page 01 dt may 11...enowned qatari singer fahad al kubaisi gave the opening rendi-tion at a charity...

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VOLVO XC60 T6 CROSSOVER: NICE CAR FALLS BEHIND ITS VALUE-MINDED COMPETITORS

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LOUIS VUITTON MAKES A SPLASH IN PALM SPRINGS

MCDONALD’S LAUNCHES CLASSIC 1955 BURGER WITH VINTAGE COKE GLASSES

OUR VERY REAL FASCINATION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

CONCERT FOR A CAUSE

Renowned Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi gave the opening rendition at a charity concert organised by Qatar Red Crescent at Katara Drama Theatre recently. The concert was aimed at raising fund for the Caritas Baby Hospital in Palestine. The hospital treated some 38,000 children in 2014.

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| MONDAY 11 MAY 2015 |

COVER STORY

Concert raises money for hospital in Palestine

Renowned Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi gave the opening rendi-tion at a charity concert organised by Qatar Red Crescent at Katara

Drama Theatre recently. The concert was sup-ported by Palestinian and Swiss ambassadors. The proceeds from the concert, Trio Jourban, were donated to Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem, Palestine.

Children’s Relief Bethlehem focuses on the health and well-being of children in Palestine and their families, primarily in the southern parts of the West Bank - that is the Bethlehem and Hebron districts. It supports and man-aged by the Caritas Baby Hospital located in Bethlehem. The hospital’s mission is: “We are here to provide hope and enhance the well being of Palestinian children regardless of their social or religious background and their ability to pay, through our specialised, quality and safe health care services provided in a child-friendly environment.”

The Caritas Baby Hospital treated some 38,000 children in 2014; with 4,384 admis-sions in the Inpatient and 34,000 children in the Outpatient Clinic. It is a charity organisation, and therefore, the fees it charges are symbolic - in the spirit of safeguarding the dignity of the patients’ families by being able to contribute to the care of their children.

The Caritas Baby Hospital’s inpatient wards can care for up to 82 children - which is the total bed capacity. In addition, the hospital has an Intensive Care Unit with eight beds for emergencies and children in critical condition. When children require inpatient treatment, the mothers take an active part in caring for them. Hospital’s counsellors use the mothers’ time at

the hospital as an opportunity to teach them. The women learn how to care for their chil-dren so as to prevent further illnesses. This is the only programme of its kind in Palestine. Children’s Relief Bethlehem considers it an important contribution to preventive health-care in the region

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at CBH

is specialised in the care of premature babies with risk of life-threatening complications. Many of these patients are coming from Bedouin villages from the Southern part of the West Bank. This region between Bethlehem and Hebron is very poor and is very much hit by the expansion of the Israeli settlements. In consequence, Palestinian families lack access to land, have limited mobility and hardly any economic perspectives. In this poor context,

premature births are a high risk and without specialised treatment new born babies would die. By supporting the NICU people save the lives of the little babies of the poorest families in the West Bank.

Mother School The hospital makes sure that the mothers

of the sick children can stay at the hospital; having the mothers close to their sick chil-dren and integrating them into the treatment of the children is crucial for a steady and sus-tainable healing process. This section of the hospital is called the Mother School. There are special rooms to accommodate the mothers and teach them in hygiene, nutrition, general health education etc, while staying at the hospital. This programme positively affects the lives of the mothers and also of their community after getting back home.

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The new graduates of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community

Development (QF) reflect QF’s dedication to fostering generations of well-developed, well-educated responsible adults who strive to make a difference and effect positive change in their local communities.

The graduates are a shining exam-ple of the result of the unique edu-cation cycle at QF, which aims to engage students at every stage of their academic lives, from as early as six months up to undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral level.

Within this cycle, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), along with QF’s eight world-class part-ner universities in Education City, is responsible for providing a unique higher education experience. Hand-picked courses have been designed to promote the objectives underpin-ning the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV2030), including the creation of a socially responsible community that is capable of playing a significant role in the development of the country.

Ibrahim Al Hashmi graduated from Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q), a QF partner university,with a BA degree in Communication. Even

before graduation, Ibrahim strived to contribute to his community with the help of a grant from Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) to develop a campaign for safe driving. “I am cur-rently working on this project and it makes me very proud, because even if we save just one life, or alter just one person’s attitude, that is enough for me,” he said. “I think this is my biggest achievement over the last four years. After I graduate, as it is something I am passionate about, I will continue working on it. This is a chance for me to give back to the Qataricommunity.”

Explaining how QF served as a platform to facilitate this project, he said: “I am very grateful to Qatar Foundation, as we received the grant from QNRF, which is a member of QF. Indeed, I feel very loyal to the organisation, it feels like home. It gave me a lot over the last four years and I will always be thankful. I am also very grateful to Northwestern University in Qatar for giving me the opportunity to apply what we have learned in media and social research to real life.”

Batool Al Sayed graduated from University College London in Qatar, with a master’s degree in Library

and Information Studies. She also previously attended Texas A&M University at Qatar, where she has an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering. During her time at Texas A&M, she worked on an environ-mental awareness project, engaging students from Qatari schools. “One of my proudest achievements over the last few years was working on a campaign called ‘Wake Up Call’,” she said.

“It is an educational project that, at the same time, is related to the environment. The aim was to go into different schools in Qatar, and pre-pare subject matter that is related to the environment, discussing different issues like why should we care, and

what the environ-ment here is like.”

B a t o o l explained the importance of pro-viding the commu-nity with the tools

to make a positive change in order to benefit the country. “I feel that edu-cation should be the most impor-tant thing – if we are not educating people, then they will not care about the issue. If they are not aware of something, then the problem will not be solved. “I feel that every day you have a commitment, to give back to Qatar. It’s our turn.”

The team went on to present ‘Wake Up Call’ to regional and international audiences, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Copenhagen. Batool is determined to continue the project, saying: “Absolutely, this is something I would like to continue developing. We need to take a step further, to approach more schools, and decide how to turn it into a system.”

Qatar Foundation’s other former students are also continuing to make an impact on the community. Ali Al Ansari graduated from the Academic Bridge Programme in 2006, and went on to major in International Politics at Georgetown University in Qatar. He is currently employed at Qatar Shell as a media relations man-ager. Praising the education cycle in place at QF, which equipped him with the tools and skills to excel in his position at Shell, he said: “In any of the universities at Education City, you are going to a top-class univer-sity, getting a top-class education, from top-class professors, and from a world-class system.”

