Etihad Modern Art Gallery - Abu Dhabi

People who live in Abu Dhabi know very well that a place where you can fill yourself with art and culture is not something easy to find in this city. And when you are hungry for it, there are a few places which unfortunately will not exceed fingers of two hands. 

Well, couple of weeks back, I discovered a lovely corner, somewhere this city (and me!) was craving for. And I wanted to share it loud for other art lovers:

Etihad Modern Art Gallery

Located in a villa in Al Bateen Area, Etihad Modern Art Gallery greets you first with its museum-like garden. You see different trees from different countries with their names and information on them. You take a step inside, well decorated rooms, stairs and doorways are waiting for you with art works by different local and expat artists. Luckily, I caught the Art Souq and T-rex exhibition both of which is still on now.

(*)

This T-rex skeleton, named Tinker, is the first and only junior T-rex skeleton which has over 50% of its bones original and well-preserved. This is actually a shocking percentage when you hear the fact that most dinosaur skeletons being exhibited around the world have only about 5% of their bones original. T-rex kind has only been found in the USA so far and all the T-rex skeletons outside the USA are actually plastic imitations of the originals. So, Tinker is the first authentic traveler T-Rex which we have here in Abu Dhabi! And this became possible with collaborative work of The Houston Museum of Natural Science (Houston, Texas) and Etihad Modern Art Gallery (Abu Dhabi, UAE).

And of course, T-rex is not the only thing that the gallery is offering currently. Yiannis Roussakis, Wilma Burton, Khalid Al Najjad, Khulood Al Jabri are among the names who fill the walls of the gallery and their works are part of the Art Souq.

And last but not least, the loveliest discovery of all for me was definitely

Art House Café!

Think of a place where you have stools made out of gas cylinders, lamps out of wine bottles, drawers out of old style suitcases! Almost every single furniture in the cafe was made out of recycled materials which impressed me the most.

A colorful atmosphere, isn't it? Well, go and check it out yourselves!

http://www.etihadmodernart.com/

(*) This photo was taken from the gallery's Instagram account. All the other photographs are taken by Gülsen Geçim, all rights reserved.

[Film] A Single Man - Tom Ford

Story of a single man... His struggle with being alive... This beautiful movie drags you in every way with its story and every single frame. A not to miss performance by Colin Firth and a stunning directing performance by Tom Ford (photo below), from "A Single Man"...

Waking up begins with saying 'am' and 'now'. For the past eight months waking up has actually hurt. The cold realization that I'm still here slowly sets in. I was never terribly fond of waking up. I was never one to jump out of bed and greet the day with a smile like Jim was. I used to want to punch him sometimes in the morning he was so happy. I always used to tell him that only fools greet the day with a smile that only fools possibly escape the simple truth... that now isn't simply now. It's a cold reminder. One day later than yesterday. One year later than last year. And that sooner or later it will come. He used to laugh at me and then give me kiss on the cheek.

**

- Just get through the goddamn day.

**

- Of course, the Nazis were wrong to hate the Jews. But their hating the Jews was not without a cause. It's just that the cause wasn't real. The cause was imagined. The cause was fear. Let's leave the Jews out of this just for a moment. Let's think of another minority. One that... One that can go unnoticed if it needs to. There are all sorts of minorities, blondes for example or people with freckles. But a minority is only thought of as one when it constitutes some kind of threat to the majority. A real threat or an imagined one. And therein lies the fear. If the minority is somehow invisible then the fear is much greater. That fear is why the minority is persecuted. So, you see there always is a cause. The cause is fear. Minorities are just people. People like us.

**

- We always seem to get stuck talking about the past. The past just doesn't matter to me.

- The present?

- I can't wait for the present to be over. It's a total drag. Well, tonight is the exception.

- What? Tonight, yes! The present, no!

- Let's drink to tonight.

- Tonight. ...So if the past doesn't matter and the present is a total drag. What about the future?

- What future? Cuba might just blow us up.

- Death is the future. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be depressing.

- It's not depressing.

- It's not depressing, it's true. It may not be your immediate future but it's what we all share. Death is the future.

- You're right, I guess.

- If one is not enjoying one's present there isn't a great deal to suggest that the future should be any better.

- Yeah, I've thought that before. But the thing is you just never know. Look at tonight. Actually I feel really alone most of the time.

- You do?

- Yeah. I've always felt this way. I mean we're born alone, we die alone. And while we're here we are absolutely, completely sealed in our own bodies. Really weird. Kinda freaks me out to think about it. We can only experience the outside world through our own slanted perception of it. Who knows what you're really like? I just see what I think you're like.

- I'm exactly what I appear to be. If you look closely.

- You know the only thing that has made the whole thing worthwhile has been those few times that I've been able to really, truly connect with another human being. I had a hunch about you, sir.

- You did?

- Yes, sir. I had a hunch you might be a real romantic. You know, everyone keeps telling you that when you're older, that you'll have all this experience. Like it's some great thing. That's a load of shit.

- I think I've actually just gotten sillier and sillier.

- Really?

- Absolutely.

- So, all your experience is useless.

- No, I wouldn't say that. As our friend Mr. Huxley says: Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.

- Let's go swimming.

- Okay.

- What?

- It was a test.

- I thought you were bluffing about being silly so I said to myself I'll suggest doing something completely outrageous. And if he resists, if he even hesitates then I know he's full of shit.

- Well, I wasn't. Were you?

- Hell, no!

**

A few times in my life I've had moments of absolute clarity. When for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think. And things seem so sharp. And the world seems so fresh as though it had all just come into existence. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them but like everything they fade. I've lived my live on these moments. They pull me back to the present and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be.