journalarabia

USA Sovereign Debt = $11,656 per capita*
UK Sovereign Debt = $12,343 per capita
UAE Sovereign Debt = $9,480 per capita

It seems like some of the recent coverage and commentary about Dubai’s financial situation are being written while smiling a little too widely in their editorial aspect with headlines like Sheikhy Foundations and Dubai Babylon: The glitz, the glamour – and now the gloom. It may be like poking fun at the person ahead of you in line to the gallows as if you were not also in that same line. The words of political statecraft, where officials are focused on national self-interest, are one thing, but in this interconnected world, I don’t see the value in articles of public record picking sides and reveling in the potential woes of other people.

While Dubai’s troubles are serious, they are by no means cataclysmic either and they are not alone in the world. The 3 million barrels of oil that are produced each day by the UAE at $50 per barrel would, in less than a year, equal all of Dubai World’s collective obligations. Sure, 95% of the oil reserves are in Abu Dhabi. But the ties that bind the country together are very strong as the celebrations of today’s 38th National Day attest. In the end, Abu Dhabi and Dubai will not part ways over this matter; they both need each other. It may in fact end up bringing the country closer together.

Anyway, I’m optimistic. While, in my personal opinion, the scale of development as it was conceived prior to 2008 was not sustainable and planned with too much emphasis on impressions, it is all past now. And this moment of pause will perhaps allow the planning of the city to proceed from here on out in a more measured and humanistic scale—one that is more aware of the environment, energy use, history, and universal human needs.

As guests residing here, we feel an affinity to the people and the place so perhaps we are a little biased. But I think that some of the recent coverage of the crisis sit in too lofty a judgement and paint with too broad a brush from outside while lacking an understanding of the more complicated history and context of the place.

Meanwhile, it may benefit the US and the UK to pay closer attention to stories about their own sovereign debt situation and stop using Dubai as a distraction.

*numbers at the top edited to reflect only debt held by foreign interests. It is a little confusing as to how to measure with strict parity. See here and here for more information. The USA total government debt does stand at over 13.4 trillion, but only 3.5 of that is foreign held. I think the numbers are now accurate comparisons. As percent of GDP is also a good measure to compare.

Global Village was the place to be last night. There must have been 50,000 people there. The Eid and National Day holiday week certainly increased the crowds, but we were told that it is pretty popular every night. The highlights were the Afghanistan Pavilion where Beth found the most amazing fashion accessory ever, the Palestine Pavilion where we purchased the most beautiful bowls, and the human cannonball show. We have to go back because we ran out of cash before we could purchase any of the special Yemeni honey that is for married couples only.

The USA Pavilion

These two holidays will not share a calendar date for another 10,000 years. So to celebrate, we went to lunch at Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and had fish and chips and caesar salad.

Getting ready for UAE National Day.

Evidence.

The mustached guy with the purple hat and vest was the creepiest part of our day. At one point moments before this photo, he was following us around with this crazed look. We didn’t stick around long enough to see what he did to Barney. Why were there costumed characters walking around the resort pool area? Why not?

On the way out from the resort, Beth spotted this Desert Hare next to the gate.

On the way home we stopped in the desert to take some nature-calendar-shots.

I was lucky enough to get a rare shot of a fully grown Desert Hare in its natural habitat coming up over the next dune.

They can be ferocious creatures. My excellent leporidae communication skills surely saved me from a similar fate.

Mounir Fatmi “The Machinery” 2009

Elizabeth and I went to the preview opening of the Abu Dhabi Art Fair at the invitation of thejamjar gallery. It was an amazing evening of VIP atmosphere and gorgeous weather. The only problem is that as we boarded the Art Bus, we realized that we had forgotten the camera. It is such a shame because the entire night was so photographic. Oh well. The only real VIP we spotted (after Marcello pointed him out to us) was Jean Nouvel as he inspected a large silver painted contoured wire frame gorilla.

We saw some great classic pieces among the contemporary mix. There were entire rooms devoted to Miro and to Calder for example. Of course the YBAs were prominently displayed. And there were a lot of interesting works by contemporary Arab artists like the one above by Mounir Fatmi. The verses on the blades are from the Qu’ran and Hadiths on the subjects of God and Beauty.

The galleries area opened up onto the expansive beach side plaza of the Emirates Palace Hotel where large installations continued including one by Calder. That was where you could grab your hors d’ouvres and a glass of wine or beer as they were carried around by the catering staff. The staff with the wine came around randomly and not quite frequently enough so that they were often being slowly chased by interested persons which had a sort of comic effect.

At the beach there was a pavilion set up with an outdoor majlis with a gentle breeze where most everyone ended up, sitting smoking shisha, chatting and gazing out into the pristine waters of the gulf where a large Arabic typographic installation piece was set up 20 meters out into the dark blue water.

I’ll have to get back to RAKWS since I showed up at closing time. But I did take some interesting photos from the perimeter of the reserve. From the website:

In October 2007 UNESCO, the Ramsar Convention’s legal depositary, announced that the United Arab Emirates is a declared Ramsar partner and that the Convention will enter into force on 29 December 2007. The UAE’s first Ramsar site is Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary (620 hectares), an area of sabkha saline flats, intertidal mudflats and mangroves, small lagoons and pools, and a few tiny islands which lies at the interface between the Arabian Gulf and the Al Awir Desert in the Emirate of Dubai – the name means ‘head of creek’ in reference to the 14km long watercourse known as the Dubai Creek, which is an important waterway in the area that serves as a focal point for the social and cultural life of Dubai.

During winter the site supports more than 20,000 waterbirds of 67 species and acts as a critical staging ground for the wintering birds of the East African-West Asian Flyway. The site hosts more than 500 species of flora and fauna and is one of the best-managed arid zone wetlands in the region. Located within Dubai city, it is an important tourist spot and received visitors from 98 countries in 2005-6. A marine biological field laboratory is present, and a visitors’ centre is under construction.

I pasted some cropped versions of the photographs of this beautiful blue-winged bird together here. The shot in the previous image is copied into the upper left corner.


The famous pink flamingos! I’ll get a closer look next time during visiting hours…

Yesterday, Bill Clinton spoke at AUD. The take-away content-wise is that he is speaking a more progressive-minded language about income disparity and the dangers of unregulated capitalism. If only he had acted with that mind while he was in office instead of triangulating with Phil Graham and Alan Greenspan to set up the arena for the bubble-collapse rich-get-richer system in which we find ourselves. But enough about hindsight. Always forward!

bubble-collapse metaphor?

The event itself had a very uplifting pep-rally theme.

We were in the front row of seats directly behind the back aisle which meant that once the speech had started we were unfortunately the victims of the standing-room-only situation and the late arrival of some high school students in front of us who made comprehension a challenge. So we left early and sadly had to miss the balloon drop. But we heard it was amazing and provided the industrious and spirited students with the great opportunity to demonstrate, on a massive scale, global economic implosions while Clinton made for the helicopter.

I have these photos from over the summer that I’ve been meaning to post. It’s Frank Lloyd Wright’s V.C. Morris Gift Shop near Union Square in San Francisco (now Xanadu Gallery).