The Peninsula

Batool Al Sayed

Graduates hope to give back to the community

I think this is my biggest achievement over the last four years. After I graduate, as it is something I am passionate about, I will continue working on it.Ibrahim Al Hashmi

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CAMPUS

MES holds teachers in-service programme

With the view to equip teachers with the latest and innovative methods in teaching and learn-

ing, MES Indian School initiated an in-service cum orientation programme for its teachers. A team of teachers, selected from various departments and sections within the school, turned up as resource persons for the teach-ers, who are divided into various groups and gave presentation on topics such as Helicopter Parenting, Significance of Value Orientation in Education, Ideal Rapport between the teacher and the taught, Guiding Principles of Slow Learners, Developing Life Skills in Students, Team Work, Differential Learning, Conceptual Teaching – Learning, Collaborative Learning and its Implementation in Classroom, Importance of Communication Skills in Effective Teaching and Maintaining a Healthy Student - Teacher Relationship.

The three-hour session saw a vibrant and enthusiastic participation of teach-ers in scholastic and non-scholastic domains pertaining to the teaching - learning aspects. Group discussions, Power Point presentations and individual representations were part of the event.

B M Siddique, President of the School Governing Board, in his presidential

address, emphasized the importance of teachers acquiring the latest skills in teaching, as the world is ever-chang-ing so does the teaching community to the preferences of students, who are part of today’s knowledge-society. P K Mohamed, General Secretary; K Abdul Karim, Senior Vice-President, and Khaleel A P, Director Academics

of the school Governing Board, also addressed the gathering.

The programme also witnessed the introduction of Dr Haroon Khan, who takes over as the Principal of the school from the current academic year. Dr Sophia Rajani, teacher, Girls’ Section, coordinated the programme.

The Peninsula

ACS-Doha International School held its third annual Career Day. The event enabled students to find out more about professional career choices from over 19 profession-als. Students were able to meet with them and engage in meaningful dis-cussions about how they achieved their goals, from pilot to petroleum engineer. The school offers American curriculum and IBDP college prepara-tory programme.

Ideal Indian School team comprising Alhaj Ashraf, Binshad and Zyad got over-all 9th position and stood first among all the Indian Schools in Qatar in the 3rd High School Wooden Bridge Competition organised by the Civil Engineering and Architectural Department of Qatar University recently. Picture shows the winners with Principal Syed Shoukath Ali and HOD of Art Abdul Ghani.

The KG & Primary Wing of Shantiniketan Indian School conducted “Shapes Can be Fun” activity to imprint the concept of shapes in the mind of young learners and develop their cognitive and creative skills. Students developed majestically designed clowns, rockets and artistic patters and explained their association with daily life situations.

Teachers listens to a speaker during the event. Teachers listens to a speaker during the event.

05MARKETPLACE


McDonald’s launches classic 1955 Burger with vintage Coke glasses

McDonald’s Qatar announced the launch of a new pre-mium product, the 1955 Burger, which promises

to take meat-lovers’ taste buds on a twist through the decades, with fresh, delicious ingredients and unforgettable flavours.

The 1955 Burger is bursting with an upbeat medley of 100 percent pure Halal beef patty, topped with grilled onions, beef bacon strips, lush toma-toes and fresh iceberg lettuce. The deli-cious mix comes with sharp notes of steak pepper ketchup and creamy 1955 sauce - all stacked in a warm bun.

In keeping with the iconic design of the decade, limited edition Coca-Cola glasses will come free with the purchase of any large extra value meal, while sup-plies last. Six unique glass designs will be on offer for collectors.

Kamal Saleh Al Mana, Managing

Director of Al Mana Restaurants & Food Co, said: “We always listen closely to our customers and strive to deliver new flavours that are relevant, fun and, most importantly, of the best quality. The 1955 Burger ticks all the boxes, deliv-ering the unique experience McDonald’s customers have come to expect from us.”

McDonald’s is committed to serving the best ingredients in the quick-service restaurant sector, and food quality is considered a top priority. All products served at McDonald’s restaurants in the region are Halal certified, inspected and approved by local authorities and Halal officers at the countries of export and customs officials at the port of entry. All meat used in McDonald’s restaurants can be traced back to a trusted supplier that shares the company’s dedication to the highest quality standards.

The Peninsula

SWBH takes part in Dubai ATM

HEC holds annual MBAT in ParisFifteen top-ranked business

schools and 1,500 students kicked off three days of high energy, action-packed sports and network-ing events as HEC Paris opened the annual MBA Tournament (MBAT) in France.

Hosted and organised by HEC Paris for the 25th consecutive year, the MBAT is a student-organised event led by a 25-member team comprising current HEC Paris MBA students. As part of the program’s emphasis on leadership and trans-formation, as well as the build-ing of personal engagement and

entrepreneurial mindset, organising and managing the event enables students to practice their leader-ship skills outside of the classroom.

In honor of its 25th edition, this year’s event featured 25 sporting events such as badminton, cricket, football, rowing, golf and tennis, as well as three major networking and socialisation events. Other fun and leisure activities have also been lined up throughout the duration of the tournament such as a mechani-cal bull, sumo wrestling, gladiator games, trampolines, bumping balls and more. The Peninsula

Souq Waqif Boutique Hotels (SWBH), the luxury, five-star hotel

collection owned and managed by Al Rayyan Hospitality, participated in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) exhibi-tion in Dubai. A senior level delegation representing SWBH accompanied Al Rayyan Hospitality to promote Qatar tourism with the hotel collection’s authentic offering that reflects Qatari hospitality and originality.

“ATM is a major global hospitality event with a significant presence in the travel industry. Today, SWBH is participating for the fourth year in a

row to showcase our exquisite col-lection of hotels that showcase Qatari hospitality with modern design and unique style,” said Taleb Al Henzab, General Manager at Souq Waqif Boutique Hotels. “Each SWBH hotel is an elegant mix of Arabic hospital-ity and superb, modern design. The collection has quickly succeeded in attracting a wide segment of Qatar visitors by providing them with the opportunity to discover the country’s cultural heritage through each hotel’s unique design,” added Al Henzab.

The Peninsula

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MARKETPLACE

Employees and management of the Quality Group of Companies donated Rs1m to construct a home for the family of their ex-colleague who died in Doha in December following a cardiac arrest. The Group Chairman Shamsudheen Olakara handed over the fund to Ashraf Madathila, a close relative of the demised Subair Kolamban. Shamsudheen Olakara said that it was part of their social responsibility and humanitarian consideration that the employees decided to make this contribution. Group General Manager Sajeev Pushpamangalam, Quality retail section General Manager Aboo Navas, Quality group of companies operations Manager Moideen K and Finance Controller Mins Mathew attended. The 23-year-old Subair Kolamban from Edarikkode, Malappuram District of Kerala was a sales man at Quality Hypermarket, Salwa Road branch.

QDB CEO briefs Qatar Leadership Centre’s class

The Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, addressed mem-

bers of Qatar Leadership Centre’s (QLC) Rising Leaders Class of 2015-2016 as part of a special seminar series designed to provide participants with an opportunity to learn from prominent figures in Qatar’s development efforts.

