. There is a story, an emotion and a skill behind everything she surrounds herself with. The side tables made from carefully-selected vintage trays placed on candle holders from the store at the mall; tapestry hand-embroidered (by her); a collection of tea service that range from exquisite pieces from Versace and

From architecture to fashion week Her degree in architecture – “the mother of all designs”– set the tone for what she would make of herself professionally. Though she earned diplomas in entrepreneurship and masters in project management, her core interest continues to be design, be it her boutiques in the Emirates, the small-scale fashion shows she helped organize or what she has embarked upon now. “I’ve been toying with the idea of doing something big in fashion for a while. I wanted a design exhibition but realized I had to position Qatar first as a fashion destination. About two years ago I started to work on Qatar Fashion Week.” There were naysayers when she first proposed QFW. “They said, no one would come. No one would be interested but I knew everyone would come. If I were an international designer, I would come to Qatar because of what the country is doing today, and if the designer knew what was good for him, he would definitely aim to launch himself here.” She has been approached by a British agency to do an exclusive Arab Fashion Week event in England, as Arab tourists spend a substantial portion of the economy there. “I had to decline the offer, as I was focusing on QFW. I have to make this work, and make sure everything falls together. PR,

marketing, designers – we are only going for designers who will suit the Qatari market. We would be selecting and inviting the best of international designers, to present their collection here. “In the West they think it’s all about long robes-they are not aware of what sells here. Yesterday I had an event, and it was such a mix of tastes and fashion.” Though she is not aspiring for any existing benchmark, Hend says QFW would probably evolve into being one of the more luxurious fashion extravaganzas in the world. “I have attended fashion shows that are interesting, but what we are aspiring for is the ultimate in luxury. It is not going to be rows of sweaty, crunched up people on uncomfortable chairs – it’s going to be a party about the fashion on and off the ramp. There will be a lot of international celebrities attending.” That it is going to be unique is unquestioned, as the venue will be Katara’s amphitheater. However, the event itself is bound to raise a few questions. After all, every time something new is attempted, there is a discussion on cultural context and relevance, on respecting traditions. Is she worried about the debate that might ensue from an event such as this? “I am ready for this – very much ready for the pressure as well. Fashion is in people’s blood here and they just love parties. I am just bringing it all together and taking it to another level. If you dare to dream, live the dream. In this culture, they would like something from the Western point of view, but they also want something that is tailor-made to suit their social fabric. I come from a very conservative family background so I understand where to draw a line and not offend anyone.” An eye for the best True enough that Khaleeji women are fashion conscious, but to make a career out of it is not quite the norm. So how did her family both in the Emirates and Qatar take to her choice? “My career is not fashion, it is design,” she clarifies. “I did the interiors of my house, and am currently doing the architecture of my future house as well. I like to design what I own – there is a personal touch and comfort when you do that. Now I am the architect of my new interest [QFW] and I am not ashamed to go out and seek the best to put on the best show possible.” Hend has always been interested in art, growing up in a family that had members of varying accomplishments. “I regard my sister as my role model. She was the one who got me into drawing. My father is a medical doctor but he enjoyed painting in his spare time and was into literature and the arts. My mother is an avid reader and she was a school principal for 20 years. We are a big family and each person is so different; there is never a dull moment in our family.” Architecture, however, was quite by chance. “I applied as a business student but the architecture students seemed like they were having so much fun. They would draw from day to night and that would be their work., so I decided to transfer. However, I soon realized that this was just for some subjects and the second year was completely different. We were the first to come in and last to leave. It was hard work but we were always creating-working so hard on our models – it felt inspiring.”

Though that gave her a grounding, what helped her build on it is her training in project management and entrepreneurship. “There are so many examples of people starting small and making it big, simply because they believe in their dream. I also learn that the best way to achieve success is to find the right partners with the appropriate skills “So I am not sorry I waited this long for my QFW idea to come to fruition.” Hend hopes that QFW will be more than just about pretty dresses on the ramp. “There is going to be a lot of surprises. There will be a Young Designer award. We want to give young talent a lift; help them to eventually become a top designer. Or at least give them the opportunity to achieve this. It’s going to be an opportunity for them to showcase their work on such a large scale. Some of the biggest names we know today – Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera – come from Latin American countries. See where they are now.” There will be a charity auction and gala where each of the designers are donating a piece for the lot and the proceeds will go to ROTA. Stories of her life... Hend plans on expanding her business interests to other arenas as well. “I have a vision. Not just to design clothes, but homes, furniture, shopping centers and even cutlery. I enjoy creating; I have a variety of interests and I am trying to bring everything together.” Her personal taste, like her business interests, is a potpourri. “I like quality. It is not always about the price. I treasure beautiful stuff, it doesn’t matter if it’s a bargain or a designer piece.” She does advise investing in classic pieces. “Quality is remembered when the price is forgotten,” she reminds us. As we wrap up the evening, we ask her to surprise us, and with a little hesitantly she ventures into the story of a near fatal accident she suffered when she was just 19 years old. “I broke or dislocated every other bone in my body. I broke my jaw, nose, broke a few teeth, had a cut across my face. I broke my hip in three different places. I woke up six months after my accident, as I was so heavily sedated and drugged at the time. I had to literally restart my university degree. I used to be on the Dean’s list and had a photographic memory before the accident,” she says, without a hint of self-pity. It’s just another incident, a story, a weave in the trellis that is her life. Let me talk about something less gruesome, she says with a twinkle. She speaks of her two sons - one an angel and one full of mischief; her husband is a highly erudite person, who has backed her in all her schemes – be they small, big, quirky or fancy. They have no trouble engaging in her never-ebbing energy. No surprise that she doesn’t enjoy her free time. “It’s brain numbing,” she exclaims. n

sketch ready

Nikki Newman is a freelance artist originally from the UK and now living with her family in Doha. She works mainly in acrylic or oil on canvas or mixed media on paper with subjects ranging from fashion to local scenes and people. She did a live sketch of Sheikha Hend, for exclusive use in T Qatar.

‫‪seen qatar‬‬ ‫�أزيائنا لن يكون عبارة عن جمموعة من احلا�رضين املرتا�صني على‬ ‫�صفوف من الكرا�سي غري املريحة‪ ،‬و�إمنا �سيكون عبارة عن حفلة �أزياء‬ ‫يح�رضها الكثري من امل�شاهري العامليني”‪.‬‬ ‫لذا ال ريب �أن هذا احلدث �سيكون فريدا من نوعه حيث �سيقام يف‬ ‫مدرج كتارا‪ .‬غري �أن احلدث نف�سه يطرح بع�ض الأ�سئلة‪ .‬ففي كل مرة‬ ‫تتم حماولة �شيء جديد‪ ،‬يحدث نقا�ش حول �سياقه و�أهميته الثقافية‬ ‫واحرتامه للتقاليد‪ .‬لكن هل ت�شعر هند بالقلق حيال املناق�شات التي‬ ‫قد تنجم عن حدث مثل هذا؟‬ ‫جتيب هند قائلة‪�“ :‬أنا م�ستعدة لذلك‪ ،‬كما �أنني م�ستعدة �إىل حد كبري‬ ‫ملواجهة ال�ضغوطات �أي�ضا‪ .‬فاملو�ضة جتري جمرى الدم لدى �سكان‬ ‫قطر كما �أنهم يحبون احلفالت �أي�ضا‪ .‬و�أنا �أجمع بني كل ذلك و�أرتقي‬ ‫به �إىل م�ستوى �آخر‪ .‬ف�إذا كان املرء يجر�ؤ على احللم فعليه �أن يعي�ش قصص من حياتها‪...‬‬ ‫ذلك احللم‪ .‬ويف هذه الثقافة يحب النا�س الأ�شياء من وجهة النظر تعتزم هند تو�سيع اهتماماتها يف جمال الأعمال وغريها من املجاالت‬ ‫الغربية‪ ،‬لكنهم يريدون �أي�ضا ما هو م�صمم خ�صي�صا لينا�سب ن�سيجهم كذلك‪ ،‬حيث تقول‪“ :‬لدي ر�ؤية ال تقت�رص على ت�صميم املالب�س فح�سب‬ ‫االجتماعي‪� .‬إنني من عائلة حمافظة و �أدرك ما هي احلدود التي يجب و�إمنا �أي�ضا املنازل‪ ،‬والأثاث‪ ،‬ومراكز الت�سوق‪ ،‬وحتى �أدوات املائدة‪.‬‬ ‫ف�أنا �أ�ستمتع بالإبداع ولدي جمموعة متنوعة من االهتمامات التي‬ ‫�أن �أتوقف عندها كي ال �أت�سبب بالإ�ساءة لأي �شخ�ص”‪.‬‬ ‫�أ�سعى للجمع بينها”‪.‬‬ ‫حب كل ما هو أفضل‬ ‫و�أما �أذواقها ال�شخ�صية‪ ،‬فهي متعددة مثل اهتماماتها التجارية‪ .‬تقول‬ ‫�صحيح �أن املر�أة اخلليجية على اطالع كبري باملو�ضة‪ ،‬لكن اتخاذ هند‪�“ :‬إنني �أحب اجلودة‪ ،‬واملو�ضوع ال ينح�رص دائما بال�سعر‪ .‬ف�أنا‬ ‫املو�ضة مهنة هو �شيء �آخر‪ .‬فما هو ر�أي عائلتها يف الإمارات وقطر �أع�شق الأ�شياء اجلميلة �سواء كانت رخي�صة الثمن �أم قطع نفي�سة”‪.‬‬ ‫بخيارها؟‬ ‫وهي تن�صح باال�ستثمار يف القطع الكال�سيكية‪ ،‬م�ضيفة‪�“ :‬إن الإن�سان‬ ‫جتيب قائلة‪�“ :‬إن مهنتي لي�ست املو�ضة و�إمنا الت�صميم‪ .‬فقد‬ ‫نفذت يتذكر دائما اجلودة عندما ين�سى الثمن”‪.‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫الت�صميم الداخلي لبيتي‪ ،‬و�أنا �أقوم حاليا بالت�صميم املعماري لبيتي وعندما قاربت الأم�سية على نهايتها طلبنا منها �أن تفاجئنا‪،‬‬ ‫يف امل�ستقبل كذلك‪ .‬ف�أنا �أحب �أن �أ�صمم كل ما �أملكه لأن ذلك يعطيني ف�أخربتنا بعد تردد ق�صة حادث مميت تعر�ضت له عندما كان عمرها‬ ‫اللم�سة ال�شخ�صية والراحة عندما �أفعل ذلك‪ .‬والآن �أنا �أهند�س اهتمامي ال يتجاوز ‪ 19‬عاما‪.‬‬ ‫اجلديد �أال وهو �أ�سبوع املو�ضة يف قطر ف�أنا ال �أخجل من اخلروج و�أ�ضافت دون �أي �شيء يدل على �شعورها بال�شفقة على ذاتها‪“ :‬لقد‬ ‫للح�صول على �أف�ضل ما ميكن ا�ستخدامه يف عر�ض الأزياء”‪.‬‬ ‫انك�رست �أو انخلعت معظم عظام ج�سدي‪ .‬فقد انك�رس فكي و�أنفي‪،‬‬ ‫ولطاملا كانت هند مهتمة بالفن لأنها قد ن�ش�أت يف �أ�رسة لدى وانك�رست بع�ض �أ�سناين‪ ،‬و�أ�صبت بجرح عميق يف وجهي‪ ،‬وانك�رس‬ ‫�أع�ضا�ؤها �إجنازات متفاوتة‪ .‬وعن ذلك تقول‪�“ :‬إنني �أعترب �شقيقتي وركي يف ثالثة �أماكن‪ .‬ومل �أ�ستيقظ �إال بعد �ستة �أ�شهر من احلادث حيث‬ ‫وا�ضطررت �إىل �أن �أقوم ب�إعادة الدرا�سة‬ ‫قدوة يل‪ ،‬فهي من �أدخلني يف عامل الفن‪ .‬ووالدي طبيب لكنه ي�ستمتع كنت �آنذاك حتت تخدير �شديد‪.‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫بالر�سم يف �أوقات فراغه وهو يع�شق الأدب والفنون‪ .‬و�أمي قارئة نهمة ل�شهادتي اجلامعية مع �أنني كنت دائما من املتفوقات يف اجلامعة‪،‬‬ ‫عملت مديرة ملدر�سة ملدة ‪ 20‬عاما‪ .‬نحن عائلة كبرية كل فرد فيها وكنت �أمتتع بذاكرة حديدية قبل وقوع احلادث “‪ .‬لكن كل ذلك �أ�صبح‬ ‫خمتلف للغاية ولي�س هنالك �أية حلظة مملة يف عائلتنا”‪.‬‬ ‫جمرد حادثة �أو ق�صة من الق�ص�ص الكثرية يف حياتها‪.‬‬ ‫غري �أن دخولها �إىل جمال الهند�سة املعمارية كان عن طريق ال�صدفة ثم قالت وهي تبت�سم ا�سمحوا يل �أن �أحتدث عن �شيء �أقل �أ�سى‪.‬‬ ‫�إذ تقول‪“ :‬لقد كنت طالبة �أعمال لكنني �شعرت �أن طالب الهند�سة‬ ‫فتحدثت عن ابنيها الذين يتميز �أحدهما ب�أنه مالك مثايل والآخر‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫املعمارية كانوا ي�ستمعون بوقتهم كثريا لأن عملهم هو الر�سم من م�شاغب لدرجة كبرية‪ ،‬وزوجها املثقف للغاية الذي دعمها يف جميع‬ ‫ال�صباح حتى امل�ساء‪ .‬لذا‬ ‫قررت االنتقال للهند�سة املعمارية �إال �أنني م�شاريعها‪� ،‬سواء كانت �صغرية �أم كبرية �أم حم�ض خيال‪ .‬لكن عائلتها‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أدركت �أن ذلك كان لبع�ض املو�ضوعات فقط و�أن ال�سنة ال جتد �صعوبة يف م�شاطرتها طاقتها التي ال تن�ضب‪ .‬لذا ال عجب �أنها‬ ‫�رسعان ما � ُ‬ ‫الثانية كانت خمتلفة متاما‪ .‬فقد كنا �أول من ي�أتي و�آخر من يغادر‪� .‬إنه ال ت�ستمتع بوقت فراغها لأنه “ي�صيب الدماغ باخلدر” كما تقول‪.‬‬ ‫عمل �صعب لكننا نبدع فيه دائما ونعمل بجد على ت�صميم مناذجنا‪،‬‬ ‫لذا فقد �شعرت ب�أنه جمال يبعث على الإلهام”‪.‬‬ ‫وعلى الرغم من �أن ذلك التخ�ص�ص قد منحها الأ�سا�س ال�صلب‪� ،‬إال‬ ‫�أن ما �ساعدها على اال�ستفادة منه هو تدريبها يف �إدارة امل�شاريع‬ ‫نيكي نيومان هي فنانة م�ستقلة من اململكة املتحدة تعي�ش الآن مع عائلتها‬ ‫وريادة الأعمال‪ .‬وم�ضت قائلة‪“ :‬هنالك �أمثلة كثرية عن �أ�شخا�ص‬ ‫بد�ؤوا �صغارا و�صاروا كبار ب�سبب �إميانهم ب�أحالمهم‪ .‬وقد تعلمت �أن يف الدوحة‪ .‬وهي تر�سم ب�شكلأ�سا�سي با�ستخدام الأكريليك �أو الزيت على‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�أف�ضل و�سيلة لتحقيق النجاح هي العثور على ال�رشكاء املنا�سبني من القما�ش �أو با�ستخدام مواد خمتلطة على الورق‪ ،‬ومو�ضوعاتها متعددة‬ ‫ذوي املهارات املنا�سبة‪ .‬لذا ف�أنا غري نادمة لأين انتظرت طويال كي ترتاوح ما بني الأزياء �إىل امل�شاهد املحلية وال�سكان‪ .‬وقد قامت نيكي‬ ‫بر�سم ال�شيخة هند ب�صورة حية لال�ستخدام احل�صري من قبل تي قطر‪.‬‬ ‫ت�ؤتي فكرة �أ�سبوع املو�ضة يف قطر ثمارها”‪.‬‬

