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| Abu Dhabi scales cultural heights | Abu Dhabi scales cultural heights |
| (about 23 hours later) | |
| By Christian Fraser BBC News, Abu Dhabi | By Christian Fraser BBC News, Abu Dhabi |
| Abu Dhabi's polo facilities are world renowned | Abu Dhabi's polo facilities are world renowned |
| The new season is fast approaching at the al-Ghantoot Polo and Racing Club. | The new season is fast approaching at the al-Ghantoot Polo and Racing Club. |
| An hour's drive from Abu Dhabi, it is home to 200 pampered ponies that live in air-conditioned stables, their feed shipped in from Kentucky, their grooms from Argentina. | An hour's drive from Abu Dhabi, it is home to 200 pampered ponies that live in air-conditioned stables, their feed shipped in from Kentucky, their grooms from Argentina. |
| This is a club that plays host to kings and queens and no expense is spared. | This is a club that plays host to kings and queens and no expense is spared. |
| From barren, arid desert, the royal family has created four of the finest polo fields, watered every morning with hundreds of gallons of water. | From barren, arid desert, the royal family has created four of the finest polo fields, watered every morning with hundreds of gallons of water. |
| At 6am, before the blistering heat descends, the ponies are put through their paces in the training ring. | At 6am, before the blistering heat descends, the ponies are put through their paces in the training ring. |
| "Everything here is state of the art," says Tariq Mansoor, the club's events manager. | "Everything here is state of the art," says Tariq Mansoor, the club's events manager. |
| The whole intention is to make Abu Dhabi the hub of culture in the Middle East Nashwa al-Ruwaini Film festival director "We have 150 centrally air-conditioned stables. One of the princes is now a keen polo player," he adds. | The whole intention is to make Abu Dhabi the hub of culture in the Middle East Nashwa al-Ruwaini Film festival director "We have 150 centrally air-conditioned stables. One of the princes is now a keen polo player," he adds. |
| Horses have long fascinated the Arab world, but now there is much more. | Horses have long fascinated the Arab world, but now there is much more. |
| In Abu Dhabi the national stable of cultural and sporting assets is expanding at an extraordinary rate. | In Abu Dhabi the national stable of cultural and sporting assets is expanding at an extraordinary rate. |
| Speed merchants | Speed merchants |
| Arriving on the grid in November 2009 is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. | Arriving on the grid in November 2009 is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. |
| This month plans were announced for a $40bn racing track, complete with the world's first trackside hotel. | This month plans were announced for a $40bn racing track, complete with the world's first trackside hotel. |
| For the Lewis Hamiltons of this world it is hardly the ideal setting - temperatures in the car will rise to some 60 degrees centigrade. | For the Lewis Hamiltons of this world it is hardly the ideal setting - temperatures in the car will rise to some 60 degrees centigrade. |
| Johnny Herbert (l) is a regular at Abu Dhabi's motor circuitsBut no-one can fail to be impressed by the scale of the ambitions. | Johnny Herbert (l) is a regular at Abu Dhabi's motor circuitsBut no-one can fail to be impressed by the scale of the ambitions. |
| Britain's Johnny Herbert, the winner of three Formula One Grand Prix races and the Le Mans 24-hour race, was also champion of last year's Dubai Speedcar Series - a weekend festival of motor racing. | Britain's Johnny Herbert, the winner of three Formula One Grand Prix races and the Le Mans 24-hour race, was also champion of last year's Dubai Speedcar Series - a weekend festival of motor racing. |
| Recently he was testing cars in the Emirates. | Recently he was testing cars in the Emirates. |
| "It's not just about motorsport, it's golf, cricket, soccer. The building that's going on here is very diverse in what it's trying to achieve". | "It's not just about motorsport, it's golf, cricket, soccer. The building that's going on here is very diverse in what it's trying to achieve". |
| "It started from nothing. It's a very big, bold thing to do but the possibilities are endless," he added. | "It started from nothing. It's a very big, bold thing to do but the possibilities are endless," he added. |
| Cultural hub | Cultural hub |
| Away from the screaming F1 engines, the mood is somewhat quieter inside the plush Emirates Palace. | Away from the screaming F1 engines, the mood is somewhat quieter inside the plush Emirates Palace. |
| The five-star hotel which overlooks the Gulf in Abu Dhabi has just hosted the second Middle East International Film Festival - a relative newcomer to the film calendar but attracting, nonetheless, some of the biggest names in Hollywood. | The five-star hotel which overlooks the Gulf in Abu Dhabi has just hosted the second Middle East International Film Festival - a relative newcomer to the film calendar but attracting, nonetheless, some of the biggest names in Hollywood. |
| Shimmying down the red carpet this year were the likes of Antonio Banderas, Susan Sarandon, Meg Ryan and Catherine Deneuve. Abu Dhabi does nothing by halves. | Shimmying down the red carpet this year were the likes of Antonio Banderas, Susan Sarandon, Meg Ryan and Catherine Deneuve. Abu Dhabi does nothing by halves. |
| Already the sheikhs have sealed a $1bn deal with Hollywood giant Warner Bros and are offering the same amount for investment in film financing. | Already the sheikhs have sealed a $1bn deal with Hollywood giant Warner Bros and are offering the same amount for investment in film financing. |
| Nashwa al-Ruwaini is the film festival's director. The idea of bringing the Guggenheim and the Louvre here is all part of the cultural vision Hamid Kano Art gallery director | Nashwa al-Ruwaini is the film festival's director. The idea of bringing the Guggenheim and the Louvre here is all part of the cultural vision Hamid Kano Art gallery director |
| "The whole intention is to make Abu Dhabi the hub of culture in the Middle East, and a cultural destination for the world. It's going brilliantly," she says. | "The whole intention is to make Abu Dhabi the hub of culture in the Middle East, and a cultural destination for the world. It's going brilliantly," she says. |