Al Khalifa highlightedQDB’s achieve-ments and outlined the bank’s strate-gic initiatives intended to support the growth of Qatar’s private sector. During the discussion with the Rising Leaders, he provided an overview of QDB’s initia-tives to help streamline processes, and reduce the risks of establishing a new business in Qatar.

“Entrepreneurship is not easy;it takes commitment, innovation and hard work,” Al Khalifa said.“What we are trying to do at QDB is to improve the competitiveness of the private sec-tor by removing obstacles for small and medium-sized enterprises in Qatar. We want to help entrepreneurs make informed decisions by supporting them throughout the start-up phase, guiding them through the administrative proc-ess and providing them with financial support and access to investors,” he remarked.

Al Khalifa also outlined QDB’s projects and how they form asupport system for SMEs in Qatar. Among these are the Single Window system and an easily accessible e-library QDB recently launched to allow for better use of technology which can make proc-esses easier and more effective.

QLC regularly hosts senior Qatari decision makers in seminars which

allow participants to learn leadership skills from respected public figures,while gaining high-level insight into important sectors and issues related to the devel-opment of Qatar. The session with Al Khalifa was aimed at providing a bet-ter understanding of the importance of Qatar’s private sector as an essential element for moving toward the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.

Rising Leader Saoud Abdulla Jassim Al Mannai, business analyst at Tasweeq, noted, “The seminar expanded my understanding of the workings of the private sector and QDB’s strategic plans and aspirations to support the develop-ment of SMEs in Qatar. I was inspired by Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa’s dedication in supporting Qataris and the private sector.” The Peninsula

IBN to organise Mind Mapping Seminar

Interactive Business Network (IBN) will be organising The Mind Mapping Seminar, a one-day training course

designed and to be delivered by Tony Buzan (pictured), a world-renowned Mind Mapping genius and expert on the brain, memory, speed-reading, creativity and innovation. The seminar will be held on June 8, from 9am to 5pm at La Cigale Hotel in Doha.

Described as a powerful graphic technique that provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain, mind mapping harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spa-tial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner.

This gives a person the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of the brain, which can be applied to every aspect of one’s life where improved learning and clearer thinking enhances human performance.

Acknowledged and named by Forbes magazine as one of the top five speakers in the world, Buzan is expected to leave a lasting impression

on participants with his expertise on the subject, along with his distinct and engaging speaking ability, during the one-day seminar scheduled for Monday 8 June 2015.

“In order to manage personal life and professional career properly, one must learn how to organise ideas and thoughts,” said Raed Chehaib, Chief Executive Officer of IBN. The Peninsula

07


WHEELS

BY WARREN BROWN

Money matters. A cursory glance at recent develop-ments in the global auto-mobile industry indicates

as much. Mercedes-Benz, long among the world’s leading purveyors of luxury metal, saw its first-quarter profit dou-ble. GM and Ford, although doing much better than their performance of barely a decade ago, continued to struggle.

Germany’s Audi and BMW are on a roll, largely thanks to a bevy of attrac-tive, financially accessible models such as the Audi A3 and the BMW 3-Series. And then there is the subject of this week’s column, the 2015.5 Volvo XC60 T6 all-wheel-drive crossover-utility vehicle/wagon, which is trying to hold on to entry-level luxury family vehicle sales in a world increasingly dominated by the accessible, attractive, common-sense likes of the compact Honda CR-V crossover.

Money matters, as does styling, product quality, innovation and a general respect for the intelligence of buyers. On the latter point, you won’t

hear folks at Mercedes-Benz imitat-ing Cadillac’s marketing hubris by saying something as silly as: “It is a weak man who urges compromise.” Mercedes-Benz, instead, extols com-promise in the form of its best-selling C-Class cars, which are winning fol-lowers because they offer the essence of compromise — a good deal — a high-quality, enjoyable product sold at a very competitive price.

Volvo is trying to do something similar with its XC60, a front-wheel-drive crossover/wagon also offered with all-wheel-drive. But the problem at Volvo is confusion. You get a good deal depending on which of five or six models of the XC60 you buy, which options package you buy with it, and when and where you buy it.

Consider: The 2015.5 front-wheel-drive XC60 starts at $35,750 — $900 more than the 2014 model, which is not much different in performance or equipment. The 2015.5 XC60 offers Volvo’s commendable Sensus com-munications system and advanced electronic safety items such as blind-side monitoring and lane-departure

warning. But, as I said, money matters. You can get all or many of those items for thousands of dollars less on a fully equipped Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorento.

OK, a Honda, Hyundai or Kia isn’t a Volvo. So what? Times, largely because of rapid advances in technol-ogy, have changed. Volvo still main-tains its reputation as one of the safest vehicles on the road. But take a close look at ratings by Consumer Reports, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. You will find that Honda, Hyundai and Kia have high safety ratings, too — usually for a lot less money.

Look, I enjoyed my week in the 2015.5 XC60 T6 all-wheel-drive. You won’t find more comfortable front seats in any vehicle at any price. But technol-ogy has leveled the playing field when it comes to electronic equipment. There is not one advanced safety item in the XC60 — save for its proprietary Sensus communications system — that I can’t find at Honda, Hyundai or Kia for less money. Also, speaking of Sensus, all

three rivals of a supposedly lesser product god offer very competitive communications systems.

The folks at Volvo nowadays busily are trying to address consumer con-cerns about fuel economy — offering a group of 2-liter, turbocharged (forced air), four-cylinder engines under the moniker “Drive-E” with the “E” stand-ing for “efficiency” or “efficiently.”

My sample, despite its 2015.5 badge, came with an older 3-liter, twin-turbocharged six-cylinder gaso-line engine linked to a six-speed auto-matic transmission. It felt heavy and a tad sluggish. But it was so loaded with amenities — again, the best front seats offered by anybody, power-operated tailgate, high-definition rear parking assistance camera — that it was hard to get upset about an acceleration pro-file (0 to 60 miles per hour in maybe 6.5 seconds) that was perfectly suited to motoring in suburban Virginia.

But I was floored by the final trans-action price of the thing — $52,225. Really? I could get a fully equipped, very safe Honda CR-V for easily $10,000 less. WP-Bloomberg

Volvo XC60 T6 crossover: Nice car falls behind its value-minded competitors

08


FOOD

A food critic’s kitchen session with momBY TOM SIETSEMA

Iflew my mom out to see me last month with the lure of cherry blos-soms and cherished friends, but the real reason for her trip from

Minnesota to Washington was for the two of us to cook together.

Dorothy Sietsema moves like some-one half her age, entertains as if she’s competing with Martha Stewart and likes to tell the story about the safari she took to Kenya last year. (When one of her Maasai escorts told her that his father had six wives and that he himself was considering a second, she told him “one is enough.”)

My mom is also 87 years old and tells me, “I don’t taste as well as I used to.” Both of us know she won’t be around forever. More than almost any heirloom from my family home — my late father’s fabulous photographs, the toys of my childhood — it’s my mom’s recipe for her World’s Fair Cake that I most desired.