‫وت�أمل هند ب�أن يكون �أ�سبوع املو�ضة �أكرث من جمرد عر�ض لف�ساتني‬ ‫أو�ضحت ذلك بقولها‪�" :‬سيحفل �أ�سبوع املو�ضة باملفاج�آت‬ ‫جميلة‪ .‬و�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫مثل جائزة �أف�ضل م�صمم �شاب‪ .‬فنحن نريد �أن نعطي دفعة للمواهب‬ ‫ال�شابة وم�ساعدتهم لي�صبحوا يف نهاية املطاف م�صممني م�شهورين‬ ‫�أو على الأقل منحهم الفر�صة لتحقيق ذلك‪ .‬و�سوف يكون �أ�سبوع‬ ‫املو�ضة فر�صة لهم لعر�ض �أعمالهم على مثل هذا النطاق الوا�سع‪ .‬فقد‬ ‫جاءت بع�ض الأ�سماء الكبرية التي نعرفها اليوم مثل �أو�سكار دي ال‬ ‫رنتا وكارولينا هرييرا من �أمريكا الالتينية‪ ،‬ف�أين �صاروا الآن "‪.‬‬ ‫و�سيكون هنالك حفل ع�شاء ومزاد خريي حيث �سيتربع كل م�صمم‬ ‫بجزء من عائداته �إىل روتا‪.‬‬

‫‪48‬‬

‫�أخذتنا هند يف جولة يف منزلها الذي ي�رسح وميرح فيه البط والديوك‬ ‫وتوجد يف �إحدى زواياه قطة �ضالة تتعافى من ك�رس يف �ساقها قالت‬ ‫عنها‪“ :‬ال يحب زوجي القطط لكنني �أحبها”‪ .‬و�أ�ضافت وهي تزيل الغبار‬ ‫عن �أوراق �شجرة الربتقال الوليدة‪“ :‬هذه الأوراق بحاجة �إىل التنف�س”‪.‬‬ ‫ثم �أ�شارت �إىل بركة الأ�سماك وملعت عيناها وهي تروي ق�صتها قائلة‬ ‫"ي�أتي يوم ال�سبت �أ�شخا�ص من خمتلف مناحي احلياة واالنتماءات‬ ‫حل�ضور “اجتماع بركة ال�سمك” يف بيتها حيث يجلب كل �شخ�ص ي�أتي‬ ‫لالجتماع معه طبق طعام �أعده يف منزلة مع ق�صة لريويها"‪.‬‬ ‫و�أ�ضافت‪" :‬ال نرحب هنا بال�شائعات حول اجلريان‪ .‬فما نريده هو جمرد‬ ‫�رسد حكاية‪� ،‬أو جتربة‪� ،‬أو تبادل �أفكار "‪.‬‬ ‫لكن ما الذي جاء �أوال؟ هل هو بركة ال�سمك �أم االجتماع؟‬ ‫جتيب هند االجتماع هو الذي حدث �أوال‪ .‬فقد بد� ْأت بتنظيمه منذ �أن‬ ‫و�صلت �إىل منزلها اجلديد بهدف تو�سيع حميطها االجتماعي‪ .‬ويعبرّ ا�سم‬ ‫االجتماع عن مثل عربي عن الأ�شخا�ص الذين يذهبون �إىل بركة م�شرتكة‬ ‫ل�صيد الأ�سماك كي ي�أخذ كل منهم ن�صيبه‪ .‬لكنها الآن تنظم اجتماعات‬ ‫بالقرب من حو�ض �سمك حقيقي‪.‬‬

‫من الهندسة المعمارية إلى أسبوع الموضة‬

‫مهدت �شهادتها يف الهند�سة املعمارية‪ ،‬التي ُتعترب "الأم جلميع‬ ‫ت�صاميمها"‪ ،‬الطريق �أمام م�ستقبلها املهني‪ .‬وعلى الرغم من ح�صولها‬ ‫على دبلومات يف جمال ريادة و�إدارة امل�شاريع �إال �أن اهتمامها‬ ‫بالت�صميم يظهر من خالل ت�صميم متجرها يف دولة الإمارات‪ ،‬وعرو�ض‬ ‫الأزياء ذات النطاق ال�ضيق‪ ،‬وما تقوم به الآن‪.‬‬ ‫ت�سليت لبع�ض الوقت بفكرة القيام ب�شيء كبري يف‬ ‫وعن ذلك تقول‪“ :‬لقد‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أدركت �أنه البد �أن �أ�سعى‬ ‫�‬ ‫لكنني‬ ‫معر�ضا‬ ‫أ�صمم‬ ‫�‬ ‫أن‬ ‫�‬ ‫أردت‬ ‫عامل الأزياء‪ .‬فقد � ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�أوال جلعل قطر وجهة للمو�ضة‪ .‬وقبل نحو عامني بد� ُأت العمل على �أ�سبوع‬ ‫املو�ضة يف قطر”‪.‬‬ ‫وقد كان هنالك راف�ضون لهذه الفكرة عندما‬ ‫اقرتح ْتها لأول مرة حيث قالت‪“ :‬قال الراف�ضون‬ ‫كتبت فاني ساراسواثي قائلة إن السيدة التي هي العقل المدبر ألسبوع الموضة في‬ ‫للفكرة �إنه لن ي�أتي ويهتم بالفكرة �أحد لكنني كنت‬ ‫قطر تعمل بوتيرة متسارعة للغاية ال يستطيع المرء مجاراتها‪ ،‬كما أنه من الصعب �أدرك �أن اجلميع �سي�أتون‪ .‬فالنا�س ي�أتون �إىل قطر‬ ‫على المرء أن يحيط بجميع اهتماماتها‪.‬‬ ‫ب�سبب ما تقوم به البلد اليوم‪ ،‬و�إذا كان امل�صمم‬ ‫يعرف ما هو اجليد بالن�سبة له‪ ،‬ف�إنه �سي�سعى‬ ‫بالت�أكيد �إىل �إطالق نف�سه هنا”‪.‬‬ ‫ال�شيخة هند القا�سمي وات�صلت وكالة بريطانية بهند لتنظيم حدث ح�رصي لأ�سبوع املو�ضة‬ ‫بالـــدفء واحلركـــة العربية يف اجنلرتا نظرا لكون ال�سياح العرب هم م�صدر جزء كبري‬ ‫وعللت ذلك بقولها‪:‬‬ ‫والن�شـــاط ب�صـــورة من االقت�صاد هناك لكنها رف�ضت ذلك العر�ض‪.‬‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫تفـــــوق الو�صـــف‪“ ،‬لأنني �أركز على �أ�سبوع املو�ضة يف قطر �إذ علي �أن �أ�ضمن جناح هذا‬ ‫كما �أنه من ال�سهل العمل والت�أكد من ح�سن �سري كل �شيء من العالقات العامة والت�سويق‬ ‫وال�صعب يف �آن واحد وامل�صممني‪ ،‬فنحن ال نتعامل �إال مع امل�صممني الذين ينا�سبون ال�سوق‬ ‫طرح الأ�سئلة عليها‪� ...‬إنه �سهل لأن �أجوبتها على كل �س�ؤال ُيطرح عليها القطرية‪ .‬وقد اخرتنا ودعونا �أف�ضل امل�صممني العامليني لتقدمي‬ ‫مثرية لالهتمام‪ ،‬و�صعب لأن املرء ال يح�صل على فر�صة لطرح الكثري جمموعاتهم هنا �إذ يعتقد النا�س يف الغرب �أن الأزياء ال�رشقية كلها‬ ‫نظمت حدثا‬ ‫جالبيب طويلة وهم ال يدركون ما الذي يباع هنا‪ .‬وقد‬ ‫من الأ�سئلة لأنها تتنقل ب�رسعة بني الأفكار والآراء و�إبداء املالحظات‪.‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫وثمة ق�صة وعاطفة ومهارة وراء ما حتيط نف�سها به‪ ،‬فالطاوالت بالأم�س كان مزيجا بني الأذواق واملو�ضة”‪.‬‬ ‫اجلانبية م�صنوعة من �صوان قدمية خمتارة بعناية مو�ضوعة على وعلى الرغم من �أنها ال تطمح ملواكبة �أي من املعايري القائمة حاليا �إال‬ ‫�شمعدانات من �أحد متاجر املول‪ ،‬والن�سيج مطرز يدويا (هي من قامت �أن هند ت�ؤكد �أن �أ�سبوع املو�ضة يف قطر �سيتطور لي�صبح واحدا من �أهم‬ ‫ح�رضت عرو�ض �أزياء‬ ‫بتطريزها)‪ ،‬وهنالك جمموعة من �أطقم ال�شاي التي ترتاوح ما بني القطع �أحداث الأزياء الراقية يف العامل �إذ تقول‪“ :‬لقد‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫مثرية لالهتمام‪ ،‬لكن ما نتطلع �إليه يف نهاية املطاف هو الرتف‪ .‬فعر�ض‬ ‫الرائعة من فري�سات�شي وهريمي�س �إىل �سلع جامعي الزهور‪.‬‬

‫الشيخة هند القاسمي‬ ‫قصة لكل فكرة‬

‫تتسم‬

‫‪49‬‬

seen qatar

Tracing memories

Twenty-three Qatari artists explore their culture, delve into memories and create a vibrant canvas called Swalif: Qatari Art Between Memory and Modernity. "Swalif" means "conversation" in Arabic, and Sindhu Nair has one with the artists.

Abstraction of the word "Qatar" Jassim Zaini, 69 The first painting as one enters Swalif is Jassim’s and it is an oil on panel that has the complexity of mixed media, an effect achieved through the intelligent use of texture. He explains: “This is achieved by the use of fabric.” Jassim witnessed and documented the intense social and economic transformation of Qatar during the ‘50s and ‘60s, after the discovery of oil. The remarkable history of the modernization of Qatar is reflected in his art. The word “Qatar” is in Arabic in an abstract style. “This shows how the country is progressing upward,” he says of the upward curve of the letters. 50

‫كلمة “قطر” بصورة تجريدية‬ )‫ عاما‬69( ‫جاسم زيني‬ ‫�أول لوحة يراها املرء عندما يدخل �سوالف هي لوحة‬ ‫ وهي لوحة زيتية جميلة ذات مظهر وتعقيد‬،‫جا�سم‬ ‫ي�شريان �إىل ا�ستخدامها ملواد خمتلطة من خالل مزجها‬ ‫ وحتدث جا�سم عن ملم�س‬.‫الذكي بني امللم�س واللون‬ ‫ "لقد حتقق ذلك من خالل ا�ستخدام‬:‫اللوحة قائال‬ ‫ وقد �شهد جا�سم ووثق التحول االجتماعي‬."‫الن�سيج‬ ‫واالقت�صادي الكبري الذي مرت به قطر خالل‬ ‫ وقد انعك�س‬.‫اخلم�سينات وال�ستينات بعد اكت�شاف النفط‬ ‫تطور قطر ب�صورة الفتة على فنه حيث ت�صور لوحته‬ ‫ وقال‬.‫كلمة “قطر” باللغة العربية ب�أ�سلوب جتريدي‬ ‫ “هذا يدل‬:‫مو�ضحا معنى املنحنى الت�صاعدي للحروف‬ .”‫على الرثوة النفطية وتطور البالد املتزايد‬

‫ذكريات الماضي‬ )‫ عاما‬72( ‫سلطان السليطي‬ ‫ت�صوير للحياة اليومية ي�ستح�رض ذكريات‬ .‫ع�صور غابرة‬ ‫وي�سجل عمل �سلطان التقاليد والعمارة القطرية‬ .‫بتفا�صيل واقعية‬

Shabiyyaat Hareess Sultan Al-Sulaiti, 72 A depiction of daily life, evoking memories of bygone eras. Sultan’s work chronicles Qatari traditions and architecture in realistic detail.

seen qatar

‫بين األسود واألبيض‬ )‫ عاما‬56( ‫يوسف أحمد‬ ‫بد�أ يو�سف با�ستك�شاف اخلط العربي يف وقت مبكر من حياته من خالل‬ ‫ ويف‬.‫الرتكيز على تف�سريه الب�رصي اخلا�ص به للكتابة العربية يف لوحاته‬ ‫ عر�ض تقنيات الطباعة مبا يف ذلك‬،‫ وبعد �أن تخ�ص�ص بالر�سم‬،1982 ‫عام‬ ‫ وبعد ذلك ح�صل حتول كبري يف نهجه‬.‫الطباعة بال�شا�شة احلريرية والنق�ش‬ ‫حيث �أ�صبح مييل نحو �إبداع �أعمال ذات نطاق �أكرب مع اال�ستخدام ال�شخ�صي‬ )‫ ولوحة الأ�سود والأبي�ض (املبينة هنا‬.‫والفريد للمواد والألوان والأ�سلوب‬ ‫ت�صور ذكرياته املتعلقة بحقبة من طفولته عندما كان يقدم مهاراته‬ ‫ وكان ير�سم‬.‫ككتابات على اجلدران حيث مل تكن لديه �ألوان يف تلك الفرتة‬ .‫حينها بغم�س حبل يف الطالء ثم مترير احلبل على اللوحة‬ ‫ �أثناء ح�صار‬1990 ‫ر�سمت هذه اللوحات يف عام‬ ‫ “لقد‬: ‫وعن ذلك يقول‬ ُ ‫ وكان ي�ستغرق ا�ستكمال كل لوحة منها ثانية يف غمرة اندفاع‬.‫�رساييفو‬ ‫ ويتحدث يو�سف عن معر�ضه الأول باعتزاز الذي كان يف عام‬.”‫عواطفي‬ ‫ “لقد جعلني والدي �أعلق‬:‫ عندما كان يف ال�سابعة من عمره قائال‬1962 ‫ وقد‬.‫ وقد كان ذلك خالل عطلة ال�صيف‬.‫لوحاتي يف الف�ضاء �أمام جمل�سنا‬ ‫ هل توجد هذه امل�سامري‬.‫ا�ستخدمنا م�سامري �صغرية �سوداء لتعليق اللوحات‬ .”‫الآن؟‬

Between Black and White Yousef Ahmed, 56 Early in his career, Yousef began to explore the shape and form of calligraphy by focusing on his own visual interpretation of Arabic script in his paintings. In 1982, there was a significant shift in his approach: an inclination for larger-scale works and a uniquely personal use of color, material and technique. The black and white painting (shown here) connects to his memories of his past, of an era of his childhood when his skills were presented as graffiti on walls, an era when he had no access to colors. The technique he used while painting this was dipping a rope in paint and swirling the rope around the canvas. “These paintings were done in 1990. This is an action painting; it was finished in a second, when the emotions came rushing. This is a series that I did during the siege of Sarajevo.” Yousef’s first exhibition, he recalls fondly, was in 1962, when he was just seven years old. “I forced my father to hang my paintings in the space in front of our Majlis. It was during my summer vacation. We used small black nails to hang my paintings. Do you find such nails anymore?” he wonders.