| "The people who are the mega cinema players, they've started making deals with us because they see we mean business." | "The people who are the mega cinema players, they've started making deals with us because they see we mean business." |
| One positive result of the investment is the leverage to improve the image of Islam on the silver screen. | One positive result of the investment is the leverage to improve the image of Islam on the silver screen. |
| Chip Johannessen is a screenwriter for the American primetime crime show 24, which has been accused of casting a Muslim "bad guy" almost every other series. | Chip Johannessen is a screenwriter for the American primetime crime show 24, which has been accused of casting a Muslim "bad guy" almost every other series. |
| At the film festival, he took part in a round-table discussion that focused on the portrayal of Islam and the impact that this new investment could have on screenwriting in Hollywood. | At the film festival, he took part in a round-table discussion that focused on the portrayal of Islam and the impact that this new investment could have on screenwriting in Hollywood. |
| Is he worried that the new Arab investors will be calling the shots? | Is he worried that the new Arab investors will be calling the shots? |
| "We do commercial television, is the fact of the matter, and it would not be the first occasion that people can put a product [into the script] basically by buying time," he says. | "We do commercial television, is the fact of the matter, and it would not be the first occasion that people can put a product [into the script] basically by buying time," he says. |
| "I don't know that it's conceptually so much different to come in with a lot of money and say, 'I'm going to put my message out.' If your interests were compatible, it would work out," he adds. | "I don't know that it's conceptually so much different to come in with a lot of money and say, 'I'm going to put my message out.' If your interests were compatible, it would work out," he adds. |
| Artistic ambitions | Artistic ambitions |
| Aside from the film festival, Abu Dhabi will soon be hosting a branch of the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums: it has even attracted an outpost of the Sorbonne, the famous Paris university. | Aside from the film festival, Abu Dhabi will soon be hosting a branch of the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums: it has even attracted an outpost of the Sorbonne, the famous Paris university. |
| Years of western culture and tradition are being transplanted to the desert, where the Emiratis are greedily slaking their thirst for these new experiences. | Years of western culture and tradition are being transplanted to the desert, where the Emiratis are greedily slaking their thirst for these new experiences. |
| Hamid Kano is director of the Ghaf Gallery, the first and only commercial art gallery in Abu Dhabi.Art is becoming a major draw in the Emirates | |
| He recently held a private view for a collection of abstract painting and sculpture from Mexico. Mr Kano thinks attitudes are changing to western art - but slowly. | He recently held a private view for a collection of abstract painting and sculpture from Mexico. Mr Kano thinks attitudes are changing to western art - but slowly. |
| "It's going to be great to be here in Abu Dhabi in four or five years," he argues. | "It's going to be great to be here in Abu Dhabi in four or five years," he argues. |
| "Art is new. There are a lot of folk who buy work they are comfortable with, perhaps traditional work of the desert. I hate to say that because we're trying to break that stereotype, we're trying to bring in contemporary art." | "Art is new. There are a lot of folk who buy work they are comfortable with, perhaps traditional work of the desert. I hate to say that because we're trying to break that stereotype, we're trying to bring in contemporary art." |
| "The idea of bringing the Guggenheim and the Louvre here is all part of the cultural vision," according to Mr Kano. | "The idea of bringing the Guggenheim and the Louvre here is all part of the cultural vision," according to Mr Kano. |
| "In the last century a lot of European collections migrated to America - this is the 21st Century equivalent. We have to make sure it is a two-way thing. Our door is open for art from the west - but [we also want] to get our art into the Guggenheim system," he adds. | "In the last century a lot of European collections migrated to America - this is the 21st Century equivalent. We have to make sure it is a two-way thing. Our door is open for art from the west - but [we also want] to get our art into the Guggenheim system," he adds. |
| There's so much money around, so much appetite to bring new things to the Middle East that it can't be long before Abu Dhabi rivals Paris, Venice or Los Angeles - certainly that is the ambition. | There's so much money around, so much appetite to bring new things to the Middle East that it can't be long before Abu Dhabi rivals Paris, Venice or Los Angeles - certainly that is the ambition. |
| The Emiratis are open to all sorts of ideas - though as Mr Kano points out there are some things that might just have to wait. | The Emiratis are open to all sorts of ideas - though as Mr Kano points out there are some things that might just have to wait. |
| "Having nudes here is something we're not yet ready for. This is still a conservative society, I don't think we would get the right response from the public here - however we have had some deconstructed nudes at the Picasso exhibition," he says. | "Having nudes here is something we're not yet ready for. This is still a conservative society, I don't think we would get the right response from the public here - however we have had some deconstructed nudes at the Picasso exhibition," he says. |
| "I don't think a lot of people knew what it was, I certainly didn't. Somebody explained it to me - then I saw it⦠and I looked away. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." | "I don't think a lot of people knew what it was, I certainly didn't. Somebody explained it to me - then I saw it⦠and I looked away. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." |