No other dessert in our Worthington, Minnesota, household could compete with the colourful high-rise constructed with four rounds of buttermilk choco-late cake sandwiched with four flavours of fresh whipped cream. The fantasy starts with pale green whipped cream flavoured with vanilla and crushed

pistachios and is followed by soft yellow whipped cream touched with almond. The third whipped-cream layer, tinted pink, crackles with bits of peppermint candy in the filling. Finishing the top of the cake is whipped cream spiced with cocoa and cinnamon.

The centerpiece of countless birth-days and company dinners from the mid-1960s on never failed to impress anyone lucky enough to be served a slice. The cake’s uncertain origins made it mysterious; Mom couldn’t recall where she picked up the idea or which fair the cake referenced.

When I was a kid, my “job” consisted of licking the beaters once the batter went into the oven, so it wasn’t until last month that I fully appreciated the effort my mom put into assembling the con-fection. The cake, almost always made from scratch. The four separate bowls of whipped cream. The care it took to turn two round cakes into four delicate layers, sometimes using dental floss.

“It’s really simple,” my mom says as she creams shortening and sugar and I melt chocolate for what will eventually become an edible circus. “But it takes time. That’s why you only make it for people you like.”

Mom was always good about send-ing guests home with leftovers. The only exception to her generosity was

the World’s Fair Cake. It stayed in our refrigerator, where its charms intensi-fied over the few days it lingered under Saran Wrap held up with toothpicks. The cake seemed to get more moist, the fillings more intense, the longer it chilled out.

That cake wasn’t the sole family treasure I hoped to glean during Mom’s visit. Before she left home, I had her mail me instructions for her Rice Krispie Potatoes (you read that right) and wild rice casserole. The potatoes took their name from the crushed cereal, in which my mom rolled buttered boiled spuds before baking them; snap, crackle and pop wasn’t just for breakfast on South Shore Drive. The wild rice used a native staple that my mom liked to show off to company, especially if they were visiting from outside the country. The instruc-tions, typed on a 3-by-5 note card, have “Minnesota” written in before “Wild Rice Casserole With Pecans.”

Hey, Mom, can you send the recipe for goulash, too? Not to be confused with the classic paprika-rich Hungarian stew, my mom’s version relied on cooked macaroni mixed with sauteed hamburger and canned tomatoes and spiked with chili powder. “Gosh, Tom, I don’t have a recipe for that. I just . . . make it!” Which is precisely why I wanted the two of us to re-create the comfort together. I needed to know how much pasta to boil, how long to brown the meat, what brand of tomatoes she preferred and whether or not to bake

the dish with a cover.If I wanted to hang on to the flavors

of my youth, I had to document every ingredient and record every step.

When we later sat down to eat the goulash, I was struck by the satisfying hominess of what might be labeled a “hot dish” in Minnesota-ese. “Your dad used to put Tabasco on it,” my mom said. Like father, like son, except I upped the flavor with a few splashes of Sriracha.

The “Fargo” plainness of the cas-serole, the potatoes and the wild rice was striking. My mom defended their appearance. “We aren’t a restaurant, you know, where everything looks so perfect.”

She seems to have inherited her father’s sense of humor. Every April Fool’s Day, Dorothy Struve and her brothers and sisters sat down to a breakfast of pancakes their dad made for them. Hiding in each pancake: a piece of string. “He thought we wouldn’t remember” from year to year, she says.

Our afternoon together had a few glitches. After some time on the front porch, Mom and I returned to the kitchen, where one of us accidentally turned on the mixer with its beaters up, splattering the floor, the counter and us with whipped cream. We vowed not to tell my significant other, the neatnik. Dorothy being Heloise, she asked for an old toothbrush and soapy water to scrub the rug free of evidence of our misadventure. WP-Bloomberg

09FASHION


Luxury brand Louis Vuitton lured a bevy of stars to the California desert to see its lat-est cruise collection by Nicolas

Ghesquiere — further evidence of the Los Angeles area’s rise on the world fashion scene.

An A-list audience of about 500 — from legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve to rapper Kanye West to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault — trekked to the Bob and Dolores Hope Estate in Palm Springs for the glittering event.

Their hair flowing in the wind, tower-ing models strolled between the chairs set up on the estate’s patio, sporting long flared gowns in muted desert hues, with cut-outs at the hips, belts and studs, or lace accents.

Other models wore jumpsuits or rompers in patterns that sometimes evoked Native American fabrics.

The estate — a concrete structure with circular and futuristic shapes — is considered an architectural masterpiece dating back to 1973 and designed by American John Lautner.

“What inspired me very much is the contrast in this home between a certain brutalist exterior—it is very radical—and the softer, more decorative items inside,” Ghesquiere said at the event.

Ghesquiere—the man behind the revival of Balenciaga who moved to Louis Vuitton in late 2013, replacing

Marc Jacobs—said he imagined “a community of women that live in the desert.”

With fluid silhouettes, and some outfits in leather, he said he “almost wanted to create confusion” among materials by favoring the idea of “move-ment, which is important for Vuitton—a woman who moves.”

Before the show, guests were received inside the home, where mod-els dressed glam-rock style—think David Bowie—formed a living sculpture.

Louis Vuitton is the third major lux-ury brand this year to hold a show in California, after Tom Ford and Burberry staged shows that drew high-wattage stars from the film and music worlds.

Just as Palm Springs is experiencing a bit of a jet-set renaissance, California is back on the fashion map.

“In the 1950s, Palm Springs was the symbol of things modern. After that it faded, but there is now a true rebirth,” Louis Vuitton chief executive Michael Burke said. “New York is a world capi-tal of culture but very strongly tied to Europe. For the whole world, it is California that represents what is mod-ern in America,” he added.

Saint Laurent designer Hedi Slimane lives and works in Los Angeles, and Ford lives in LA part-time. American designers Monique Lhuillier and the Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte launched their labels in California.

“Fashion caters to celebrities, the new icons and trendsetters of our soci-ety,” said Cecilia Dean, co-founder of the fashion magazine Visionaire.

“A lot of fashion is impregnating the city,” she added. “It is not the city of sweatpants anymore.”

Cruise collections have sometimes been given short shrift in the fashion world. They are shown between the industry’s main seasons—spring and autumn—and in the past were limited in scope. Vuitton wants to expand the cruise concept—and keep the show on the road. Before Palm Springs, Ghesquiere last year unveiled his cruise collection in Monaco, another A-list hotspot. “It is the most important col-lection in terms of sales,” Burke said.

Staging a catwalk show in a glam-ourous location gilds a fashion house’s image but also helps consolidate ties with clients, who came to Palm Springs from around the US, but also from China, Canada and South America.

As for the cost of staging such an event, which can reach into the mil-lions of dollars, Burke said it is worth every cent. “In Paris, fashion shows are mainly for the press and store buy-ers, and customers can end up getting ignored,” said Burke.