‫مجوهرات‬ ‫وفيقة سلطان سيف العيسى (‪ 55‬عاما)‬ ‫وفيقة �سلطان �سيف العي�سى هي واحدة من �أوائل الن�ساء يف قطر اللواتي در�سن الفن �أكادمييا ثم مار�سنه مهنيا‪ .‬وعن ذلك تقول‪“ :‬لقد‬ ‫بد� ُأت الر�سم يف وقت مبكر‪ .‬ومل يكن ذلك �شيئا خا�صا بالن�سبة يل و�إمنا كان �شيئا طبيعيا جدا‪ .‬ف�أنا �أر�سم طوال حياتي”‪.‬‬ ‫و�سافرت وفيقة �إىل م�رص يف منحة درا�سية حكومية لدرا�سة الفنون التطبيقية والتخ�ص�ص يف جمال الت�صميم الداخلي يف جامعة‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫وتخرجت عام ‪ .1974‬وقد ا�ستفادت من جتربتها املهنية كم�صممة داخلية يف ا�ستكمال ممار�ستها كفنانة ب�رصية حيث‬ ‫القاهرة‪،‬‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫اكت�سبت الكثري من املوارد واملعارف التي متكنت من خاللها القيام باالبتكار والتجريب‪.‬‬ ‫ووفيقة متحم�سة ال�ستك�شاف الرتاث يف قطر والهوية الوطنية ب�أدق التفا�صيل‪ ،‬كما �أنها ت�سعى دائما �إىل �إيجاد �سبل جديدة ومبتكرة‬ ‫لتمثيل الطابع الوطني ب�رصيا يف البث التلفزيوين املحلي عندما كانت تعمل مع تلفزيون قطر‪ .‬وبعد عملها يف التلفزيون‪ ،‬وا�صلت‬ ‫اخلو�ض يف التقنيات وو�سائل الإعالم املختلفة‪ ،‬عالوة على اكت�شافها حلبها للون وتطبيقاته‪ .‬وتتميز واحدة من جمموعاتها‬ ‫املعروفة مبزجها بني اخلط وال�شكل واللون‪.‬‬ ‫وتقول وفيقة‪�" :‬إنني �أترجم ثقافتي �إىل لوحات‪ .‬ف�أنا �أت�أثر بكل ما هو قطري �أراه من حويل‪ .‬ودرا�ستي هي �أي�ضا جزء من الفن‪ ،‬وذلك‬ ‫يك�سبني خربة جيدة يف ا�ستك�شاف الألوان والنقو�ش واخلط”‪.‬‬

‫‪Jewelry‬‬ ‫‪Wafika Sultan Saif Al-Essa, 55‬‬ ‫‪“I started painting early. It was not something special. It was a‬‬ ‫‪very natural thing for me. I have been doing it all my life,” says‬‬ ‫‪Wafika Sultan Saif Al-Essa who was one of the first Qatari‬‬ ‫‪women to study art academically and then practise it‬‬ ‫‪professionally.‬‬ ‫‪Her professional experience as an interior designer‬‬ ‫‪complemented her practice as a visual artist and provided a‬‬ ‫‪wealth of resources through which she could innovate and‬‬ ‫‪experiment.‬‬ ‫‪Wafika was passionate about exploring Qatar’s national‬‬ ‫‪heritage and identity in detail, while always aiming to find new‬‬ ‫‪and original ways to represent the national character. One of‬‬ ‫‪her better-known groups of works fuses calligraphy, form and‬‬ ‫‪color. “I translate my culture into paintings. I am influenced by‬‬ ‫‪what I see around me and that is distinctly Qatari. My study is‬‬ ‫‪also a part of art, so it gives me good experience in exploring‬‬ ‫‪colors, patterns and calligraphy,” she says.‬‬

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‫ذكريات نابضة بالحياة‬ ‫قام ‪ 23‬فنانا قطريا بعرض لوحات تب ّين ثقافتهم وتخوض‬ ‫في ذكرياتهم في إطار معرض سوالف‪ :‬الفن القطري بين‬ ‫الذاكرة والحداثة‪.‬‬ ‫التقت سيندو ناير بهؤالء الفنانين وتجاذبت معهم أطراف‬ ‫الحديث‪.‬‬

‫‪seen qatar‬‬

‫‪Fishing‬‬ ‫‪Mohammed Al-Jaidah, 54‬‬ ‫‪Mohammed Al-Jaidah’s paintings are known for their realism. A‬‬ ‫‪professional photographer, he starts his artistic process by gathering‬‬ ‫‪photographs of his subject matter and then uses charcoal to sketch‬‬ ‫‪images on the canvas before applying oil colors. His paintings have also‬‬ ‫‪appeared on the covers of several editions of Al Doha magazine.‬‬ ‫‪The painting titled ‘Fishing’ has a group of young boys frolicking under‬‬ ‫‪the Doha sun. A self-taught artist, Mohammed developed his skills‬‬ ‫‪documenting life in Qatar. His inspiration is Qatari heritage and the‬‬ ‫‪desert environment, and he uses paintbrush to record local‬‬ ‫‪architecture, Bedouin lifestyles, and scenes from his youth. He is‬‬ ‫‪fascinated by the amount of detail in Orientalist art, which has led him‬‬ ‫‪to embrace realistic impressionism with an emphasis on daily life and‬‬ ‫‪changing light.‬‬ ‫‪“Most of the paintings are from my past. These models are no longer‬‬ ‫‪boys now, and I see them as grownups and remember the time when I‬‬ ‫‪used them as models,” he laughs.‬‬

‫صيد السمك‬ ‫محمد الجيدة (‪ 54‬عاما)‬ ‫ت�شتهر لوحات حممد اجليدة بواقعيتها حيث ي�صور حممد لوحاته التي ت�صور احلياة القطرية يف الع�رص الذي يتذكره ثم ير�سمها‪.‬‬ ‫وحممد هو م�صور حمرتف بد�أ م�سريته الفنية من خالل جمع ال�صور ملو�ضوعاته ثم ا�ستخدام الفحم لر�سم ال�صور على القما�ش قبل‬ ‫�إ�ضافة الألوان الزيتية �إليها‪ .‬وقد ُن�رشت لوحاته �أي�ضا على �أغلفة عدة �أعداد ملجلة الدوحة‪.‬‬ ‫وت�صور اللوحة التي حتمل ا�سم "�صيد ال�سمك" جمموعة من ال�صبية ال�صغار وهم ي�صيدون ال�سمك حتت �شم�س الدوحة حيث �إن‬ ‫ثيابهم والأدوات لي�ست من هذا الع�رص‪...‬‬ ‫وحممد هو فنان علّم نف�سه بنف�سه‪ ،‬وقد طور مهاراته لتوثيق احلياة يف قطر‪ .‬وي�ستمد �إلهامه من الرتاث القطري والبيئة ال�صحراوية‪،‬‬ ‫وي�ستخدم الفر�شاة لت�سجيل العمارة املحلية‪ ،‬و�أمناط احلياة البدوية‪ ،‬واحلياة االجتماعية والتقاليد القطرية‪ ،‬وم�شاهد من �شبابه‪.‬‬ ‫وهو مفتون بالتفا�صيل املوجودة يف فن اال�ست�رشاق‪ ،‬الأمر الذي جعله يتبنى الواقعية االنطباعية مع الرتكيز على احلياة اليومية‬ ‫وتغرياتها‪.‬‬ ‫وعن ذلك يقول �ضاحكا‪�" :‬إن معظم اللوحات من املا�ضي‪ .‬وه�ؤالء ال�صبية �أ�صبحوا الآن كبارا‪ ،‬ومازلت �أتذكر تلك الفرتة التي قمت‬ ‫بر�سمهم فيها"‪.‬‬ ‫‪54‬‬

travel

Lanificio Zegna Even from the mountaintop, the mill stands out. Below: Ermenegildo Zegna in the early 1950s

Mill on the Hill It all began in Trivero a small village in Italy where nature’s bounty and one man’s vision to create the best fabric resulted in what is today a global brand. Text by Arr Reem

rmenegildo Zegna’s start was modest but his vision pioneering. His family, like many others in the Biella Alps region between Milan and Turin, had a small wool concern. The soft water in the area was ideal for washing wool; its low mineral content enabled the creation of softer and finer fabrics. At the time, when the men’s luxury suit market was dominated by British wool makers and tailors, Zegna came up with an innovative approach. He went to England and invested in the best technology, importing the machines and looms to Italy but maintaining many of the traditional techniques, such as using thistles to comb his wool. He chose to specialize in high-quality wool fabrics and was passionate about finding the best sources. By the 1930s, he was traveling

around the world in search of the finest wool herds forming relationships with cashmere breeders in such far-flung places as Mongolia, South Africa, and Australia. Searching for longer, stronger fibers that could be turned into longwearing fabrics, which would become finer as technology improved, the quest continues even today. Zegna is arguably the world’s largest menswear brand. A family-owned and vertically integrated business house, it produces more than two million meters of fabric, more than 350,000 finished suits, and another two million shirts, ties, sportswear items and accessories per year. From its inception in 1910, the primary focus was quality and innovation, and this has remained its strength over generations. Zegna could be considered a marketing visionary. Weaving his name into the selvage of his fabric bolts for the end user to notice, even launching a consumer advertising campaign, he turned his fabric into a brand. Wool, till then, was considered to be just a commodity and the manufacturers mere suppliers to world famous tailors. Zegna was also determined to expand through exports, and he traveled to the United States to sell his goods directly to the best American tailors, even throwing a banquet for them. 55

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High Tech From left to right: Dyeing vats used to color the fabric after it is woven. Thread spools being spun from raw wool.

Community reach A visit to Lanificio Zegna is a unique combination of heritage, environmentalism, social patronage and modern technology. The grand entrance belies the fact that one is entering a mill, partly because of the natural beauty and partly due to the fact that the complex is host to several projects including Casa Zegna, a historical archive and cultural center. A villa which houses the company’s archives also boasts of order books and boxes of samples of every fabric the mill ever produced, cataloged in duplicate in case one set was lost in a fire. And this attention to detail and meticulous approach extended beyond the fabric and the mill to the whole mountain and the community. After building a community center, school and clinic for Trivero’s residents (many of whom were employed in his mill), Zegna set about a complete reforestation of the mountain slopes with 500,000 pines, rhododendrons and hydrangeas and the construction of a road, dubbed “the Zegna Panoramic Route”, so that the local population and tourists could enjoy the natural mountain environment. In 1993 the family set up Oasis Zegna to nurture and protect this territory, developing controlled tourism, including new eco-sports. Evidence of how these values are ingrained can be seen in the Milan flagship store, where shoppers climbing the stairs from the ground floor can view a lenticular photographic mural that shows the seasons changing at Oasis Zegna. Weaving excellence Coming back to the mill, one can’t help but notice the fusion of hi-tech and traditional workmanship. The raw wool is prepared and then fed into sophisticated spinning machines, reaching automated dyeing vats and finally the noisy looms. Amidst the deafening roar of the machines, experienced eyes examine every piece of cloth that is produced, as no machine can detect flaws as well as the human eye. Some flawed pieces are sent for hand mending, and others are discarded. After several more steps, the fabric looks good, but not great. Then comes the most important step, which many consider to be the soul of the fabric – finishing, giving the fabric its touch and softness.

LEADING FABRIC INNOVATIONS The constant quest to achieve extraordinary heights of textile perfection is what drives Zegna. The “Centoventimila” superfine merino wool fabric was in 1961, a revolutionary fabric, with a yarn count of 1/120 (1 kilo of wool converted into 120 meters of yarn) that even today many spinning and weaving companies cannot match. In 1964 it was the first company to give names to its lines of fabrics, when “18milmil18” and “17milmil17” fabrics were created. The name referred to the fineness of the wool fibre used for these textiles, that is 18 and 17 microns. This can be compared to a human hair that measures between 50 and 60 microns. In 1965 the “Trofeo” fabric, a worsted fabric made of Australian superfine merino wool, was introduced. In 1985 the “High Performance” was launched, a fabric that, although is made up only by superfine wool, is extremely crease-resistant and incredibly light. In the mid-Nineties Zegna launched a modern version of the classic “Trofeo” by making it a trans-seasonal fabric, usable nine months a year. Then “Traveller”, made of very flexible and elastic superfine wool, was launched. Yarns are high-twisted to ensure a clean appearance and crisp handle. Garments are extremely resistant to creasing, giving a crisp and fresh look. Perfect for comfortable and innovative garments for men

State of the Art equipment is combined with love of hand craftsmanship. Right: Sleeve of a suit being sewn by hand

The Vellus Aureum Trophy

Quality Beyond Compare High quality fabric and constant innovation remain Zegna's distinctive sellingpoints. In 2002, to celebrate the incredible advances in fineness made by Australian woolgrowers, the first ‘Ermenegildo Zegna Vellus Aureum (Golden Fleece) Trophy’ was launched for wool 13.9 microns and finer. This achievement can be put into context by considering that a human hair measures 50 to 60 microns. This award recognizes the quest for excellence with the winner receiving gold equivalent in weight to the winning fleece and a replica of the famous Not Vital ‘Vellus Aureum’ sculpture.

who are always on the move. “Traveller Micronsphere”, a fabric for the Zegna sleeve unit, took inspiration from the leaves of the lotus and their almost magical property of staying clean and repelling all liquids from the surface. Zegna developed a new finish that enabled its “Traveller” worsted fabric to resist stains without affecting its characteristics and softness. “High Performance Cool Effect”, designed specifically for protection from the rays of the sun and the heat, consists of a revolutionary finishing process that makes even the dark colored textiles as sun-reflecting as the white colored ones, making it an ideal fabric for the Middle East. The finishing has no effect on the fabric’s “hand”, which maintains its performance and softness. With this deep understanding of the fabric, it was natural for the group to enter the pret-a-porter segment in 1968. Known for its contemporary and precise tailoring, excellence in textiles, high-tech construction and an understated style, Zegna is always personal and discreet. Its made-to-measure tailoring service combines the distinct Zegna style with a natural silhouette, characterized by details and a powerful Italian style, but at the same time keeps in mind the time constraints of today’s high-flying executives. Today there are 560 Zegna stores in 80 countries in the world, including Qatar, and each garment is the testament to the mill on the hill and its values. n

travel

At Home with Olivier Baussan Orna Ballout jets over to France to meet the founder of L’Occitane and learn about the new peony-inspired perfume.

t’s not every day you get to eat French gourmet food inside a castle, so as I sat in my dining chair opposite Olivier Baussan, the founder of L’Occitane, in his stunning south of France home, I decided to relish the opportunity! Baussan’s home is filled with rare and spectacular works of art – something which has been a huge influence on his life as a result of his artist parents. As I admired the masterpieces, listening to Baussan passionately share his art knowledge, I was struck by how modest he was, and even

more taken by how well-behaved his pet Beauceron, Din, was. Never before have I seen an animal so consumed by its master; Din followed him everywhere, looking up at him with inquisitive eyes. Baussan’s journey into skincare all began with an old steam distiller and a van. Although he majored in French Literature, he used to create shampoos and plants at home that he’d sell at local markets, eventually leading to the establishment of L’Occitane in 1976. As it developed, Baussan knew he’d need a proper home for his business, and he was lucky enough to make friends with an old soap-maker whose actions would pave the way for his future success. This old man instantly spotted his passion and, as he had no heir, decided to pass on all his machinery and know-how to him. “That was momentous. He gave me everything, because he didn’t want it to get lost. I think what struck me the most was how I felt like I owed him something, and I was really looking forward to seeing the factory progress. Unfortunately he passed away a week

Destiny: Olivier's chance meeting with a stranger, who instantly spotted his passion, ultimately paved the way to his future sucess.

