Showing posts with label Entertainment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entertainment. Show all posts
Dubai's Latest Luxury: Gold Wine
Dubai built the world's tallest building, put a ski slope inside a shopping mall and gave its cops a Lamborghini for a police car. Where else would you sell a $150 bottle of 'halal' non-alcoholic sparkling white wine with flecks of 24-carat edible gold leaf gleaming at the bottom? It makes sense in Dubai, a Gulf Arab emirate that attracts tourists with the promise of an opulent lifestyle. Or so Tony Colley, head manager of Lootah Premium Foods, which distributes the wine, told Reuters. "It has gold in it for no good reason apart from it's fun, it's fantastic, it's frivolous, it's totally Dubai," Colley said recently at the Bystro restaurant, where the sleek bottles are on display. Bystro owner Josh Benson said the gold-leaf bottles were offered a few weeks ago. The restaurant had begun offering non-alcoholic wines in general a few months ago, and they went over well. "For people that cannot drink ... it's a nicer thing to have with a steak than a Pepsi," Benson said.
Dyala Nusseibeh Harnesses Art Population
Dyala Nusseibeh has always had a head for the arts. Her father, Zaki Nusseibeh, is a cultural adviser to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, and has been an adviser and interpreter for the leaders of the country since 1968. As his youngest daughter, she fondly remembers countless childhood road trips around the cultural capitals of Europe including Florence, Rome and Barcelona, and agrees that it probably played a vital role in shaping her future. Last year, she launched ArtInternational, an art fair in Istanbul aimed at harnessing the growing population of art collectors there and in the wider region. The fair’s second edition will open on Friday and it promises to be bigger and better than the first. Establishing an identitIstanbul is no stranger to culture or to art fairs. One of the regional heavyweights in terms of history and a hub for the arts, the city already hosts Contemporary Istanbul, which takes place at a number of venues each November, as well as the slightly smaller Artist-Istanbul, which concentrates on antiques and artifacts. So how did Nusseibeh go about making her fair stand out?
Hasan Hejazi The Fashion Designer For The Stars
Audi Middle East have collaborated with Fashion designer to the stars, Hasan Hejazi to bring his inaugural catwalk show this October at the Middle East’s definitive fashion platform Fashion Forward (FFWD). His catwalk show, will feature some of Hasan’s favourite archive pieces, famously worn by his celebrity clientele, as well as an all-new collection for Spring/Summer ‘15 that will feature a clean fresh colour palette in luxurious embroidered fabrics and silks. Hasan is renowned for specialising in glamorous luxury women’s evening wear, working with an enviable celebrity client list including Kylie Minogue, Jourdan Dunn, Eva Longoria, Jessie J, Cheryl Cole and Paloma Faith. The show’s highlight will be the premiere of a unique dress, inspired by Audi, to mark Hasan’s debut. Renowned for statement gowns that demand attention, the one-off piece has been inspired by Audi’s design cues of purity, intrigue, creativity, sophistication and originality.
Sophia Al-Maria's Film Turned Into Exhibition
Artist Sophia Al-Maria, who describes herself as ”Qatarican” – her father has a Bedouin background and her mother is American – got the world was at her feet. Her memoir, The Girl Who Fell to Earth (2012) had just been published to spectacular reviews praising her elegiac descriptions of a changing Gulf environment. Her essays and artworks looking at “Gulf Futurism” – a phrase she coined to express the importance of technology and consumerism to the area – had grabbed the attention of taste-making magazines around the world. And most intriguingly of all, the Girl with a Pearl Earring director Peter Webber was set to produce her directorial debut, a revenge action- thriller set in Cairo. Eighteen months later, however, and Al-Maria isn’t at the Venice International Film Festival discussing the snippets of the film she called Beretta. Instead, we’re in a gallery space at Manchester’s Cornerhouse arts venue and Beretta has metamorphosed into a sprawling art exhibition called Virgin with a Memory. There are video installations re-enacting proposed sequences from the film, adapted billboard posters used in the research, fragmented audition tapes, an Arabic translation of the script, imitation music videos and a short film made from the original rushes.