“Here, we had the chance to lure customers for three days in a very civi-lized atmosphere—something fashion weeks cannot offer.” AFP

Louis Vuitton makes a splash in Palm Springs

10


HEALTH

BY ARIANA EUNJUNG CHA

From the instant he wakes up each morning, through his workday and into the night, the essence of Larry Smarr is

captured by a series of numbers: a rest-ing heart rate of 40 beats per minute, a blood pressure of 130/70, a stress level of two percent, 191 pounds, 8,000 steps taken, 15 floors climbed, 8 hours of sleep.

Smarr, an astrophysicist and com-puter scientist, could be the world’s most self-measured man. For nearly 15 years, the professor at the University of California at San Diego has been obsessed with what he describes as the most complicated subject he has ever experimented on: his own body.

Smarr keeps track of more than 150 parameters. Some, such as his heartbeat, movement and whether he’s sitting, standing or lying down, he measures continuously in real time with a wireless gadget on his belt. Some, such as his weight, he logs daily. Others, such as his blood and the bacteria in his intestines, he tests only about once every month.

Smarr compares the way he treats his body with how people monitor and maintain their cars: “We know exactly how much gas we have, the engine temperature, how fast we are going. What I’m doing is creating a dashboard for my body.”

Once, Smarr was most renowned as the head of the research lab where Marc Andreessen developed the Web browser in the early 1990s. Now 66, Smarr is the unlikely hero of a global movement among ordinary people to “quantify” themselves using wearable fitness gadgets, medical equipment, headcams, traditional lab tests and homemade contraptions, all with the goal of finding ways to optimise their bodies and minds to live longer, health-ier lives — and perhaps to discover some important truth about themselves and their purpose in life.

The explosion in extreme tracking is part of a digital revolution in health care led by the tech visionaries who created Apple, Google, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. Using the chips, database and algorithms that powered the information revolution of

the past few decades, these new bil-lionaires now are attempting to rebuild, regenerate and reprogram the human body.

In the aggregate data being gathered by millions of personal tracking devices are patterns that may reveal what in the diet, exercise regimen and environment contributes to disease.

Could physical activity patterns be used to not only track individuals’ car-diac health but also to inform decisions about where to place a public park and improve walkability? Could trackers find cancer clusters or contaminated waterways? A pilot project in Louisville, for example, uses inhalers with special sensors to pinpoint asthma “hot spots” in the city.

The idea that data is a turnkey to self-discovery is not new. More than 200 years ago, Benjamin Franklin was tracking 13 personal virtues in a daily journal to develop his moral character. The ubiquity of cheap technology and an attendant plethora of apps now allow a growing number of Americans to track the minutiae of their lives as

never before.James Norris, in his 30s and an

entrepreneur in Oakland, California, has spent the past 15 years tracking, map-ping and analysing his “firsts” — from his first kiss to the first time he saw fire-works on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Most extreme are “life loggers,” who wear cameras 24/7 , jot down every new idea and record their daily activi-ties in exacting detail. Their goal is to create a collection of information that is an extension of their own memories.

Even President Barack Obama is wearing a new Fitbit Surge, which moni-tors heart rate, sleep and location, on his left wrist, as a March photograph revealed.

In the near future, companies hope to augment those trackers with new ones that will measure from the inside out — using chips that are ingestible or float in the bloodstream.

Some physicians, academics and ethicists criticize the utility of tracking as prime evidence of the narcissism of the technological age — and one that raises serious questions about

the accuracy and privacy of the health data collected, who owns it and how it should be used. There are also worries about the implications of the prolifera-tion of devices for broader surveillance by the government, such as what hap-pened with cellphone providers and the National Security Agency.

They worry that wearables will be used as “black boxes” for a person’s body in legal matters. Three years ago, after a San Francisco cyclist struck and killed a 71-year-old pedestrian, prosecutors obtained his data from Strava, a GPS-enabled fitness tracker, to show he had been speeding and blew through several stop signs before the accident. More recently, a Calgary, Canada, law firm is trying to use Fitbit data as evidence of injuries a client sus-tained in a car crash.

More sophisticated tools in develop-ment, such as a smartphone app that analyses a bipolar person’s voice to pre-dict a manic episode and injectables and implants that test the blood, offer greater medical benefit but also pose greater risks. WP-Bloomberg

Wearable devices portend vast health, research and privacy consequences

11INDIAN CINEMA


BY RADHIKA BHIRANI

Acoming-of-age role in Wake Up Sid, a trou-bled musician in Rockstar, a deaf and mute prankster in Barfi! and an aggressive man of great ambitions in Bombay Velvet - clearly,

Bollywood’s quintessential ‘heroism’ does not match actor Ranbir Kapoor’s sensibilities. He says it’s possible thanks to filmmakers who are out to redefine the ‘hero’ of Indian cinema.

“Cinema is progressing...It is names like Anurag Kashyap, Anurag Basu, Imtiaz Ali and Ayan Mukerji, who are bringing these characters in. They are chang-ing the hero of Indian cinema,” Ranbir, who finds “heroism in the underhero”, said in a chat here while promoting Bombay Velvet.

He says the “space” is opening up for “other char-acters” even if “there will always be a Dabangg, a Singham or a Raj from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”.

“It’s not only about heroism. I feel very lucky that I can be part of these filmmakers’ characters because these are the parts which excite me and which I’d love watching. If I’d love watching something, I would do it with conviction and the audience will enjoy it too,” said the 32-year-old charmer, who comes from a family of cinestars. Personally, he says — “I can’t see myself as a hero.” “I can’t see myself punching someone who flies 20 ft away. I always find heroism in the underhero. More than the achievement, the honest trying of a character and struggle to get it... I think that has a greater glory than being a winner.

“In that sense, the struggle is more important than the victory...in life also. So, I am more comfortable playing real and relatable characters. I tried playing a hero in Besharam, and I fell flat on my face because it doesn’t come naturally to me,” said the actor, whose unimpressive debut with Saawariya in 2007 didn’t deter him from choosing roles with a difference.

In Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet too, Ranbir takes the unbeaten path of embodying a man on an unflinching quest for success, fame and power. His look seems to reflect a lot of his world famous grand-father Raj Kapoor. The actor admits that “there were references to the look of the character”, but he is “not inspired as far as performance is concerned”.

“I look a certain way and people have a percep-tion of my image, so it was important that I drastically change my look for the film. So yes, there’s a bit of Kishore Kumar from the 1950s, Raj Kapoor, Robert De Niro from Raging Bull. But those were just super-ficial references,” he said, adding that there’s “no ‘Raj Kapoorness’ that I’ve put in Bombay Velvet”.

Admitting that it’s hard to escape parallels with his

grandfather, Ranbir said he has “so far been quite safe from being compared to my family as I have an indi-vidualistic approach to my work”.