Pivoine Flora Eau de Parfum

This new musky, woody fragrance wonderfully fuses the characteristics of peony with magnolia. Base notes consist of vanilla, cedar and musk; the heart features an intense scent of peony, magnolia and violet petals, while top notes round the fragrance off with bergamot and grapefruit – delicious! L’Occitane is available at Villaggio Mall, Landmark Mall and Royal Plaza. For more info visit loccitane.com

before it opened,” Baussan recollects. Now, Baussan proudly sits at the helm of a prestigious brand available in over 1,000 stores worldwide, which sources over 200 ingredients of plant origin and essential oils with the aim of creating the best natural or certifiedorganic products. “I think it’s the sincerity of L’Occitane that people connect to. There is a true ancestral tradition behind our products. For example, Immortelle – nicknamed the ‘everlasting’ flower – is well received in the Arab world, and has been around for thousands of years. Its nickname is connected to the properties of the brand.” L’Occitane is a socially responsible company which prides itself on its sustainable ingredients policies. It strives to limit its actions’ impact on the environment, and never tests its products on animals. One of the notable sustainable development programs it has developed is in Burkina Faso, where a co-operative of women is used for the production of shea butter. The L’Occitane Foundation (foundation. loccitane.com) is the arm which continues to support these meaningful missions. Peony Farm The newest addition to the brand’s expanding portfolio is the Pivoine Flora Eau de Parfum – a wonderful scent inspired by the beautiful Mediterranean peony flower. Before my visit to Baussan’s home, I was lucky enough to travel around France learning all about the new perfume. The first leg of the journey involved a visit to peony producer Jean-Luc Rivier’s plantations in Crest, northern Provence. It is here that L’Occitane sources its peony extract, and whose range of beautiful peony flowers inspire the perfume. Riviere’s impressive family nursery spans over seven hectares and nurtures more than 700 varieties of the peony. In Ancient Greece, the peony was a famous flower, a symbol of feminine beauty and considered by many as a lucky charm. In the Middle Ages, the peony was cultivated for its medicinal properties; nowadays, however, it is regularly used for its ornamental qualities, and is recognised by its distinctive rustic lingering fragrance. I visited the Couvent des Cordeliers, where the University of Fragrances and Flavours is located, to meet Sidonie Lancesseur, the perfumer behind the Pivoine Flora Eau de Parfum and the lecturer of my two hour workshop to manufacture my very own perfume. To create it, I followed a chart which usually comprises the peony floral structure, and then opted for chocolate and vanilla oils to differentiate my scent. I also got the chance to visit the L’Occitane factory and get a sneak peek into the fascinating action where all the products are created, including laboratories, tube and bottling areas and soap and candle manufacturing. The factory boasts a huge store stocked with sweet-smelling goodies – brilliant for a spending spree! Le Couvent des Minimes Hotel-Spa is the historic retreat where I experienced tasty French cuisine, exceptional spa facilities and a wonderful ambiance. This impressive building boasts three centuries of history, and it is here that L’Occitane established its first Spa Hotel before eventually taking the idea global. The hotel’s decor features modern furniture with an antique touch – the perfect place to lay my head at night during my fascinating L’Occitane journey. n

‫‪travel‬‬

‫العامل العربي وهي موجودة منذ �آالف ال�سنني‪ .‬لذا ف�إن ا�سمها يرتبط‬ ‫بخ�صائ�ص العالمة التجارية”‪.‬‬ ‫ولوك�سيتان هي �رشكة م�سئولة اجتماعيا تفخر ب�سيا�ساتها املتعلقة‬ ‫باملكونات امل�ستدامة‪ ،‬كما �أنها ت�سعى جاهدة للحد من ت�أثري �أعمالها‬ ‫على البيئة‪ ،‬وال تخترب منتجاتها على احليوانات‪ .‬ومن �أبرز برامج‬ ‫التنمية امل�ستدامة التي طورتها لوك�سيتان يف بوركينا فا�سو التي‬ ‫ا�ستخدمت فيها مزرعة تعاونية للن�ساء لإنتاج زبدة �شجرة �أم القرن‪.‬‬ ‫وم�ؤ�س�سة لوك�سيتان (‪ )foundation.loccitane.com‬هي اليد التي‬ ‫توا�صل دعمها لهذه الأهداف النبيلة‪.‬‬

‫مزرعـــة الفاوانيــــا‬

‫�إن �أحدث �إ�ضافة �إىل حمفظة العالمة التجارية هو ماء التواليت‬ ‫بيفيون فلورا ‪ Pivione Flora‬وهو عطر رائع م�ستوحى من زهرة‬ ‫الفاوانيا اجلميلة املتو�سطية‪ .‬وقبل زيارتي ملنزل بو�سان حظيت‬ ‫بالتجول يف كافة �أنحاء فرن�سا للتعرف على العطور اجلديدة‪.‬‬ ‫وقد ا�شتملت املحطة الأوىل من الرحلة على زيارة ملزرعة جان لوك‬ ‫تورد‬ ‫ريفييه لإنتاج زهرة الفاوانيا يف كري�ست ب�شمال بروفان�س التي ّ‬ ‫�إىل لوك�سيتان م�ستخل�ص الفاوانيا الذي ت�ستلهم منه عطورها‪ .‬ومتتد‬ ‫مزرعة ريفييه العائلية الرائعة على م�سافة ‪ 7‬هكتار وت�ضم �أكرث من‬ ‫‪� 700‬صنف للفاوانيا‪ .‬ففي اليونان القدمية‪ ،‬كانت زهرة الفاوانيا‬ ‫ال�شهرية تعترب رمزا للجمال الأنثوي ويتفاءل بها الكثريون‪ .‬ويف‬ ‫الع�صور الو�سطى كان يتم زراعة زهرة الفاوانيا خلوا�صها الطبية‪،‬‬ ‫لكنها يف الوقت احلا�رض ت�ستخدم كثريا للزينة كما �أنها تتميز‬ ‫بعطرها الذي يدوم طويال‪.‬‬ ‫قمت �أي�ضا بزيارة ق�رص كوفان كورديليري الذي يحوي جامعة‬ ‫العطور والنكهات للقاء �سيدوين الن�سي�سيور‪ ،‬وهو خبري العطور الذي‬ ‫�صمم ماء البارفان بيفيون فلورا‪ ،‬وحما�رض ور�شة عمل ت�صنيع‬ ‫ابتكرت خالل‬ ‫�شاركت فيها وا�ستمرت ملدة �ساعتني‪ .‬وقد‬ ‫العطور التي‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أ�ضفت‬ ‫�‬ ‫التي‬ ‫الفاوانيا‬ ‫زهرة‬ ‫فيه‬ ‫ا�ستخدمت‬ ‫عطرا‬ ‫بنف�سي‬ ‫هذه الور�شة‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�إليها زيوت ال�شوكوالته والفانيال لتمييز عطري عن غريه‪.‬‬ ‫وقد �أتيحت يل فر�صة زيارة م�صنع لوك�سيتان للإطالع على مرافق‬

‫ابتكار وت�صنيع جميع املنتجات من خمتربات ومناطق تعبئة‬ ‫القارورات وت�صنيع ال�صابون وال�شموع‪ .‬وي�ضم امل�صنع متجرا �ضخما‬ ‫يحوي الكثري من ال�سلع ذات الرائحة الذكية التي تغري ب�رشائها!‬ ‫أقمت يف فندق ومنتجع لو كوفان دي مينيمي‪ ،‬وهو بناء‬ ‫و�أخريا فقد � ُ‬ ‫تاريخي تذوقت فيه �أ�شهى �أ�صناف الطبخ الفرن�سي اللذيذ‪ ،‬ويتميز‬ ‫الفندق مبنتجعه اال�ستثنائي و�أجوائه الرائعة‪ .‬ويتمتع هذا املبنى‬ ‫الرائع بتاريخ ميتد �إىل ثالثة قرون وقد �أ�س�ست فيه �رشكة لوك�سيتان‬ ‫�أول فندق ومنتجع لها قبل التحول �إىل العاملية‪ .‬ويتميز ديكور‬ ‫الفندق ب�أثاثه احلديث الذي يتمتع بلم�سة عتيقة‪ ،‬مما يجعله املكان‬ ‫املثايل للخلود للراحة ليال �أثناء رحلتي الرائعة يف عامل لوك�سيتان‪.‬‬

‫ماء التواليت بيفيون فلورا‬

‫يتميز هذا العطر اجلديد برائحة امل�سك واخل�شب‪ ،‬وهو عطر رائع‬ ‫يجمع ما بني خ�صائ�ص الفاوانيا واملاغنوليا‪ .‬ويتكون الإح�سا�س الأويل‬ ‫به من عبق الفانيليا وامل�سك وخ�شب الأرز‪ ،‬لتتحول رائحته �إىل �شذى‬ ‫الفاوانيا واملاغنوليا والبنف�سج‪ ،‬ثم ينتهي بعبري الربغموت واجلريب‬ ‫فروت‪ ...‬فيا له من عطر رائع!‬ ‫تتوفر منتجات لوك�سيتان يف جممع فيالجيو‪ ،‬والندمارك‪ ،‬ورويال بالزا‪.‬‬ ‫للمزيد من املعلومات يرجى زيارة ‪loccitane.com‬‬

‫‪60‬‬

‫زيارة إلى أوليفر بوسان‬ ‫سافرت أورنا بلوط إلى فرنسا في زيارة خاصة كي تقابل مؤسس لوكسيتان وتتعرف‬ ‫على العطور الجديدة المستوحاة من نبات الفاوانيا‪.‬‬ ‫جلست‬ ‫عندما‬ ‫لذا‬ ‫فرنسا‪،‬‬ ‫في‬ ‫قلعة‬ ‫ال يجلس المرء كل يوم لتناول طعام فاخر داخل‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫إلى طاولة الطعام وجلس مقابلي أوليفر بوسان‪ ،‬مؤسس لوكسيتان‪ ،‬في منزله‬ ‫قررت أن أستمتع بهذه الفرصة!‬ ‫المذهل بجنوب فرنسا‪،‬‬ ‫ُ‬

‫يذخر‬

‫منزل بو�سان بالأعمال‬ ‫الفنية النادرة والرائعة‬ ‫لأن والديه كانا فنانني‪،‬‬ ‫الأمر الذي ترك ت�أثريا‬ ‫كبيــرا علـــى حياته‪ ،‬وقد‬ ‫أعــجبــت بهــذه التحــف‪،‬‬ ‫�‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أ�صغيت لـه وهـو يتحدث‬ ‫و�‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ب�شغف عن الفـن‪ ،‬و�أذهلني‬ ‫توا�ضعه ال�شديد‪ ،‬وما زاد ده�شتي ح�سن ت�رصف كلبه دن حيث مل �أر يف‬ ‫حياتي حيوانا يحب �سيده بهذه الدرجة فقد كان دن يتبعه �إىل كل مكان‬ ‫ويراقبه بعينني ف�ضوليتني‪.‬‬ ‫وقد بد�أت رحلة بو�سان �إىل عامل م�ستح�رضات العناية بالب�رشة من‬ ‫خالل جهاز تقطري بخاري قدمي وحافلة �صغرية‪ .‬وعلى الرغم من �أنه قد‬ ‫تخ�ص�ص يف الأدب الفرن�سي �إال �أنه كان ي�صنع ال�شامبو وم�ستح�رضات‬ ‫التجميل يف املنزل ويبيعها يف الأ�سواق املحلية‪ ،‬مما �أدى يف نهاية‬ ‫‪61‬‬

‫املطاف �إىل ت�أ�سي�س لوك�سيتان يف عام ‪.1976‬‬ ‫ومع تطور العمل �أدرك بو�سان �أنه بحاجة �إىل مقر منا�سب لأعماله‪ ،‬وقد‬ ‫�شاءت الأقدار وجمعته �صداقة مع �صانع �صابون م�سن‪ ،‬الأمر الذي مهد‬ ‫له طريق النجاح يف امل�ستقبل‪ .‬فقد الحظ هذا الرجل امل�سن �شغفه‪ ،‬وملا‬ ‫مل يكن لديه وريث فقد قرر �أن يورثه كل ما لديه من جتهيزات ومعارف‪.‬‬ ‫وعن ذلك يقول‪“ :‬لقد كان ذلك �أمرا مهما للغاية‪ .‬فقد �أعطاين كل �شيء‬ ‫لأنه مل يكن يريد لكل ذلك �أن ي�ضيع‪� .‬إنني مدين له بكل �شيء وقد كنت‬ ‫�أتطلع �إىل يرى امل�صنع وهو يتقدم‪ .‬لكن للأ�سف فقد تويف قبل �أ�سبوع‬ ‫من افتتاحه”‪.‬‬ ‫والآن يرتبع بو�سان بفخر على عر�ش عالمة جتارية مرموقة متوفرة يف‬ ‫�أكرث من ‪ 1000‬متجر حول العامل‪ ،‬وت�ستخدم مكونات من �أكرث من ‪200‬‬ ‫نبتة وزيت �أ�سا�سي بهدف �إبداع �أف�ضل املنتجات الطبيعية �أو الع�ضوية‬ ‫املعتمدة‪ .‬و�أ�ضاف قائال‪�“ :‬أعتقد �أن ما يجذب النا�س �إىل لوك�سيتان هو‬ ‫�صدقها‪ .‬فهنالك تقليد حقيقي من وراء منتجاتنا م�ستمد من ال�سلف‪.‬‬ ‫فعلى �سبيل املثال الزهرة امللقبة بزهرة اخللود تالقي رواجا جيدا يف‬

travel

In the club A 1949 cottage at the Colony of Wellfleet.