Afiya Khalid: A Personal Grooming Entrepreneur
When Afiya Khalid’s childhood interest in becoming a make-up artist began to mature in her teenage years, she practiced her techniques on her family, friends and neighbors. That was as a 16-year-old, and although her make-up and henna creations helped her win the support of her family to pursue her dream job, it was another decade before the Emirati made the move. Instead she took a traditional career path, entering the banking industry after leaving school, and spending the past 16 years working as a senior product manager. In 2008, Ms Khalid decided to go back to class. She graduated from a six-month course at the Makeup For Ever Academy in Paris, where she learnt how to transform any face into picture-perfect. “Before I went to the institute I didn’t know what’s the perfect shape for a face,” says Ms Khalid, now 34. “Now I know how to control the nose, for instance, and can do make-up for all kinds of faces and eyes.” However, it wasn’t until May this year that she finally decided to turn her hobby into a business venture, launching her eponymous enterprise afiyakhalid.com in Dubai via a business licence called Intilaq for Emirati entrepreneurs.
Palestinians Revolt Against War By Art
Palestinian filmmaker Khalil Mozayen’s latest work was already complexly layered — a movie within a movie about a director and screenwriter producing a film about an honor killing in the Gaza Strip. Then the latest Gaza war burst in to add yet another layer: An Israeli airstrike levelled the 13-story apartment tower where Mozayen’s office, studio and archive were located. So he filmed the mountain of rubble and used it for the final scene of his movie, “Sarah 2014.” Mozayen had hoped to create a film not connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But he and his screenwriter Naim Al-Khatib said they decided they couldn’t avoid addressing the war. “It is like, as a Palestinian, you don’t have the right to have your own dream, that everything in your life has to have something to do with war and (Israeli) occupation,” said Al-Khatib, who also plays the fictional screenwriter in the movie. “The occupation crashed our privacy ... and the war became an integral part of the film’s ending,” he said. The themes and reality of war impose themselves on Gaza’s small but vibrant arts scene, and the latest war has been a powerful inspiration for its artists in their new work.
Sports Marketing And Entertainment Go Hand-In-Hand
Today’s sporting events welcome people of all ages and backgrounds seeking more than just their share of action on the pitch. Crowds at the biggest sporting events are placing more value in the entertainment and pleasure they offer off the pitch, and businesses are quickly responding to this. Gone are the days of stadiums filled with statistic-obsessed teenagers and fans dressed head-to-toe in sportswear. Event organizers in the region are rapidly revamping their entertainment offerings at events in a bid not only to grow audiences, but to enhance the overall experience. Sponsors are spending as much on their activation budgets as they are on acquiring the event rights in the first place. The commercial dynamics of sport and entertainment are more intertwined than ever before. The industry is developing entertainment-driven strategies around its major sporting events on a global scale that is far superior than it was a decade or two ago. Think Shakira at the 2010 World Cup, cheerleaders at IPL Cricket, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at the Super Bowl, and Hollywood A-listers sitting court-side at the NBA– it is now impossible to keep the worlds of sport and entertainment apart. People are buying tickets to today’s events expecting to be entertained and, with this in mind, the responsibility of sports entities is evolving.
Bassam Fattouh A Pioneer Beyond The Makeup World
As a young boy, Bassam Fattouh loved art, painting, design, and beauty and the way they opened the door to fantasy and the imagination. He could see beauty anywhere and could capture this attractiveness. He delighted in grabbing a pen and re-doing the make-up seen on models and celebrities in magazines. He knew this was his calling and so he went to study at the prestigious Paris Carita Beauty Institute. This marked a major turning point in his life and the start of his realizing his dream. It prompted him to develop a different approach and unique philosophy. And this eye-opening experience led him to open his first institute in Beirut, Lebanon in 1997.From day one Bassam Fattouh was a pioneer. He was the first make-up artist to launch a full-blown advertising campaign in the region. It was the talk of the town, and this move attracted people’s interest. But it was ultimately his talent and philosophy that established his solid reputation.