“I think the only Raj Kapoor channelising I did was in Saawariya. Post that, I was just trying to be me,” he said. After Bombay Velvet releases on May 15, Ranbir will continue his journey of experimenting with roles.

“I have Tamasha with Deepika Padukone. And then Jagga Jasoos, which is a detective film and I play an

18-year-old with a stammer. It’s a musical,” he said.Then, he also has Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

with Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.“It’s an urban love story and I’m really looking for-

ward to that. Sometimes you need to do an urban, light film between intense films... it makes you feel free and go back to the basics,” said the actor, who will also play a superhero in Ayan Mukerji’s film, which will start next year. IANS

Filmmakers changing hero of Indian cinema: Ranbir Kapur

Jinn based on real-life events: Director

Debutant director Sathish Chandrasekaran says upcoming Tamil horror-comedy Jinn is based on some of the experiences from his own life.

“Jinn is a usual travel story with an unusual episode featuring five friends on a trip to a hill station. Working on the script and screenplay was not as challenging as recalling some of my old memories on which this story is based,” Sathish said in a statement. The movie features Kalaiarasan, Hari, Kali Venkat, Arjunan and Munish Kanth in important roles. “To make the movie more realistic, we shot in a two centuries old bungalow spread across fifteen acres where M G Ramachandran’s Anbe Vaa and R a j i n i k a n t h ’s T h a m b i k k u Yendha Ooru were earlier filmed,” he said. Sathish has produced the film in association with Rite Media Works. IANS

Manjrekar lands role in Guntur Talkies

National Award-winning filmmaker Praveen Sattaru has roped in Bollywood actor Mahesh Manjrekar for an important role in upcom-

ing Telugu comedy-drama Guntur Talkies. “I’m finally making a commercial entertainer. The story will be set against the backdrop of Guntur slums. I’ve roped in Mahesh Manjrekar to essay an important character. We will start the shooting soon,” Sattaru said. The film features Sidhu and Madhu Shalini in the lead, while Shraddha Das will be seen in a cameo. Mahesh has already worked in Telugu films like Adhurs, Homam and Okkadunnadu. Sattaru recently won the National Award for his last Telugu outing Chandamama Kathalu, which unfortunately sank at the box- office. IANS

BY MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN

As we make way for summer movie season, the past few weekends have been dis-mal for moviegoers looking

for something to stimulate the brain as well as the eye — with one excep-tion: Ex Machina, a smart and sexy sci-fi thriller about a computer geek (Domhnall Gleeson) who is recruited by a reclusive tech entrepreneur (Oscar Isaac) to test the artificial intelligence of a rebellious female robot named Ava (Alicia Vikander). Questions about the nature of consciousness and free will percolate throughout the film, which just expanded to 1,200 theaters.

Ex Machina is the latest (and best) in a recent string of similarly themed films — Transcendence, Automata, Chappieand Eva — that grapple with the theme of robots and artificial intelligence (or AI). And the streak is not over. Two likely summer blockbusters — Avengers: The Age of Ultron and Terminator: Genisys— also have story lines about robots that become too smart for our own good.

We spoke with Ex Machina filmmaker Alex Garland, a British novelist and screenwriter whose credits include the scripts for 28 Days Later and Never Let Me Go, picking his brain about the roots of this seeming cinematic obsession.

Q: What does our enduring fascination with robots and arti-ficial intelligence say about us?

A: The truth is, I don’t know. With that caveat, I have been thinking about this for a few years, and I can try to make an educated guess. It certainly looks like there’s something in the zeitgeist about it. If there had been a seismic break-through in artificial intelligence research, say, three years ago — because that’s roughly the cycle of filmmaking — then you could understand it. But there hasn’t been a breakthrough, so my instinct is to look somewhere else.

Q: Where?A: I personally look at the fact that

there are these enormous tech com-panies that have power that seems to grow exponentially. There’s something disproportionate about the incredible rapidity of the way they stake a claim on the world. There’s also a sort of adjunct quality, which is that we access these tech companies via cellphones and computers and tablets, and yet we don’t really understand how they work. Yet conversely, these things seem to understand quite a lot about us. It’s

actually the tech company, but it can seem to be the machine, because it will anticipate the thing that we’re try-ing to type into the search engine. It understands something about our shopping habits and things that make us feel slightly uneasy. On top of that, we’ve known, even predating Edward Snowden’s revelations, that largely what these companies were doing was stor-ing massive amounts of information. It gets called “big data,” but it’s also quite small data. It’s very specific and tailored to an individual. On an unconscious level, and also on a reasonable level, it makes us uncomfortable. I actually feel that these narratives come more out of that than anything specific to do with artificial intelligence.

Q: “Transcendence” and “Chappie” each feature a dying character who seeks a kind of immortality by transferring his consciousness into a machine. Are these movies a form of artis-tic wish fulfillment?

A: I know for a fact that for some of the people who are actively involved in dropping enormous amounts of money into AI research, that is explicitly and openly their motivation. That is, to upload themselves in order to live longer in another form.

Q: Why does that fantasy hold so much appeal?

A: Because we’re mortal. Even reli-gious people who believe in an afterlife will have a sense that something very fundamental about them is not going to continue. My approach to it was not to look at the individual extending his own

lifespan, but more to see the creation of AI as a parental act. So the AI will have its own life that will extend beyond, where the “child” goes off and does its own thing, and the parent unfortunately is left behind.

Q: Isaac Asimov famously articulated three laws of robot-ics, the first of which states that a robot “may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” Yet these laws are rou-tinely violated in most contem-porary robot movies, including your own.

A: Those Asimov laws have always felt to me like a real problem, because they preclude free will. You could debate whether humans have free will, but we certainly think we have it. We act as if we have it.

Q: While maybe, in reality, we’re living in “The Matrix”?

A: Absolutely. I could always under-stand the logic, but they’re not actu-ally laws. There is no science fiction court that’s going to prosecute me because I’ve failed to observe them. I think they’re problematic anyway. If you were able to go to a computer and you said, “I’m going to switch you off,” and the computer said, “I don’t want you to switch me off,” and if you had reason to believe that this wasn’t just an auto-matic statement — that the computer had some kind of emotional internal life — at that point you’ve got an ethi-cal problem. I suspect that if you had a sentient machine, you’d have to start giving it pretty much what we currently

call human rights.Q: Ex Machina wrestles with

themes that many robot movies don’t even seem to be aware of.

A: I avoided all these other films because I didn’t want to get intimi-dated or frustrated by them. My inten-tion was to tell a story that is effectively on the side of the machine. The rules we make about each other really relate fundamentally to our minds. That’s why we can cut down a tree but not murder a human. As to the film, yeah, it attempted to run straight on at that stuff. It’s an ideas movie, I guess.

Q: The robot Ava in Ex Machinahas a body, but couldn’t you have gone with a brain in a jar?