The wellfleet ten A colony of Bauhaus-style bungalows on Cape Cod evokes the summer idylls of a lost bohemia. By Jessica Lustig

‘W

ell, it was a club,’’ says Eleanor Stefani, the longtime owner of the Colony of Wellfleet. ‘‘It was a private club. You had to have your name in the Social Register — literally!’’ The 10 Bauhaus-style cottages, which have housed devoted guests for decades, were first known as the Mayo Hill Colony Club. They were built on the bay side of Wellfleet, the little Cape Cod town, in 1949 by Nathaniel Saltonstall, an architect from a prominent Boston family who was a founder of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Along with his business partner Oliver Morton, he designed it as a midcentury Modern retreat for high-society art collectors, with views of the sparkling bay and grassy fairways of the Chequessett Yacht and Country Club through the pines. At the same time, Wellfleet itself — much quieter than its flashier neighbor to the north, Provincetown — was becoming another sort of club. Edmund Wilson, the literary critic,

P H O T O G R A P H B Y adam friedberg

arrived with his third wife, Mary McCarthy, in the 1940s, and they were followed by what seemed like the entire faculties of Columbia and Harvard, the staffs of Partisan Review and The New Yorker, and half the psychoanalysts on the Upper West Side, who began to descend upon the village every summer, and particularly in August. (McCarthy famously called Wellfleet ‘‘the seacoast of Bohemia’’ in her novel ‘‘A Charmed Life,’’ and Wilson, in his journal, credited the historian H. Stuart Hughes with the memorable sobriquet ‘‘la plage des intellectuels.’’) But as weather-beaten shacks and skinny-dipping in the ponds became the order of the day, the colony continued to maintain certain standards. A brochure from the era notes that ‘‘Maid service is quite complete, but rendered unobtrusively. Beds are made and turned down. Rooms are cleaned. Baggage is carried. Fires are laid and fireplace wood kept replenished.’’ Meals and picnic baskets could be ordered from the Continental Casserole Kitchen. There was a Picking Garden for contemplative blossom gathering. ‘‘Mr. Saltonstall started the Picking Garden,’’ Eleanor says with a laugh. (Guests quickly come to call her by her first name.) ‘‘I doubt that the people he had staying here were accustomed to going out and picking their own flowers. Most of them didn’t know how to boil water, never mind hold a pair of clippers. They were people who were accustomed to servants and service,

O’Gorman and sometimes by Eleanor herself. Since the place was no longer reserved for Boston’s patrons of the arts, the new Wellfleet literati began to descend. Bernard Malamud and his wife were regulars. Lionel and Diana Trilling drove up from Manhattan — or, rather, were driven up by a graduate student who had the job of chauffeur for the month of August. They stayed, always, in cottage No. 3, where Diana held dinner parties for friends like William Phillips, the Partisan Review editor; and Philip Hamburger, the New Yorker writer (who had a house nearby and composed a number of ‘‘Talk of the Town’’ pieces about Wellfleet for the magazine). The essayist Phillip Lopate was a student of Lionel Trilling’s at Columbia and wrote an essay about him in which he recalled sending a letter one summer to his former professor: ‘‘His reply was brief and handwritten. It came a week later, on stationery that read the colony of wellfleet with a red-inked seahorse logo on the letterhead.’’ Years later, in the late ’70s and ’80s, Lopate himself was drawn to Wellfleet. By then the titans of the earlier times, like Wilson and Trilling, were dead, and the years were past when, as Lopate marvels now, ‘‘literary critics

Sitting out on the deck, you can understand why so many poems, books and articles have been written here — or, at least, read. had groupies.’’ But it was still possible to step into their world, as into a tableau vivant, and almost catch sight of their ghosts. ‘‘I always worshiped Edmund Wilson,’’ Lopate says, ‘‘and I loved the idea that Elena, his widow, was still there, still having gin-and-tonics with Arthur Schlesinger.’’ Lopate remembers his sense of awe at the guests he mingled with at Wellfleet dinner parties: ‘‘Elena Wilson; Robert Jay Lifton, the psychiatrist; Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, the book reviewer for The New York Times, and his wife, who stayed on the bay side; Herman Badillo, who ran for mayor of New York many times; Arthur Schlesinger Jr. You got a chance to watch how these lions were at their most unbuttoned. Some of these dinner parties were really like a Manhattan dinner party. There’d be an enormous amount of conversation about real estate — ‘Who’s renting that now?’ ’’ In fact, Lopate says, it was the pedigree of his rental, the former house of the critic Dwight Macdonald on Slough Pond (where Schlesinger had his house as well), that gave him an entree into that world. ‘‘The softball games were very important,’’ he remembers. ‘‘My book had come out, and it had gotten a middling review. I went to the game, and someone said, ‘I saw your review,’ and there was an awkward silence.’’ But there was a sort of writerly kismet about the place as well. ‘‘The most important thing that happened to me in Wellfleet,’’ Lopate says, ‘‘was, I loved to go through people’s bookshelves. And — I think it was on the Macdonalds’ bookshelf — I found the selected essays of William Hazlitt, and I went out to the hammock and started reading it. And that’s how I became a personal essayist.’’ The colony, meanwhile, was becoming a refuge for those

top left: adam friedberg

Private lives From top: a cottage interior today;Paul Newman, a onetime guest.

and when they came here, they got it.’’ Eleanor and her husband, Loris Stefani, who is no longer alive, bought the colony, including the main house, which then served as an art gallery, from Saltonstall in 1963. ‘‘I was looking for a summer house,’’ she remembers. ‘‘And the minute I saw that house! Mr. Saltonstall said, ‘Unless you buy what goes with it. . . .’ ’’ The cottages, with their clean right angles, wide windows, transoms and louvers for cross-ventilation, screened porches, decks and fences with vertical slats for an almost Japanese effect, have scarcely changed over the decades. Inside, the airy, spare theme continues with Herman Miller, Eames and Knoll furniture. Paired single beds (they can be pushed together) are made up as couches during the day. Sisal rugs lie on the painted cement floors. Bookshelves are stacked with issues of Foreign Affairs and Granta, and the kitchens are stocked with eggbeaters, kettles and Le Creuset enamel pots and pans. ‘‘Practical things,’’ Eleanor says approvingly. A trim figure in neat blue jeans and gardening gloves, Eleanor has gray hair pinned back and clear, blue-gray eyes as changeable as the color of the bay. She speaks with the distinctive tones of a Boston Brahmin accent — although she categorically denies the label — that renders tomatoes ‘‘tomahtoes’’ and is now all but vanished, along with the perfectly charming manners that go with it. ‘‘One day I came in here,’’ she recalls over a tray of English Breakfast tea with toast and butter. ‘‘I saw Nathaniel Saltonstall in the garden. I thought he was the gardener! Oh, he was so annoyed. I’d caught him in a moment of dishabille. He didn’t dirty his hands very often, let me tell you!’’ Once the Stefanis owned the colony, it was no longer run as a private club, although the maid service and carried baggage continued and one could order lobster and coquille St.-Jacques from the Casserole Kitchen, cooked by a Mrs.

less inclined to socialize. Eleanor remembers watching Paul Newman stroll down the twisty little road that runs through the property, though she won’t say any more about his visit there. ‘‘When Faye Dunaway was here,’’ she recalls, ‘‘she and Harris Yulin made a reservation for a week, and they stayed over a month; they didn’t want to leave. And she was in my kitchen — ‘What are you cooking?’ and ‘How did you do that?’ ’’ That degree of comfort, Eleanor emphasizes, was because ‘‘I wasn’t talking about her or calling the

As skinny-dipping in the ponds became the order of the day, the colony continued to maintaın certaın standards. newspapers and saying, ‘We’re special at the colony, we have movie stars.’ I never, ever intruded on their lives.’’ In the days before cellphones, guests took turns at the colony’s phone booth (where my husband, when we stayed there 10 years ago, heard the news that his first book had been sold). ‘‘They were lined up,’’ Eleanor says. ‘‘And occasionally somebody would say to me, ‘I have to meet someone in 15 minutes, and I really have to make this call to my publisher,’ and I would say, ‘Go in and use my office

phone, of course, no problem.’ ’’ One person who didn’t have to use the pay phone was Diana Trilling, for whom a telephone line was installed in No. 6, where she stayed after Lionel’s death and where a sign reading diana trilling cottage was propped up on a tree during her visits. Richard Avedon took her photo through the cottage window for a New Yorker article, in 1993, about the memoir she worked on for years at the colony. Alison Mills, who worked at Herridge Books in town, also served as Diana’s secretary. One afternoon at the bookstore, she recalls, ‘‘This guy came in, and it turned out it was Adam Gopnik. He was dying to meet her. And so I set it up.’’ For visitors in search of lost time, the colony is most certainly a last redoubt. Sitting out on the deck behind your cottage in the cool, misty morning air, with coffee steaming at your elbow, the umbrella up over the glass table and the wind soughing in the pines, you can understand why so many poems, books and articles have been written here — or, at least, read. Everything here seems to suggest that there is a right way to do things. ‘‘I’ve held onto it,’’ Eleanor says. ‘‘Each cottage was so separate and private. Nobody was watching to see how you dressed, or whether you had shoes on or went barefoot. And you could read all day if you wanted, or go to the beach, or sail, or do anything. The marvelous freedom to walk out of that cottage and have somebody put it in order for you. It was my idea of perfect summer living.’’ n The Colony of Wellfleet is open late May to mid-September; (508) 349-3761; colonyofwellfleet.com. Cottages from $1,250 per week.

travel

beyond the melting pot Part Chinatown, part Bollywood, cosmopolitan Kuala Lumpur is a blueprint for a new Asia. By Pankaj Mishra

Growth spurt The old neighborhood of Kampung Baru, with the new Kuala Lumpur in the distance. 66

ne evening last fall I was walking through Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when, suddenly, in the midst of Cantonese restaurants, shops selling knockoff designer bags and food stalls hawking exoticlooking meats, I came across the wholly unexpected sight of a Hindu temple with a voluptuous gate tower: a riot of gilded idols and precious stones and wafts of thick incense. I walked on, under a freeway, past a pretty North Indian-style

P H O T O G R A P H B Y darren soh

mosque, and, abruptly, the narrow vertical signs and singlecolumn ideograms of Chinese shops gave way to something intensely familiar: I was in a South Indian market town, all gaudy silk and glittering jewelry shops. Bollywood music blared out of speakers at Saravanaa Bhavan, the restaurant where I sat, savoring bisibelabath, a deliciously spicy South Indian concoction of lentils and rice. The pavement was hectic with flower and garland sellers — the kind of sweet-smelling chaos that lines the approaches to Hindu temples in India. But the waiters were glued to the TV screen, which showed a horse race in Hong Kong. The contrasts made me think of the word ‘‘Indochine,’’ which the French used to refer to the tracts of land separating Asia’s two major countries. But the term began to mean something

different to me in Kuala Lumpur — KL, as it is commonly known — a city that lies between two of the world’s oldest civilizations. It spoke of Asia’s own attempt at cosmopolitanism, at finding ways of living with cultural diversity in a profoundly interconnected world. People in almost every country now face that challenge. But sitting that evening in Brickfields, KL’s Little India, I began to think that this very young city in a very old part of the world might be uniquely positioned to meet it.

Darren soh

Colonial life A shop house from Kuala Lumpur’s days as a trading mecca now houses a curry restaurant.

alaysia attracted Asian merchants and Arab adventurers long before the Europeans arrived to trade in the 16th century and before workers from China and India came in the 19th century to plant rubber and mine tin. A few hours south of Kuala Lumpur, the famous city of Malacca still speaks of its Dutch, Portuguese and British past. To the east of the Malay peninsula lies the island of Run, which the British officially ceded to the Dutch in 1667 in exchange for an island in the New World that was then called New Amsterdam. But the sense of being embedded in history, which never leaves you in India or China, vanishes in Kuala Lumpur. Built pell-mell, the city lies thinly on the ground, radiating out from a small historical downtown and business district into hilly suburbs. There is something Los Angeles-like about its snaky freeways and bad public transportation. The promiscuity of its architectural styles is very L.A., too. It’s not what one expects in a major Asian city, which either wears a patina of its premodern past

(Delhi, Beijing) or carries the clear impress of its founders (Mumbai, Hong Kong). One afternoon I stood in the middle of KL’s old colonial quarter, now renamed Merdeka (Independence) Square, where the country’s first prime minister declared liberation from British rule in 1957. To the west was the Royal Selangor Club, whose mock Tudor facade would have been at home in the English county of Suffolk. St. Mary’s Cathedral, on another side, reminded me of the Anglican churches that cast a melancholy shade over English cemeteries in the hill stations of India. But the strangest structure of all faced me across the square: the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, whose profusion of onion domes, cupolas, colonnades and arches made it seem like a Moorish fantasy gone crazy. The capital of an oil-rich Muslim country, KL is full of the solemn emblems of modernity: skyscrapers, five-star hotels with vast atria, and imposing shopping malls. (At some point, I stopped marveling at the patient queues outside a new Uniqlo store.) Indeed, you could suspect that this is a tropical Dubai, another glamorous mirage in the middle of nowhere. Certainly, Penang, to the north, has classier architecture; Singapore, the British-built city-state south of the Malay peninsula, can boast of a more orderly cosmopolitanism; and Hong Kong has always made more money. But while those places have lost their Johnny-come-lately airs, Kuala Lumpur retains its charming frontier-town raffishness. The countryside, the landscape of thick river and dense forest that is commemorated in the fiction of Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham, still feels close. Just a few minutes from downtown, you can drive through stretches of fine parklands with massive rain trees. And it remains a city of immigrants: the population is nearly one quarter Chinese, contains a sizable group of Indians and has an underclass of laborers from Java, Sumatra, Bangladesh and Nepal. Unlike their counterparts in Hong Kong or Singapore, immigrants here don’t cower out of sight while the rich splurge at Hermès. In fact, they give the city its particular vitality. I found it moving to walk among the temples and tiny shop houses of Chinatown, a reminder of the melancholy lives of its Cantonese, Swatow, Hakka and Hokkien settlers. Here were their earliest attempts at a sense of community and spiritual solace. KL was also notorious for its Chinese triads, and at Old China Café, amid the pulley lights, feng shui mirrors, marble tabletops and bentwood chairs from the 1930s, you can imagine the top-hatted gangsters suavely plotting a shipment or even an assassination. In today’s Chinatown, meanwhile, the hawking of fake Rolexes and Burberry bags is perhaps the most brazen illegality. Still, in the narrow buildings with dungeonlike rooms above open storefronts, you can sense the vulnerability and desperate diversions — the gambling and prostitution — of lonely immigrants far from their homes in Southern China. The Indians, who remain relatively impoverished, live even closer to their past. One evening I went to a celebration for Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights. Here in this vast hall packed with Indians impassively watching a young couple on stage belt out popular Tamil songs, there was an overpowering fragrance of perfumed oils and sandalwood incense. The men were dressed in white dhotis, or unstitched cloth wrapped at the waist, and the women, often with kohled eyes, wore jasmine garlands interwoven into oiled hair and

is as though Gaudí had been let loose in Kuala Lumpur. And whatever the intentions of the Malay nationalists, the shiny new buildings speak less of Malay identity than of a city where people know how to be rich, and learn how to spend

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While Hong Kong and Singapore have lost their Johnny-come-lately airs, Kuala Lumpur still retains is charming raffishness.