Women From MENA At Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards
Started in 2006, the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards aim to identify, support and encourage resourceful ideas by women ‘treps globally. Developed by Cartier, the Women’s Forum, McKinsey & Company and INSEAD, so far they’ve helped over 120 potential female businesspeople and recognized 38 Laureates. Three promising women from each region are nominated, and go through two rounds that include mentorship and a presentation of their respective business plans for jury evaluation. One Laureate is chosen per region and receives US$20,000 of funding, one year of coaching, networking opportunities and media exposure. Who are the three women representing the MENA region this year? Hailing from UAE is May Habib, Founder and CEO of Qodoba, a tech company using “proprietary software” to enhance “localization and translation.” With lack of quality Arabic content online, the company has shaken up the overlooked industry, raising $1.5m in Series A funding. Next up is Mariam Hazem, Co-Founder of Reform Studio, which designs high-quality fashion products out of plastic bags.
UAE The First Arab Country to Sell The iPhone 6
UAE consumers will have to wait at least three weeks before getting their hands on the Apple iPhone 6, which was launched in California on Tuesday night. As early as last Thursday, Apple fans began to camp outside the company’s flagship US store ahead of the launch. While an exact date for the UAE launch is not yet known, retailers in the country have estimated that it could be anywhere between three to six weeks before it arrives in local stores (or ten days online). The Khaleej Times, speaking to founder of online retailer JadoPado, Omar Kassim, estimated that the new iPhone could be available in the UAE as early as September 20, and could retail for somewhere in the region of AED3,100 ($750). “I’d expect a bit of a price premium for the first week or so, around eight to 10 per cent over Apple’s retail US prices, but I don’t expect it to change versus their current iPhone 5s prices,” Kassim said. “It is likely the iPhone 6 will be available in launch markets 10 days after the announcement.
Kareem Shamma Elaborates On Qatar's Spectacular Mall
Driving around Doha, evidence of Qatar’s rampant redevelopment agenda is at every turn. From the myriad road works to an entire metro rail system, sports stadia and new residential and commercial towers under construction, it’s a city in full transformation mode as it hurtles towards 2022 and hosting the FIFA World Cup tournament. About 15km north of downtown Doha and another sign of the capital’s burgeoning industries is literally rising from the desert on Al Shamal Road. Identifiable currently by the Middle East’s biggest IKEA store, which opened last March, work on the remainder of the QR6bn ($1.6bn) Doha Festival City (DFC) project is now well under way. When finished, it will be Doha’s biggest mall with a total gross leasable area (GLA) of 250,000sqm and the third of joint-venture partner Al Futtaim Group’s Festival City-branded destinations in the Middle East, after Dubai and Cairo. Comprising 550 outlets, it will feature a 15-screen cinema and an indoor-outdoor entertainment park, as well as the city’s first mall with an integrated hotel and conference center.
MENA Fashion Week In Dubai
Around 50 fashion designers will showcase their latest creations at the upcoming inaugural edition of Fashion Week MENA, slated to take place from October 1 to 4, 2014 in the glitzy Emirati city of Dubai. Expected to be attended by industry insiders, buyers, potential consumers and fashion editors and bloggers, the event will showcase fresh spring/summer 2015 collections from a talented mix of both regional aFand international names. The designers’ line up includes the likes of the India-born, Pakistan-raised and New York-based label Altaf Manneshia, who is known for his bold intricately detailed structured pieces, the house of Armani-trained talent known for his Eastern-influenced design sensibilities, Amber Feroz, and the London-born NYC-based international celebrity-favoured designer Charlotte Ronson whose designs are being favoured by Blake Lively, Kirsten Dunst, Nicole Richie, Rihanna, Diane Kruger, Leighton Meester and Kate Moss.
Private Jets Are Taxis For MENA CEOs
The use of corporate jets among CEOs is making a comeback in MENA, according to a leading operator. Over the last five years, the financial crisis saw corporations in the region curtailing their expenditure on luxury aviation travel, but now, Private Jet Charter is noticing a staggering rise in demand. The independent private jet consultants say that although the percentage of CEOs using private jets has now reached a total of 10 percent, this number is just the beginning and we will see more CEOs opting for this form of transportation in the upcoming years. “This trend is gaining greater momentum in MENA because of the upgraded civil aviation infrastructure with improved services for private jets,” said Ross Kelly, Managing Director for MENA, PJC. “We expect private jet travel to gain acceleration over the next five years as a result of an economic rebound in the region and greater interconnectivity amongst GCC countries.” A review of Federal Aviation Administration flight records revealed that dozens of jets operated by publicly traded corporations made over 30 percent of their trips to or from resort destinations.
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