A: Yes, but you could also envis-age a form of AI that is not a brain in a jar, but a brain in a spaceship, like HAL in “2001.” There’s a strong case to say that consciousness needs to be embodied in order to properly exist. That said, I was interested in imagining a human-like intelligence that shared concerns, distractions and fears like our own, a machine that could experience pleasure and might have a fear of death. When the first strong AI is eventually created, it probably won’t be very much like us. Ava is me taking a bit of a leap. You can see a dog is sentient. But it’s impossible for you or I to imagine what it’s like to be a dog. Whereas you could probably approximate what my thought processes are quite accurately, because they would be like yours. When the first strong AI gets here, I think it will be more like a dog than like us.

WP-Bloomberg

12


HOLLYWOOD

Our very real fascination with artificial intelligence

Hoy en la HistoriaMay 11, 2010

330: Constantinople was dedicated as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine1997: World chess champion Gary Kasparov was beaten by IBM’s Deep Blue computer2010: Benigno Aquino III, son of former president Corazon Aquino, won the Philippines’ presidential election2010: Morocco closed 10 airports as Iceland’s erupting volcano continued to disrupt air travel

Doris Eaton Travis, the last surviving Ziegfeld girl, died aged 106. She first danced on Broadway in 1917, aged 13, and a year later joined the famed Ziegfeld Follies

Picture: Associated Press © GRAPHIC NEWS

ALL IN THE MINDCan you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal,vertical, diagonal, forwards or backwards.

BOISTEROUS, BUMPY, BURNISHED, COARSE, CRUDE, FLAT,FLOWING, FLUENT, FLUID, GLOSSY, GRATING, HARSH,IRREGULAR, JAGGED, LEGATO, LIQUID, PUGNACIOUS,REFINED, RIDGED, ROCKY, ROUGH, SATIN, SERRATED,SILKY, SLEEK, SLICK, SMOOTH, STACCATO, SUAVE, WRINKLED.

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

ZITS

BLONDIE

SHERMAN’S LAGOON

13


COMICS & MORE

HYPER SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku Puzzle

is solved by filling the

numbers from 1 to 9

into the blank cells.

A Hyper Sudoku has

unlike Sudoku 13

regions (four regions

overlap with the nine

standard regions). In all

regions the numbers

from 1 to 9 can appear

only once. Otherwise, a

Hyper Sudoku is solved

like a normal Sudoku.

ACROSS

1 Fix, as an election

4 Mountaineer’s undertaking

9 Oktoberfest exclamation

14 Swiss river

15 Fisher with a pot

16 Show one’s sorry (for)

17 Lt.’s inferior

18 Hoist

19 Out-and-out


23 Opening of a play

24 Amped


31 Metro stop: Abbr.

32 Vegetarian’s protein source

33 ___ Vegas

34 Joe of “Casino”

36 Access the Internet, say


39 Mother hen’s charges

42 Zones

43 Size of an idiot’s brain, jokingly

46 Flight-related prefix

47 TV channel often on in airports


50 Loses one’s grip?

52 Lose one’s grip


58 Martian, e.g.

61 The “U” of E.U.

62 Time in history

63 Sci-fi or romance

64 Hedren of Hitchcock’s

“The Birds”

65 ___ Aviv

66 9-, 20-, 28-, 37-, 48- or 53-Across

67 Knight’s ride

68 Used a tuffet, e.g.

DOWN 1 Klugman’s co-star on

“The Odd Couple”

2 Lee who led Chrysler, 1978-92

3 Warts and such

4 ___ denied (Supreme Court phrase)

5 One of Jacob’s wives

6 “Would ___ to you?”

7 See-through stocking material

8 Recess

9 Impertinent

10 With nowhere to go but down

11 Auction grouping

12 Arles article

13 German magazine ___ Spiegel

21 Actress Vardalos

22 ___ cozy

25 Follow relentlessly

26 Martian’s craft, say

27 Many a “?” clue in a crossword

29 Apple music player

30 Encountered

31 Derision

35 All-stars

36 Sot

37 Enthusiastic supporters

38 Cul-de-___

39 Prada product

40 Old car that’s an anagram of 41-Down

41 Refinery input

43 Some rabbit food

44 Land on the Red Sea

45 Paver’s supply

47 Low isle

49 That: Sp.

51 Claude who painted “Water Lilies”

54 The “U” of

C.P.U.

55 Offensive-smelling

56 Bill Clinton’s Arkansas birthplace

57 Sooner city

58 Insurance worker: Abbr.

59 Fierce sort, astrologically

60 ___ pickle

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35 36

37 38

39 40 41 42 43 44 45

46 47 48 49

50 51 52

53 54 55 56 57

58 59 60 61 62

63 64 65

66 67 68

B S A O B O E I S A A CO A S N E T S M O R P H SL Y I N E Y E S P R O P E LT H A I O R E S B A L M YS I N G I N I N T H E R A I N

E T D R O T U S EH E R E A P A R D T S

R E X M I S S I N G E R SA R C W H I T E D D YM C I G O T S R AP U T T I N O N T H E R I T ZA L A R M N Y R O I N R ER E B E L S M O V I N O U TT A L K E R E V E R I M A

N E S T S T E D S L P S

How to play Kakuro:The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can

be of any size. It has rows and columns,

and dark cells like in a crossword. And,

just like in a crossword, some of the

dark cells will contain numbers. Some

cells will contain two numbers.

However, in a crossword the numbers

reference clues. In a kakuro, the

numbers are all you get! They denote

the total of the digits in the row or

column referenced by the number.

Within each collection of cells - called

a run - any of the numbers 1 to 9 may

be used but, like sudoku, each number

may only

be used

once.

EASY SUDOKU

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

Easy Sudoku Puzzles: Place a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains all the digits 1 to 9.

�YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

�YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

�Y

ES

TE

RD

AY

’S A

NS

WE

R

KAKURO

�Y

ES

TE

RD

AY

’S A

NS

WE

R

14


CROSSWORDS

WORDS AND PICTURES

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

SCREEN 1 Hot Pursuit (2D/Comedy)

10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00 & 11:55pm

SCREEN 2 Avengers: Age of Ultron (2D/Action)

12:00noon, 3:00, 6:00, 8:40 & 11:00pm

SCREEN 3 It Follows (2D/Horror) 11:30am, 3:30, 7:30 & 11:30pm

Lemon Tree Passage (2D/Horror) 1:30, 5:30 & 9:30pm

SCREEN 4 Kajaki (2D/Action) 11:00am, 2:50, 5:00 & 11:15pm

Grandmother’s Farm 2 (2D/Drama) 1:15, 7:30 & 9:20pm

SCREEN 5 Words & Pictures (2D/Comedy) 10:30am, 12:50, 6:30 &

11:50pm Fast & Furious 7 (2D/Action) 3:30 & 9:00pm

SCREEN 6 Backcountry (2D/Thriller) 11:45am, 3:45, 7:45 & 11:45pm

Mercenary Absolution (2D/Action) 1:45, 5:45 & 9:45pm

SCREEN 7 Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (2D/Animation) 10:45am, 12:30,