diamond and gold studs in their noses and ears. Their saris were magenta, pink and green. On another evening, I had dinner with the Malaysian writer Amir Muhammad in Little India, whose canteens serve some of the spiciest food east of Venice. As we sat drinking the milky sweet tea called teh tarik (pulled tea), a large, traditionally dressed Tamil family arrived. Their mood was festively gluttonous, and the staff duly responded. One group of waiters unfurled large banana leaves on the tables, sprinkling them with water; others arrived with serving bowls and then proceeded to set down steaming curries, daubing bright patterns on the leaves with as much assured fluency as an artist engaged in action painting. The scene could have been from Madras circa 1950. But the identity that Kuala Lumpur tries to project most forcefully is Malay and modern. Government policy of affirmative action favors bumiputra — literally, ‘‘sons of the soil’’ — in education, business, state employment and even the arts. Parties are divided along racial and ethnic lines. ‘‘Malaysia,’’ Muhammad told me, ‘‘is one of the most racially conscious societies in the world.’’ (This can have a certain dark humor. A line from ‘‘Atomic Jaya,’’ a satirical play from 1998 by Huzir Sulaiman, one of KL’s highly respected writers, goes: ‘‘The Chinese do the work, the Malays take the credit, and the Indians get the blame.’’) Unlike the Chinese and the Indians, ethnic Malays were traditionally a people of the countryside, and a semirural settlement stands right next to Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle business district, immune to the boom in property prices around it. The squat houses, some on stilts, are of weathered timber and tin. The straight lanes between the houses are lined with frangipani, bougainvillea, coconut and date palms, and banana trees thick with fruit. Food stalls here sell some of the best street food

in Kuala Lumpur: curries and grilled fish, fried pancakes, satay and, most important, the national dish, nasi lemak: rice, peanuts, cucumber, anchovies and sambal in coconut cream. In the nearby bazaar you can find Malay shops specializing in batik, songkok (headgear for men), prayer mats and robes. You can also come across Malay medicine men selling herbal concoctions that can apparently cure all ailments. If this sounds faintly heretical, there is a big mosque nearby to assert the faith. The impressively maintained National Museum most vividly embodies the Malay quest for a usable and dignified past. More than the exhibits themselves, I found intriguing the groups of formally dressed Malays in highcollared shirts, silver-threaded sarongs worn like kilts over their trousers; they looked eager to be instructed in their nation’s history. Nothing, however, is more eloquent with aspiration than the Petronas Towers, until 2004 the tallest buildings in the world. Their minaretlike shape is a defiant Islamic claim upon the modern world and an assertion of Malaysia’s place in the comity of nations. I wasn’t surprised to learn that KL’s

paternity is now disputed. Historically attested wisdom had the founder as the Chinese Yap Ah Loy, the largest landowner in the mid-19th century. But the nationalist Malays like to think it was the Malay aristocrat Raja Abdullah, and so Yap Ah Loy’s name has been virtually excised from textbooks. But such sectarianism does a disservice to Kuala Lumpur, which contains the cultures of Asia and the West in startling new juxtapositions. Consider, for instance, its old railway station, another Moorish extravaganza, partly obscured by a freeway and painted a dazzling white. The curves and planes of its pavilions and archways are still blindingly clear. It

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money. Visiting the city in the 1930s, the French writer Jean Cocteau complained of ‘‘an atmosphere of over-rapid luxury, a glut of gold.’’ It still exists, nowhere more garishly than in the malls near the Petronas Towers, each vying to be more elegant than the rest, where whiterobed Arabs, reluctant to travel to Western countries, stand checking their BlackBerrys while their wives, covered head to toe in black, shop for lingerie. Freeways lead out of the rotting city core to the suburbs in the hills, where big S.U.V.’s hide behind foliage rich with jasmines and jacaranda. Here live the millionaire businessmen and the diplomats in burglaralarmed homes with sprinklers swishing away and Filipino maids in the kitchen. Here are the smart cafes and restaurants where you can find practically every major cuisine respectably represented. At dinner one evening in the elegant suburb of Damansara Heights, the city’s lights ablaze below us, guests argued passionately about Malaysia’s frustratingly racial politics and small-minded politicians, who, they say, keep the country from realizing its full potential. Our host, Karim Raslan, one of the shrewdest pundits on Southeast Asia, cited it as one of the reasons why he spends half of his time working and living in Indonesia. It was left to me, an outsider, to point out that Malaysia was a country still relatively untouched by the many violent conflicts of class, caste, ethnicity and region that make the rise of India and China less self-evident than it looks. Malaysia is a middle-income country with a small population (28 million). There are no cruel disparities between rich and poor here; KL has none of the utter destitution that blights the downtowns of Indian cities. Though flawed and rowdy, Malaysia’s democracy is preferable to the nanny authoritarian state of neighboring Singapore, and it has lately thrown up some promising young politicians.

darren soh

Cheek by jowl An apartment block in Little India, home to a multifaith population.

The most famous of them — the Americaneducated Nurul Izzah Anwar, known as the ‘‘Reformist Princess’’ — represents the posh KL suburb of Bangsar in the Malaysian Parliament. She told me that a young generation of globalized politicians and activists long to move beyond the petty concerns of their elders to a post-racial future. This political enlightenment will obviously take time. For now, KL’s thinkers and writers forge their own, somewhat lonely paths in a materialist city that is not hospitable to activities other than making — and spending — money. The visual arts are more connected to a rapidly growing economy, and they’re experiencing a mini-boom here. The clean white spaces of Bangsar’s Valentine Willie Fine Art Gallery express a confidence that I first came across in Hong Kong’s galleries, just before Chinese art rose to international prominence. Its director of programs, Eva McGovern, who left a job at the Serpentine Gallery in London to work in KL, told me that the region around Malaysia — Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand — was being knit together very fast, helped by low-cost airlines that flew to small cities and towns not only in China but across the vast Indonesian archipelago (much of which shares the Malay language with Malaysia). Artists can be discovered and exhibit their work in a way that was nearly impossible before, she said. It’s true that KL won’t become famous overnight for its culture — even if, like Abu Dhabi and Qatar, it frantically buys up a lot of it. For now, this remains a city of modest pleasures, of malls and night markets. Indeed, its most resonant message to the world is to eat well and variously. Then again, KL is still something of an experiment in urban living. Looking out of my hotel window on my last evening in Malaysia, when rain and mist veiled the tall, silvery buildings and the thickly forested hills behind them, I could imagine the land to be as empty and untenanted as its first explorers may have found it. The illusion disappeared as I walked through the old entertainment hub at Bukit Bintang. Now colorfully seedy with backpacker hostels, massage parlors and malls, it crackled with all the languages I can recognize, and more: Bahasa Indonesia, Filipino, Urdu, Bengali, Arabic and Persian, as well as English spoken with a variety of accents, from the broad Australian to the singsong Sri Lankan and the lovely Malay lilt. I left Kuala Lampur convinced that here in the heart of the new Asia, the city is working out a way of being reflexively cosmopolitan, truly Indochine. n For Kuala Lumpur travel essentials, go to nytimes.com/tmagazine.

Finderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s keepers Pieces from the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection of pottery and glass from the banks of the Thames. Photograph by Stephen Lewis. 70

travel

the wading game

on the banks of the thames, amateur archaeologists find luck in the muck. By Jean Hanff korelitz

usiness or pleasure? I’d given this a lot of thought, but I don’t have a ready answer at Heathrow Immigration. Technically, the purpose of my trip to London is to don rubber boots and climb down onto the bank of the Thames River at low tide, where I intend to rummage in the mud for bits of garbage. Business? Not really. Not even the mudlarks I would be joining on the riverbank, the obsessed history buffs who ditched their day jobs for every good tide, got paid. But pleasure? What kind of demented person takes pleasure in wading around in a vast urban dumping ground? Um . . . that would be me. ‘‘Mudlark’’ is an old term, dating back at least to Victorian river scavengers, and their modern-day counterparts took the name for themselves with a certain inverse pride. Ask a mudlark why he’s up to his knees in muck and detritus and you’ll probably hear about something he dug up in the garden when he was a little boy, or a childhood friend with a metal detector who pulled some brilliant thing out of the earth. (This is England, after all, a country my husband, the Irish poet Paul Muldoon, once said was ‘‘coming down with history.’’) Years ago, when I lived here, I developed a compulsion to dig along roadsides and in people’s back gardens (with permission, usually) and unearthed great numbers of china shards from the 18th through 20th centuries. I found the leg of a Staffordshire dog behind a stable in Oxfordshire and a bit of a late-18th-century teacup in the garden

River run Mudlarks scour the Thames foreshore for old pottery, toys, bones and baubles — anything that conjures past lives. Photograph by Emma Hardy. For more mudlarking images, go to nytimes.com/tmagazine.

behind Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s house in Somerset. (Might it have been used by the author of ‘‘Kubla Khan’’? Or by that most unwelcome person from Porlock who interrupted the poem’s creation?) I brought home so much broken china that I used it to make decorative picture frames and old-fashioned memory jugs. So when I heard that there were people combing the shores of the Thames and finding the refuse of Londoners going back to the Romans and even earlier, I reached for my Wellingtons. Most otherwise intrepid types wouldn’t willingly get up close and personal with a river that was once the primary cause of an event known as ‘‘the Great Stink.’’ It may be cleaner now, but there’s still the small matter of leptospirosis from rat urine in the water — and, of

travel course, the rats themselves. When I explain to the concierge at my hotel why I am dressed for mud at 7 a.m. on the morning of my expedition, she tells me about a friend who tried to smoke tobacco from a clay pipe he’d picked up on the foreshore, and acquired a case of dysentery for his efforts. Not so, says Steve Brooker, who claims to have smoked such pipes without ill effect. Brooker stands 6-foot-6 in his filthy rubber boots and looks very hale for someone who prefers to go barehanded into the muck, but then again the sweatshirt he’s wearing proclaims the mudlark creed, ‘‘Plague Cholera Dysentery Resistant,’’ and his own chosen moniker: Mud God. Brooker fully admits that the Thames hosts a fair amount of fecal matter and charmingly describes the way the foreshore can turn brown after heavy rains (‘‘The sewers can’t handle that amount of water, they’re all Victorian’’), but to him, that’s sort of the point. ‘‘The toshers who worked in the sewers were immune to diseases because of course they were among all that human waste. Most people in that time’’ — the 19th century — ‘‘were dying in their 40s, but the actual toshers could go into their 80s and were really robust.’’ Brooker and I have met downriver in Greenwich, right in front of the former site of the 15th-century Palace of Placentia, the birthplace of Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I. This patch of foreshore served as the palace dump, which is all too obvious even to a neophyte like myself. My unpracticed eye immediately takes in very old animal bones, boar tusks and shards of Tudor pottery, but Brooker is so sharply attuned that he can bend over a patch of ground where I see absolutely nothing and bring up literally hundreds of tiny objects: pins, coins, an 18th-century syringe used to treat syphilitic men and — the star find of our time together — a Tudor comb made of bone (one side for combing the hair, the other, finer side for combing out nits). That comb has a transformative effect on Brooker, a commercial window fitter in his daily life who recently co-hosted a show, ‘‘Mud Men,’’ for Britain’s History Channel, and whose grinning, grime-encrusted face has appeared on billboards around London. ‘‘Your ancestors, my ancestors, weren’t kings and queens,’’ he says. ‘‘They were combing nits out of their hair, drinking out of jugs.’’ In monetary terms, he assures me, it’s worth nothing, but as an object that connects us to the past, it’s invaluable. ‘‘When you pick that comb up in your hand, that’s a personal item.’’ The people attracted to mudlarking by the idea of finding treasure aren’t proper mudlarks, Brooker insists, and the ones looking only for coins aren’t much better. ‘‘Your coins of today are the same as mine. But if I get something that’s inscribed, like something in medieval writing. . . .’’ Two weeks earlier he found a piece of a ship’s sextant. ‘‘When I turn it over, it’s inscribed 1702.’’ At his home, he tells me, he has mulched various sections of the garden with green pottery and white clay pipes, the most common of his finds. That sextant, though, is going somewhere special: ‘‘In your hand you have something no one will ever see again. It’s not about the money. It’s about the history.’’ The Thames could be thought of as England’s longest archaeological site, and no fewer than 90,000 objects recovered from its foreshore are in the collection of the Museum of London, whose 30-year relationship with London mudlarks is both committed and highly regulated. I meet Meriel Jeater, one of the curators, who walks me through the collection, pointing out items

found by mudlarks. There are intricate and beautiful badges, souvenirs of religious pilgrimages, all manner of dress fittings, buckles and brooches — which typically fell off as people climbed into and out of boats — as well as leather work dating back to the Romans. (The anaerobic Thames mud is an excellent preservative.) There are also a number of toys, like miniature plates and urns, knights on horseback and toy soldiers, that have actually changed the way historians view the period. ‘‘We used to say there wasn’t much of a sense of childhood,’’ Jeater tells me. ‘‘People didn’t care so much about their children because they might die, and they were sent out to work. The pewter toys the mudlarks discovered showed that parents in London were buying their children toys.’’ Because there are so few certified mudlarks (about 50 in all) and their fraternity, the Society of Thames Mudlarks, is very hard to join, I ask Brooker whether there’s competition, but he says it’s the opposite. ‘‘As long as somebody’s having something up, that’s good.’’ And indeed, the people we meet on the foreshore seem more than friendly, greeting one another with the apparently ritual ‘‘Show us your bits!’’ or ‘‘What you had up?’’ Since there are many variables affecting what’s on the ground (including the tide, the weather and even the number of boats, whose wakes wash mud off the foreshore), the surface will look different every single time out, lending the whole endeavor a bit of the gambler’s thrill. ‘‘I know good areas and I know what to look for, but at the end of the day it’s luck,’’ Brooker says. It’s the mudlarks, he explains, who bring honor and order to the enterprise, making sure people play by the rules and register their finds. Every single object, he insists, is part of a massive history puzzle, and anyone who picks something up and takes it home is essentially hiding a puzzle piece from the rest of the world. Some of the puzzle pieces Brooker’s found have included a Roman sandal, a 17th-century prisoner’s ball and chain and a pot lid from a jar of bear’s grease, a purported cure for baldness. ‘‘Me, being bald, just by having that pot lid,’’ he says, ‘‘it’s just a brilliant story about how in the 1880s there were people who believed they would get their hair back.’’ The object he currently pines for is a cannon on the riverbed at Rotherhithe, on the south bank. The cannon torments him, sometimes emerging from the water at low tide, sometimes not, but he’s never been able to get to it and bring it up. ‘‘It could be off a really famous ship, we don’t know yet,’’ he says with a sigh. ‘‘It’s always playing with your mind.’’ As for me, the Victorian china I’ve been gathering may be beneath Brooker’s notice (after a few more times out, he assures me, I won’t even bother picking it up), but I am thoroughly hooked. From now on, any trip to London is going to involve a look at the tide tables on the Port of London Authority Web site, and my trusty Wellies. And maybe a tetanus shot. But I’m definitely coming back. n

ESSENTIALS: MUDLARKING

The rules pertaining to mudlarking are complicated, with some foreshores owned by the Crown and others owned by the Port of London Authority (pla.co.uk), whose Web site provides tide tables and permit applications. Travelers who wish to experience mudlarking should contact the Thames Explorer Trust (thames-explorer.org.uk), which schedules guided walks along the foreshore. To take many mudlarking finds out of the country requires an export license; for information about obtaining one, contact the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (mla.gov.uk). The Museum of London works with members of the public to record archaeological findings through the Portable Antiquities Scheme (finds.org.uk). The Society of Thames Mudlarks is small (about 50 members) and not open to the public. Steve Brooker’s Thames and Field offshoot is more accessible (thames andfield.com), with thousands of photographs of club members’ finds.

