Dubai Chronicle: Photo Gallery

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Dubai Culture and Arts Authority launched

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, today issued a decree establishing the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.

He also issued another decree appointing HH Sheikh Mayed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as Chairman of Culture and Arts Authority, and Dr Omar bin Sulaiman as member of the board and managing director in Charge.

The authority has been mandated with creating a culture and Arts infrastructure that positions Dubai as a vibrant, global city helping to shape 21st Century culture and arts in the region and the world. It will be at the forefront of the culture strategy, set out by Sheikh Mohammed as part of the overall Dubai Strategy 2015.

Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Board Member and Managing Director in Charge of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority said "The Authority will build on Dubai's status as one of the most multicultural cities in the world, where East meets West, and will actively encourage Dubai's community that embraces over 200 nationalities living and working together in harmony to contribute to the culture and heritage renaissance." He added that the launch of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority reflects Sheikh Mohammed's belief that culture and arts can make a major contribution to the social development of Dubai and the UAE. Building bridges and celebrating cultures from around the region and the world are key elements of Sheikh Mohammed's culture and heritage vision.

Sulaiman noted as developing and delivering outstanding international, regional and local cultural programming, the Culture and Arts Authority will support local and home grown talent and productions. It will work to preserve and promote local Emirati heritage, while, at the same time attracting the world's leading artists and cultural thinkers to become part of Dubai's modern renaissance. It will also promote and export Dubai's arts and culture to the region and the world.

The board of directors consists of Mohammed Al Murr, vice chairman, Dr Omar bin Sulaiman as member of the board and managing director in Charge, and members of Sheikh Majed Jaber Hamoud Al Sabah; HE Reem Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Paulo Coelho, Kito Mark Antonio De Boer, Omar Obaid Ghubash, Abdul Hameed Mohammed Juma, Yasser Saeed Hareb, Dr Aisha Khalifa Bulkhair, Dr Lamees Hamdan Al Shamsi, Shamsa Majed Quraiban, and Saeb Eigner.

The authority will develop a world-class arts and cultural infrastructure in Dubai. It will focus on creating an environment for creativity and innovation in visual arts, theatre, music, literature, poetry and various other arts. Several new cultural, arts and heritage entities will be created to drive innovative programs in all culture areas by working directly with leading global partners, arts organisations and Dubai's multicultural communities, will also be established.

A key part of the authority's work will be to incorporate arts and culture into the daily lifestyle of Dubai and use the arts to create synergies between Dubai's different cultures and to build a strong, unique cultural identity for all of Dubai. (WAM)

The world's largest arch bridge will be build in Dubai

New York architecture firm Fxfowle has released stunning design images of Dubai’s new $816.9 million bridge, which on completion will become the world's longest arch bridge.

Fxfowle’s design proposal was selected from four submissions from global design companies, and was inspired by ‘the rhythmic grace of Dubai Creek’s current, the elegant splendor of the sand dunes adjacent to the city, the lighting patterns of the lunar cycle and the design of the future Opera House’, the firm told London-based design news website World Architecture News.

The series of four images were released earlier this month, and include dramatic aerial night and day depictions of the completed arch bridge.
Construction is set to begin on the bridge next month and is expected to take four years. At 64 metres wide, the bridge will accommodate 12 lanes of traffic and a metro line running down its centre.

On completion the mega-bridge, which will measure 1,600 metres with an arch 205 metres high and 667 metres long, will overtake the Lupu Bridge in Shanghai as the longest in the world.

The bridge connects the Bur Dubai and Deira areas of the city and will be the sixth creek crossing. Currently the five Dubai Creek crossings are Al Shindagha Tunnel, Al Maktoum Bridge, the Floating Bridge, Al Garhoud Bridge and Business Bay Crossing.

The bridge will also include a metro station, an abra station and the manmade island on which an Opera theatre will be constructed.

Last month Mattar Al Tayer, executive director of the RTA, said the sixth crossing was one of the biggest projects ever undertaken by the RTA.

The RTA is currently investing around $22 billion in Dubai's transport infrastructure as it looks to reduce congestion.

Heritage photography of Dubai and surroundings: 1975-1980 - pictures of the past

Between 1975 and 1980 Anita van der Krol-van Hasselt (1946) from the Netherlands took hundreds of black and white photographs of everyday life in the Dubai area. Living as an expat in Jumeirah, she became one of the first inhabitants of Jebel Ali village. The wife of a Dutch dredging engineer who worked on the Creek, Port Rashid and Mina(harbour)Jebel Ali, Anita was in a unique position to shoot intimate pictures of Arab men, women and children. She managed to win their confidence and respect and their permission to be photographed. Since its date of origin Anita's B&W photographs have rapidly become part of Dubai's national history, because of the country's sweepingly fast development over the last decades. These selected photographs offer a rare insight into the inherent culture of Dubai just before the town started changing into the shiny metropolis we see emerging today.The Bedouin photographs from the desert must have been among the last taken, before this entire population group gave up their nomadic existence and settled down near the town.In the first few years an Olympus OM 35 SLR camera was used, followed by a Nikon F2a in later days. Source

State of the Art Track and Meydan City for Dubai

Meydan has been designed by the world renowned architects TAK, which over the past 10 years has won several awards and commendations and has pioneered new developments in Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan and Dubai.
Mr Teo A Khing, managing director of TAK, said: "The design as you approach the track is of a falcon, which is a defining symbol of the local heritage, and denotes decisiveness and speed.
"The racing facilities will be outstanding, but it's not just for the season. We want to maximize entertainment all year around. It can stage conferences, concerts, functions, and carry on through the off-season. It will be a tourist attraction as well as a business community."

The racetrack surfaces are designed by the Joesph H King company, which has been involved in the design and construction of the dirt tracks and turf courses at most major racing facilities in North America since the 1980s.