2:30, 4:15, 6:00, 7:45 & 11:20pm Big Game (2D/Action) 9:30pm

SCREEN 8 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2D/Action) 1:30, 7:40, 9:40 & 11:40pm

She’s Funny That Way (2D/Comedy) 11:30am, 3:40 & 5:40pm

SCREEN 9 Avengers: Age of Ultron (IMAX 3D/Action)

10:00am, 12:45, 3:30, 6:15, 9:00 & 11:55pm

SCREEN 10 Hot Pursuit (2D/Comedy) 11:30am, 4:30 & 9:30pm

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2D/Action) 1:30, 6:30 & 11:40pm

NOVO

MALL

LANDMARK

ROYAL PLAZA

SCREEN 1 Piku (2D/Hindi) 2:30

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (2D/Animation) 4:45pm

Hot Pursuit (2D/Comedy) 6:00 & 9:30pm Mercenary Absolution

(2D/Action) 7:45 It Follows (2D/Horror) 11:15pm

SCREEN 2 Words & Pictures (2D/Comedy) 2:30pm

Kajaki (2D/Action) 4:30pm

Back Country (2D/Drama) 6:30pm Piku (2D/Hindi) 8:15pm

Oru Vadakkan Selfie (2D/Malayalam) 10:30pm

SCREEN 3 Revenge For Jolly (2D/Comedy) 2:30pm


Mercenary Absolution (2D/Action) 11:30pm

SCREEN 1 Revenge For Jolly (2D/Comedy) 2:30pm Hot Pursuit (2D/Comedy) 4:15 & 7:45pm

Mercenary Absolution (2D/Action) 6:00 & 11:15pm

It Follows (2D/Horror) 9:30pm

SCREEN 2 Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:15pm



Back Country (2D/Drama) 4:30pm Piku (2D/Hindi) 6:15pm

Oru Vadakkan Selfie (2D/Malayalam) 8:30pm

Kajaki (2D/Action) 11:00pm

SCREEN 1 Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:15pmAvengers: Age of Ultron (2D/Action) 6:00, 8:30 & 11:00pm


Piku (2D/Hindi) 5:00 & 11:00pm Hot Pursuit (2D/Comedy) 7:15 &

11:00pm Mercenary Absolution (2D/Action) 9:00pm

SCREEN 3 Revenge For Jolly (2D/Comedy) 2:30pm

Kajaki (2D/Action) 4:00pm Mercenary Absolution (2D/Action) 6:00pm

Back Country (2D/Drama) 7:45pm Hot Pursuit (2D/Comedy) 9:30pm It Follows (2D/Horror) 11:15pm

An art instructor and an English teacher form a rivalry that ends up with a competition at their school in which students decide whether words or pictures are more important.

Directors: Fred Schepisi

Writers: Gerald Di Pego

Stars: Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Bruce Davison

ASIAN TOWNSCREEN 1 Piku (2D/Hindi) 5:30 &10:00pm

Gabbar Is Back (2D/Hindi) 7:30pm

SCREEN 2 Oru Vadakkan Selfie (2D/Malayalam)

5:00, 7:30, 10:00pm

15


CINEMA


DOHA EVENTS16

IN FOCUS

A traditional dhow near MIA Park.Send your photos to [email protected]. Please mention where the photo was taken.

by Maiz Saman

Until 30 MayVenue: 1 & 18 La Croisette,Porto Arabia – The Pearl-QatarVenue: FreeTime: 10:00-20.00

Join with your children for a fun family activity “Rainbow Park” at The Pearl-Qatar, where children will consider art as the art of lifestyle and culture by playing and being creative with unharmful colored sand and enabling them to build and create different shapes.

8 APRIL - 11 JuneVenue: Museum of Islamic ArtAdmission: Free

This exhibition showcases Qajar artwork from the MIA collection that demonstrate the centrality of women in the artistic expression of 19th-century Iran and explores how these historic innovations continue to inspire contemporary artists.

11 JuneVenue: Museum of Islamic ArtAdission: Free

The Museum of Islamic Art has partnered with Jazz at Lincoln Center Doha for a series of world class Jazz concerts in MIA Park. Presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center and The St. Regis Doha.

Till June 15Venue: Fire Station: Artists In ResidenceTime: 10:30 to 17:00 (Closed on Tuesdays)Admission: Free

The exhibition pays homage to “The Art Center”, the very first artist in residence initiative that took place in Doha in the early 1990’s and which ran for a decade. The name 555 is a play on the number 555 which residents used to dial to contact the Fire Station, paying tribute to the Civil Defense for their years of service to the people of Qatar.

Rainbow Park

QaJar Women: The Images of Women in 19th Century Iran

UNTIL 31 AUGUSTVENUE: Qatar Museums Gallery KataraADMISSION: Free

The exhibition will showcase Ismael Azzam’s distinctive portraits of painters and sculptors who have made a significant contribution to Arab Art, with the entire body of work created exclusively for this show. Ismail is of Iraqi origin, and moved to Doha in 1996.

Ismael Azzam: For Them - Exhibition

18-21 MayVenue: Doha Exhibition CentreAdmission: Free

The Doha International Gift Exhibition will be a trade fair for gifts, souvenirs, premiums, novelties, gifting ideas, mementoes and keepsake. It is sure to draw attraction of the Corporate attendees & High Net worth individual as well.

Doha International Gift Exhibition

Till 16 May Venue: KataraAdmission: FreeTime: 10.00 - 22.00

Trade Bazaar is being hosted at Katara. Local and international traders will participate in this Bazaar.

Second Carnival & Heritage and Bazaar

Jazz in the Park

Till 11 JulyVenue: Museum Of Islamic ArtAdmission: Free

This exhibition focuses on the real and mythical animals that feature in the legends, tales, and fables of the Islamic world. Divided into the natural quadrants of earth, air, fire, and water, these marvellous creatures serve as the introductions and bridges for the stories in which they feature.

Marvellous Creatures: Animal Fables In Islamic Art

555 Exhibition At The Fire Station

Until 16 AugustVenue: Mathaf: Arab Museum Of Modern Art, Ground Floor GalleriesAdmission: FreeTime: 11:00 - 18:00 (Monday closed)

Wael Shawky produces film series based on literature and historical narratives, using a visual language that mixes fictional storytelling and documentary styles. The exhibition presents two newly completed film trilogies, each inspired by stories and scripts of literature; Cabaret Crusades (2010-2014) and Al Araba Al Madfuna (2012-2015).

Wael Shawky Comes To Doha

Send your event details to [email protected]

page 01 dt may 11...enowned qatari singer fahad al kubaisi gave the opening rendi-tion at a charity...

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