West of Eden Above: Tangier expats do their socializing at home, in places like Christopher Gibbsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tranquil garden; Facing page: Jonathan Dawson with his majordomo, cook and pet rooster on his rooftop terrace.

The Last casbah

with Marrakesh now miami in a caftan, Tangier remains the destination du jour for romantic dropouts. by

christopher petkanas

photographs by

ambroise tézenas

The French took pity on their cooks and stopped serving cheese soufflés 30 years ago, but not Jonathan Dawson, a British journalist in his 60s who turned in his press card to become a voluptuary in Tangier, a full-time job in this Moroccan city within winking distance of Spain. When I phoned Dawson to introduce myself and invite him for a drink, he cut me off, insisting, ‘‘But you’re coming to me today!’’ — a perfect example of how Tangier society and its famous grapevine works. I had had dinner the night before with the retired antiques dealer Christopher Gibbs, whose clients-slash-chums have included everyone from Jaggers to Rothschilds, and before the last morsel had been downed, a big lunch party at Dawson’s was already in the works. In Tangier, you are only as grand as your rooftop terrace. Dawson’s tops off an apartment house that’s a little more distinguished than most buildings in the scrappy Ville Nouvelle, the architecturally neutral (and that’s being kind) ‘‘New City,’’ much of which went up after Morocco became a French and Spanish protectorate in 1912. Smothered in bougainvillea, Dawson’s terrace has jaw-dropping views of the port, Gibralter and Spain, not 10 miles across the strait. The table service at lunch was French, expertly executed by my host’s majordomo, a dwarf in a fez whom he rescued from a hard life on the streets, so it was difficult to be blasé. In the guise of a centerpiece, an uncaged parrot was fed grapes by Dawson as he stroked a pet rooster in his lap. The gossip, meanwhile, was fresh and unsparing. At a dinner a few nights before, the French

STARVED FOR AMUSEMENT, the city’s EXPATS ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR FRESH MEAT FOR PARTIES. ANY EXCUSE FOR A PARTY.

‘‘In London, if you want to get rid of something, you send it over to Christie’s or Sotheby’s and you’re done with it, you never see it again,’’ Gibbs told me over a nightcap on the Vieille Montagne, where he has reconstituted an ancient Portuguese chapel as a home for himself, and where Pasti, who’s a close friend, is doing the garden. ‘‘But the crazy way antiques are recycled here, your lovely old possessions turn up in somebody’s filthy stall in the Casa Barata flea market. You can never escape them.’’ The consulate crowd lived side by side with spies, money changers, grifters, gold dealers, the black sheep of good families, what Paul Morand described as ‘‘Nordic mill owners with morals as movable as their yachts’’ and men who chose Tangier simply because they liked sleeping with other men. Moroccans are naturally indulgent, Tangier natives even more so. Set in Tangier in the 1920s, Morand’s ‘‘Hecate and Her Dogs,’’ an erotic novella about a French banker and his mistress, both pedophiles, sketches this wonderfully: ‘‘If a tradesman called on one of us and got no answer, he would take his goods to the other’s house, with that calm composure which makes the manners of the Orient so accommodating.’’ In fact, if you were from some stuckup little tittle-tattle place like Philadelphia, the climate of forbearance could make you delirious. With its druggy profile and fleshy sins, Tangier had no fan in King Hassan II, who assumed the Moroccan throne in 1961, five years after independence. Flyblown Tangier was his blind spot — a stain, an embarrassment. So he held back development money, leaving it for dead. Bowles remembered how in 1989 thousands of people waited in

Rocking the casbah Clockwise from top: The Dar Baroud district of the medina; Cinémathèque de Tanger; Mort Zuckerman and Diane von Furstenberg in Tangier for Malcolm Forbes’s birthday party in 1989; the cafe inside the cinema.

Archive Images from Top: Cherie Nutting/June Bateman Fine Art; Ron Galella/Wireimage; All other photographs by Ambroise Tézenas.

consulate general had told delightedly of a meeting with the American ambassador to Morocco, where the ambassador revealed that he had no idea who Paul Bowles was. As I had attended the dinner, given by one of the casbah’s reigning hostesses, Laure Welfling, I was happy to confirm the story and earn my second scoop of soufflé. Lunch ended with some not very skilled acrobats throwing each other in the air. Cigars were passed, the latest international auction catalogs drowsily thumbed as guests lingered in squishy upholstery waiting for the claret to wear off. Later we trickled off to the Gran Cafe de Paris for tea, past the homeless boys sniffing glue and the spontaneous eruptions of garbage that pock even the poshest neighborhoods. Boho holdouts who roll out the carpet for libertines and eccentrics are falling like flies these days — think of Sayulita in Mexico, or José Ignacio in Uruguay — but not, inshallah, Tangier. The city’s contradictory charms, as they are wryly termed, its fabled mix of savoir-vivre and absolute crumminess, remain in good supply. While Marrakesh has turned into Miami in a caftan, with traveling ‘‘Sex and the City’’ hen parties, good old-fashioned decadence hangs on in Tangier, where the louche life is cultivated by its poster boy Dawson and a vast, colorful community of socially ferocious expats. (Bowles, of course, led the way for his generation, arriving in 1947 and never looking back.) If you are passing through Tangier and have anything at all to offer and make your presence known, the foreign set will adopt you in less time than it takes to stuff a sardine. Bored, starved for amusement and news of the outside world, the city’s fraternity of non-natives is always looking for fresh meat for its croquet parties, color-themed parties and Easter-hat parties. Any excuse for a party. At the top of the pyramid in an eye-bending matrix that would require 10 pages of footnotes are the interior designers Jean-Louis Riccardi, Stuart Church and François Gilles; the painters Claudio Bravo, Lawrence Mynott and ‘‘Gipi’’ de Richemont Salvy, Welfling’s husband; the philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy and his wife, Arielle Dombasle; the photographer Tessa Codrington and her husband, Stuart Wheeler, the immensely wealthy tycoon and UK Independent Party treasurer; the garden designers Madison Cox and Umberto Pasti; Pierre Bergé. . . . Minus the gentleman’s sport of pig sticking and the white gloves women wore even in the depths of the summer, Tangier society today is a hangover from the one that first took root in 1923, when France agreed to run the city with other colonial powers. Thus began Tangier’s ‘‘golden years’’ — the drugs, the smuggling, the Chinese menu of sex — as a free port and international zone governed by European delegations. By the time Morocco was handed back to the Moroccans, in 1956, the beau monde was made up mostly of the diplomatic corps. Which explains how the Mayfair peeress who asked me for cocktails one day has a villa packed with Vieux Paris silver-plate and Louis XVI armchairs covered in needlepoint scenes from La Fontaine’s ‘‘Fables.’’

and as an 11-year-old in 1955 she watched her sisters wash their petticoats in a sugar bath so they would be properly stiff for dinner at their grandfather’s with Juan Carlos, the future king of Spain. In her 20s, Codrington went on to have an affair with Rachid Alaoui, the grandson of Mohammed ben Moulay Arafa, the deposed sultan. From the new king’s first day in power the change was tangible, she writes in ‘‘Spirits of Tangier,’’ a kind of road map to Everyone Who Matters in the city. ‘‘Used to centuries of neglect by all the sultans,’’ the people were suddenly ‘‘treated to the sight of the young King driving himself to the mosque, going swimming and jet-skiing in the sea. The people were amazed.’’ Westerners stand by, mostly appalled by the viral building boom under way. ‘‘You must understand,’’ a top official

’for MANY, NOTHING’S CHANGED: servants are cheAP. hashish IS CHEAP. BOYS ARE CHEAP.’

told Pasti when he raged against the pillorying of nature, ‘‘everything you Europeans love, we Moroccans despise, and everything we love, you detest.’’ You don’t have to be an adept of the souk to notice that the brass workers and tailors are being squeezed out by teleboutiques offering Internet hookups. Or that the pagoda roofs attacking the countryside are not vernacular. Gilles, the interior designer, and I did the flea market one Sunday, returning to his villa down the street from Malcolm Forbes’s old compound for aperitifs on the terrace. One end has views across the tops of umbrella pines and the Emir of Qatar’s palace to the strait of Gibralter; the other end looks down on a mountain of building parts and putrefying junk. Gilles said that it had always been there. Oh, well, he shrugged. On to the next party. n

Mary Hilliard

vain along the waterfront to see the king’s ship come in: ‘‘Last night . . . the king was spirited aboard his train for Rabat. Neither he nor anyone in the government trusts the people of Tangier, and so he makes a point of not ever coming here if he can help it. I’ve never understood the official antipathy. . . .’’ In a way, Hassan’s inattention suited the tourists and blow-ins. For take the edge off Tangier and what have you got? Welfling, whose flamboyant caftans — one part Saint Laurent to two parts Lacroix — are sold at her namesake gallery in the medina, vows to leave it if it becomes like Marrakesh, drained of Moroccans. ‘‘There are times when I could die of boredom,’’ she said at home at Dar Cherif Ben Sadek, a trippy, willfully baroque palace jammed with a patchwork of Victorian, Moorish and Neo-Classical booty. ‘‘But with a 360-degree view of the Bay of Tangier, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, you see why we put up with it. Until the middle of the 15th century, the known world ended below our windows. Nec plus ultra!’’ With 50 rooms, more or less, Dar Cherif is the largest single-family dwelling in the old city. Built in the late 18th century as Spain’s first legation in Tangier, it went on to become a madras, a weapons arsenal and, just before Welfling took over, home to 10 households. ‘‘Delacroix visited in around 1830 when he was traveling through Morocco,’’ she said, ‘‘and 50 years later the French consul in Tangier wooed the daughter of his Spanish counterpart here. The unbelievable coincidence is that the Frenchman was Vicomte Roger de Richemont — my husband’s great-grandfather.’’ People don’t move to Tangier in the deliberate, targeted way they move, say, to Miami. With a vague program of escape or reinvention, they tend to just wash up, estranged or at loose ends. Pierre Le-Tan, the New Yorker artist and longtime connoisseur of Tangier, observed that everyone in the city gives the impression of having ended up there for reasons that are unknown even to themselves, or else ‘‘inavouables.’’ Pasti started out in 1985 on the Nouvelle Montagne with two ravishing little 1920s pavilions, then commissioned a third that he ‘‘hammered, scratched, scrapped and tortured’’ until it was indistinguishable from its older neighbors. He is known in Tangier as a great host and an even greater demagogue: ‘‘The government has destroyed everything!’’ he raved. ‘‘What’s been done to the Forêt Diplomatique, it’s like if you razed Central Park or the Bois de Boulogne! Tangier had the largest concentration of white flowers in the Mediterranean, and we’re losing three to four species a year. All the construction money is dirty money. Hashish money. And there’s a total lack of urban planning. They put everything in the same place: factories, office blocks, rental villas. The expats try to ignore it all. They’d rather gossip. For a lot of people it’s still the old Tangier: servants are cheap. Hashish is cheap. Boys are cheap.’’ But the expat colony’s worst fears came true this winter when the events convulsing the Middle East reached its doorstep. Most of the real power in Morocco resides with Mohammed VI, who was all of 35 when he succeeded his father on Hassan’s death in 1999. The mostly peaceful demonstrations in Tangier and Marrakesh called for remedies that would restrict the king’s authority and create a more legitimate democracy: a constitutional monarchy, like Britain’s, with a parliament with teeth. But while Hassan was often characterized as a brutal despot, his son, ‘‘M6,’’ is seen as an advocate of the poor and of social reform — and he’s just crazy about Tangier. He wants to transform the city into a slick, up-to-the-minute, full-service resort appealing to vacationers, home buyers and yacht owners with more traditional appetites: Morocco’s answer to Dubai. Many, like Codrington, the photographer, strain to see the glass as half full. Her family has been sunning here for four generations,

Malcolm in the middle Left: Forbes at his birthday party with Elizabeth Taylor. Above: relaxing at the Cercle de Musique Arabo-Andalouse.

Ambroise Tézenas

Essentials: Tangier, Morocco Hotels Dar Sultan When you can’t

spring for the Nord-Pinus or get into the Tangerina. 49, rue Touila, Kasbah;+212-5-39-33-60-61; doubles from about QR475. Hôtel Nord-Pinus Tanger Sister hotel to the Nord-Pinus in the South of France, and even more stylish. 11, rue du Riad Sultan, Kasbah; +212-6-61-22-81-40; doubles from QR1,004. La Tangerina Hotel Excellent value and beautifully appointed, with knockout views of the Strait of Gibraltar. 19, rue du Riad Sultan, Kasbah;+212-5-39-94-77-31; doubles from QR292.

Restaurants Casa d’Italia The gratin of Tangier’s canteen for good-to-slightly-better-than-good Italian food. Palais des Institutions Italiennes;+212-5-39-93-63-48; entrees from QR25 to QR75. Chez Abdou Paella and fish you choose yourself amid a deliriously kitschy décor on the beach 20 minutes outside of town. Forêt Diplomatique, route de Rabat;+212-6-42-33-66-01; entrees from QR25 to QR100. El Dorado A been-around-forever, roll-upyour-sleeves Ville Nouvelle joint, specializing in whole fish grilled over a wood fire. 21, rue Allal Ben Abdellah;+212-5-39-94-33-53; entrees from QR15 to QR100. Le

Salon Bleu Charming multilevel tea salon overlooking the Place de la Kasbah, with the same owners as the Dar Nour hotel. 71, rue Amrah;+212-6-54-32-76-18; mint tea and pastry QR20. Marhaba Palace Restaurant Ho-hum (if that) couscous and tagines, but oh, the decorating, an eye-bending Arabic-Andalusian cocktail. 69, rue de la Kasbah;+212-5-3993-79-27; entrees from QR40 to QR92. Shopping Bazar Tindouf An archaeological retail experience when you can’t face the Casa Barta flea market. 64, Rue de la Liberté;

011-212-5-39-93-15-25. Boutique Majid Exhaustive selection of antique textiles and Berber bijoux. 66, rue les Almouhades;+212-5-39-93-88-92. Galerie Laure Welfling With YSL no longer around to run up a couture caftan, Ms. Welfling to the rescue. 3, Place de la Kasbah;+212-5-39-9497-89. Galerie Tindouf Super-highend antiques, from Imari vases and Orientalist paintings to metallicembroidered silk caftans. 72, rue de la Liberté;+212-5-39-93-86-00. Madini No No. 5 here; the perfumery sells only its own encyclopedic range. 5, boulevard Pasteur;+ 212-5-39-93-43-88.

* All prices indicative

photograph by elena chien

The New York Times Style Magazine

WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FASHION AND BEAUTY SUMMER 2011

one word: plastic artwork by christina kim of dosa

trends

CABLE NEWS • VINTAGE DRESSES • COAT DU JOUR

N .1 the NOVELTY knit o

CHUNKY, CABLED, CAPED OR CROPPED, It's what's up top.

Photographs by Paul maffi Fashion editor: Vanessa Traina

SPANGLISH THAT WOULD BE A SHEER SPANGLED SKIRT PAIRED WITH AN ENGLIsH JUMPER. Christopher kane sweater, QR7,975, and Skirt, QR11,388. for sweater, go to barneys .com. for skirt, go to net-a-porter.com. david webb brooch, price on request. go to davidwebb .com. solange azagurypartridge ring, QR168,630. go to solangeazagury partridge.com. Louis vuitton handbag, about QR11,753. Prada key chains, From QR694.

* All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

rib cagey BELT THE BULK FOR A DISTINCTIVE LOOK. Versus sweater, QR2,172. Proenza schouler purse (strap used as belt), QR4,471. go to proenzaschouler .com. Rochas pants, QR3,322. go to barneys .com. Solange azagurypartridge necklace, QR700,800, and rings, QR5,475 and QR22,630. Gianvito rossi shoes, QR2,956. go to gianvitorossi.com.

trends

weight bearing it's modern to juxtapose textures as well as patterns. jil sander sweater, QR7,227. david webb brooch, price on request. solange azagury-partridge ring, QR111,690. balenciaga by nicolas ghesquiĂ¨re clutch, QR10,020. louis vuitton skirt, about QR4,928.

mixed metaphor a victorian-looking skirt hobnobs with a '50s-style alpaca sweater. Missoni sweater, QR3,485. Marc jacobs shirt, QR1,807. comme des garĂ§ons skirt, QR8,267. balenciaga by nicolas ghesquiĂ¨re shoes, QR6,552. chopard ring and earrings, price on request. Fashion assistant claudia codron. hair by leonardo manetti for ION Studio at Community NYC. makeup by maud laceppe for nars cosmetics at community nyc. manicure by rica romain for Chanel at see management. model: charlotte free.

trends

N .2 the maxi coat o

a long, lean look just got longer.

Photographs by sebastian kim Fashion editor: ethel park

* All prices indicative. For availability & boutique details check Brand Directory on Page 98.

floor show extreme verticality softened by a shawl collar. Hakaan coat, QR16,626, and jumpsuit, QR5,055. at opening ceremony. Marc jacobs boots, QR4,362. haider ackermann coat, about QR9,200. Go to barneys. com. haider ackermann Waistcoat, QR10,585. go to bergdorfgoodman .com. haider ackermann skirt, QR4,307, and belt, QR2,630. at jeffrey. edmundo Castillo boots, QR3,741. go to shopbop.com.

BEDROOM THIGHS what could be sexier than a BATHROBE COAT with a skirt slit up to here? Giorgio armani coat, QR206,225. Balmain shirt, QR6,570, and skirt, QR111,325. max mara coat, price on request. Marc jacobs pants, QR5,840. Reed Krakoff boots, QR9,472.

BLUE BIRDS AN ANKLEGRAZING PUFFer MIXES UTILITY AND GLAMOuR. acne coat, QR4,490. go to acnestudios.com. Dries van noten top QR5,351, and skirt, QR6,019. Go to bergdorfgoodman.com. Michael Kors coat, QR9,472. givenchy by riccardo tisci sweater, QR8,103, blouse, Price on request, and skirt, QR8,614 at jeffrey. Hair by brent lawler for oribe at streeters. makeup by stevie huynh at the wall group. Manicure by michina koide for nars cosmetics. Models: Tao Okamoto and Ming Xi.

CREDIT GOES HERE TK

trends

SET IN STONE WITH THE STATUESQUE BEAUTY OF SUPERMODEL ERIN O’CONNOR, THE MAGNIFICENT BACKDROP OF LONDON’S VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM, AND THE MOST SPECTACULAR GOWNS, THE IMAGE-MAKER MOHIEB DAHABIEH PUTS HAUTE COUTURE ON A PEDESTAL LIKE NEVER BEFORE. DEFTLY AND RICHLY PARALLELISING BETWEEN MASTERWORKS OF CLASSICAL ART AND CONTEMPORARY FASHION, HE TAKES GLAMOUR TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. PHOTOS MODA’S TOUCH

DRESS: CHANEL HAUTE COUTURE. JEWELLERY: MOUSSAIEFF.

DRESS: STEPHANE ROLLAND HAUTE COUTURE. JEWELLERY: MOUSSAIEFF.

DRESS: GEORGES CHAKRA HAUTE COUTURE. JEWELLERY: MOUSSAIEFF.

DRESS: GAULTIER PARIS. JEWELLERY: MOUSSAIEFF.

DRESS: ALEXANDER MCQUEEN. JEWELLERY: MOUSSAIEFF.

CREATIVE DIRECTION: MOHIEB DAHABIEH PRODUCTION: CHRISTIAN HELLAND OUFF MODEL: ERIN O’CONNOR AGENCY: D MANAGEMENT (MILAN) SPECIAL THANKS: RAMY R. A.

DRESS: STEPHANE ROLLAND HAUTE COUTURE. JEWELLERY: MOUSSAIEFF.

brand directory Aigner

Blue Salon - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44466111 Highland - The Mall - 44678678 1 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1051

A. Lange & Sohne

Al Majed Jewellery - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44478888

Agent Provocateur

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2271

Alexander McQueen

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2231

Amouage

51 East -Al Maha Center - Salwa Road - 44257777

Armani Exchange

Villaggio Mall - 44135222

Balmain

51 East - Al Maha Center - Salwa Road - 44257777

Balenciaga

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1861

Banana Republic

Villaggio Mall - 44135222

Barbara Bui

Zai - Salwa Road - 44092600

Calvin Klein

10 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2561

Carolina Herrera

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134748

Cartier

Cartier Boutique - Royal Plaza 44131381 Cartier Boutique - Villaggio Mall Via Domo - 44507798

Celine

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134763

Chloe

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2181 Villaggio Mall - 44135222

Christian Dior

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44135222

Chopard

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44519900

Cugini

2 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1471

Damiani

Blue Salon - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44466111

Betty Barclay

David Morris

Berluti

Diesel

Emporium Shopping Centre 44375796/98 Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44161860

Bikkembergs

Blue Salon - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44466111

Blumarine

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1811

Boss Orange

Salam Plaza - 44485555 The Mall - 44551325 Porto Arabia,The Pearl Qatar 44953876 Extn 1521

Bottega Veneta

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44507354

Breitling

Blue Salon - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44466111

Brioni

51 East -Al Maha Center - Salwa Road - 44257777

Burberry

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134551

Bvlgari

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134568/44134566

Canali

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1831

Ali Bin Ali Watches & Jewellery Royal Plaza - 44131391 Salam Stores - 44485555 4 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1701

Dolce & Gabbana

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44161007

D&G

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44135222

Domenico Vacca

1 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1061

Dunhill

Royal Plaza - 44131381 Villaggio Mall - 44134788

Diptyque

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2241

Elie Saab

Zai - Salwa Road - 44092600

Emporio Armani

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2161

Ermenegildo Zegna

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134765

Fendi

Al Majed Jewellery - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44478888 Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44135222

Franck Muller

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44519900

Frette

Royal Plaza - 44360560 Landmark Shopping Mall 44874331

Galliano

4 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1771

Georg Jensen

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2251

GF Ferre

4 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1631/1641

Giorgio Armani

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1921

Giovanni Ferraris

Al Muftah Jewellery - Al Sadd 44441320 Al Muftah Jewellery - Royal Plaza - 44131341 Al Muftah Jewellery - City Centre 44833000

Giuseppe Zanotti Design

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2291

Givenchy

Just Cavalli

4 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1751

Kenzo

Porto Arabia - Parcel 4 - The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 - Extn 1991 Emporium Shopping Centre 44375796/98

Lacoste

Villaggio Mall - 44507191 Landmark Shopping Mall 44887604

LeoPizzo

Ali Bin Ali W & J - Royal Plaza 44131391

Loewe

Zai - Salwa Road - 44507356 Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44507356

Love Moschino

2 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1061 Emporium Shopping Centre 44375796/98

Louis Vuitton

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134927

The Mall - 44678888

Gucci

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134612

Harry Winston

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44519900

Harmont & Blaine

2 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1481

Hermes

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1911

Hublot

Al Majed Jewellery - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44478888 Al Majed Jewellery - Villaggio Mall - 44507701

Hugo Boss

Salam Plaza - 44485555 The Mall - 44672200 The Gate - 44077162 Extn 320

Ice Iceberg

4 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1651

Jaeger LeCoulture

Al Majed Jewellery - Villaggio Mall - 44507701 Al Majed Boutique - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street -Al Saad - 44478888

John Galliano

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2301

John Richmond

4 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1741

Maurice Lacriox Watches

Blue Salon - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44466111

M Missoni

4 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1691

Marc Jacobs

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134767

Montblanc

Villaggio Mall - 44507009 The Mall - 44674920 City Center - 44839532 Royal Plaza - 44131398 The Four Seasons Hotel 44935288

Mulberry

1 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 - Extn 1111

Nespresso

Blue Salon - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44466111

Omega

Rivoli Prestige - City Center 44833679 Rivoli Prestige - Villaggio Mall 44519750 Rivoli Prestige - Landmark Shopping Mall - 44873190 Rivoli Prestige - The Mall 44678866

Pal Zileri

Blue Salon - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44466111 The Mall - 44678888

Panerai

Villaggio Mall - 44135222

Al Majed Jewellery - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44478888

Paris Hilton Bags

Royal Plaza - 44131381

Prada

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44135222

Ulysse Nardin

Ali Bin Ali Jewellery - City Centre 44838012/44838034

Valentino

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44135222

Van Cleef & Arpels

Villaggio Mall - 44129399

Qatar Airways Office - Airport Road - 44453800

Ralph Lauren

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44135655

Rene Caovilla

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1851

Richard Mille

Ali Bin Ali W & J - Royal Plaza 44131391

Rizon Jet

Behind Doha International Airport - 44991878

Roberto Cavalli

Villaggio Mall - 44135222 7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2151

Rolex

51 East -Al Maha Center - Salwa Road - 44361111/44257777

Schreiner

Ali Bin Ali W & J - Royal Plaza 44131391

Sonia Rykiel

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1801

Vera Wang

Qatar

1 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 5157

Vertu

DESERT FOX

Qatar Executive

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION DON’T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST THESE HEAT-SEEKING GETUPS. PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATTHIAS VRIENS

Patek Philippe

Rivoli Prestige - City Center 44833679 Rivoli Prestige - Landmark Shopping Mall - 44873190 Rivoli Prestige - The Mall 44678866 Rivoli Prestige - Villaggio Mall 44519750

Versace

where style lives.

Al Majed Jewellery -Versace Boutique - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44477333

Versace Collection

Villaggio Mall - 44135437

Virgin Megastore

Villaggio Mall - 44135824 Landmark Shopping Mall 44182242

Weekend Max Mara

2 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1611

Zenith

Blue Salon - Suhaim Bin Hamad Street - 44466111

Sephora

Landmark Shopping Mall 44875222 Villaggio Mall - 44135222

Sergio Rossi

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876

Salvatore Ferragamo

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1941

Stefano Ricci

6 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 1791

Stella McCartney

7 La Croissette Porto Arabia -The Pearl Qatar - 44953876 Extn 2281

S.T. Dupont

Royal Plaza - 44341765

Swarovski

Landmark Shopping Mall 44838158

Tanagra

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134780

Tod's

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134937

Tiffany & Co.

Villaggio Mall- Via Domo 44134976

51 East

City Center Doha Salwa Road - 44257777

Blue Salon

Suhaim Bin Hamad Street 44466111/44678888

Emporium

PAINT IT BLACK TOM FORD BLACK JACKET, $ 2,780, AND GRAY PAJAMA SHIRT, $1,990 (SOLD AS A SET). GO TO BERGDORFGOODMAN.COM. PREVIOUS SPREAD: SAME OUTFIT, ALONG WITH Y’S BLACK DRAWSTRING PANTS, $ 800. GO TO YOHJIYAMAMOTO.CO.JP. FASHION ASSOCIATE: BIFEN XU. GROOMING BY NATHALIE NOBS AT ARTLIST. SET DESIGN BY JEAN-HUGUES DE CHATILLON. FASHION EDITOR: BRUCE PASK.

BORN TO THE PURPLE LANVIN DRESS, $ 3,563. GO TO BERGDORFGOODMAN.COM. OPPOSITE: MIU MIU DRESS, $1,790. GO TO MIUMIU.COM. CHANEL SHOES, $795. GO TO BERGDORFGOODMAN.COM. FASHION ASSISTANT: BRITT MARIE KITTELSON. HAIR BY DIDIER MALIGE FOR FRÉDÉRIC FEKK AI. MAKEUP BY FULVIA FAROLFI FOR CHANEL. MANICURE BY ROZA ISRAEL FOR BOBBI BROWN. SET DESIGN BY ANDREA STANLEY AT THE WALL GROUP. COLE & SON WALLPAPER FROM LEEJOFA.COM.

Suhaim Bin Hamad Street 44375796/44375798

Royal Plaza

Al Sadd Street - 44130000

Salam Studio & Stores

Salam Plaza - Near City Centre 44485555 Salam Stores - The Mall 44672200

The Mall

D-Ring Road - 44678888

The Gate

Maysaloun Street - West Bay 44932524

Villaggio

Al Waab Street - 44135222

Write to us if you have a question, comment or need help finding a fashion brand retailer. For any additions, amendments or corrections please contact us at info@omsqatar.com.

If you want your preferred customers or guests to receive VIP copies, join our “Preferred Destination Program” email: tqatar@omsqatar.com or call Patricia on +974-44550983 99

timely

Jules Marquis

Art in America

Whether by filming an ode to NBC in a field or by having small-town Little Leaguers pace around a New York gallery and mutter ‘‘good game’’ to one another, Colin Snapp (left) and Daniel Turner frequently take aspects of globalized culture and consumerism and trickle them down to a rural level. The two New York-based artists, who recently began exhibiting collaborative work under the name Jules Marquis (julesmarquis.com), share a Greenpoint studio but regularly shuttle to southeast Virginia, where they’ve created a nonprofit art space on a corner of the Turner family farm. Named Jericho Ditch (jerichoditch.com), after a local logging canal, it serves as a venue and creative getaway for fellow artists. It also embodies the Jules Marquis ethos: from the outside, it’s a shed in a field; inside, it’s a big-city-gallery-style white box lighted by symmetrical fluorescent tubes. Snapp and Turner have two shows opening in June: at Jericho Ditch and at Martos Gallery in New York. 100

P H O T O G R A P H B Y C ameron K rone . fashion editor : ethel park .

On Snapp: rag & Bone shirt, QR1,080. go to bergdorfgoodman.com. bottega veneta jeans, QR263. go to bottegaveneta.com. on turner: G-Star shirt, QR475, and jeans, QR770. go to g-star.com. t by alexander wang t-shirt, QR263. go to alexanderwang.com. Grooming by david von cannon for dermalogica.

BY j a c o b b r o w n