magpie
@magpieuae.bsky.social
The UAE’s guide to all things cultural, creative and inbetween. Informative, pointed, educated. And free! Sign up for our weekly newsletter (and no spam) at bit.ly/47D9k3X
Artsy's 3 key takeaways from Art Basel Qatar: the Middle East matters, it's different, and "regional collectors are ready to engage" tinyurl.com/ys492p4y...
February 10, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Artsy's 3 key takeaways from Art Basel Qatar: the Middle East matters, it's different, and "regional collectors are ready to engage" tinyurl.com/ys492p4y...
The top 100 pictures from the 7th Close-up Photographer of the Year competition (inc winners). Gobsmacking, of course. Here's our favourite tinyurl.com/3uwakzcc...
February 10, 2026 at 9:00 AM
The top 100 pictures from the 7th Close-up Photographer of the Year competition (inc winners). Gobsmacking, of course. Here's our favourite tinyurl.com/3uwakzcc...
Haiti may have only two competitors at the Winter Olympics but boy they were dressed well. Handpainted designs by Stella Jean – "a small, moving canvas of identity, crafted at a time when Haiti faces profound challenges at home" tinyurl.com/5yfet8b5...
February 10, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Haiti may have only two competitors at the Winter Olympics but boy they were dressed well. Handpainted designs by Stella Jean – "a small, moving canvas of identity, crafted at a time when Haiti faces profound challenges at home" tinyurl.com/5yfet8b5...
$50,000 Calder Prize for 2025 goes to Yuko Mohri, who did Japan's much-praised pavilion at 2024 Venice Biennale: "engaging with chance techniques, Mohri allows her often ephemeral assemblages to continuously evolve in response to their environments" calder.org/calder-pr...
February 10, 2026 at 5:00 AM
$50,000 Calder Prize for 2025 goes to Yuko Mohri, who did Japan's much-praised pavilion at 2024 Venice Biennale: "engaging with chance techniques, Mohri allows her often ephemeral assemblages to continuously evolve in response to their environments" calder.org/calder-pr...
Wayfinding billboards work for Louvre Abu Dhabi, with a 37.5% rise in visits over the same period in 2024 (tho targeted digital advertising probably helped) tinyurl.com/33775fkn...
February 10, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Wayfinding billboards work for Louvre Abu Dhabi, with a 37.5% rise in visits over the same period in 2024 (tho targeted digital advertising probably helped) tinyurl.com/33775fkn...
One of the best one-week-on takes on Epsteinia that magpie has read tinyurl.com/2pytwh8s...
February 9, 2026 at 12:00 PM
One of the best one-week-on takes on Epsteinia that magpie has read tinyurl.com/2pytwh8s...
17000 visitors to Art Basel Qatar including 85+ museums and foundations worldwide tinyurl.com/ybjex9va...
February 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM
17000 visitors to Art Basel Qatar including 85+ museums and foundations worldwide tinyurl.com/ybjex9va...
An archive of Italian graphics. It doesn't get much cooler ... www.archiviograficai...
February 9, 2026 at 8:00 AM
An archive of Italian graphics. It doesn't get much cooler ... www.archiviograficai...
On a lighter (?) note, it seems Epstein was also obsessed with muffins – there are 300+ references in the Epstein files, inc his own recipe for bran muffins. Which sounds pretty iffy, but this substacker tried making it ... tinyurl.com/3dwbwdfh...
February 9, 2026 at 5:10 AM
On a lighter (?) note, it seems Epstein was also obsessed with muffins – there are 300+ references in the Epstein files, inc his own recipe for bran muffins. Which sounds pretty iffy, but this substacker tried making it ... tinyurl.com/3dwbwdfh...
... and here's a Github project that cross-references all your LinkedIn contacts to see whether any of them appear in the Epstein files (just in case)
GitHub - cfinke/EpsteIn: See which of your LinkedIn connections appear in the Epstein files.
See which of your LinkedIn connections appear in the Epstein files. - cfinke/EpsteIn
tinyurl.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:05 AM
... and here's a Github project that cross-references all your LinkedIn contacts to see whether any of them appear in the Epstein files (just in case)
Someone downloaded Epstein’s emails as a searchable Gmail inbox lookalike. Check to see who's there (are you?)
Jmail, logged in as jeevacation@gmail.com
You are logged into jeevacation@gmail.com, Jeffrey Epstein's email. Sourced from the November 2025 House Oversight Committee data release.
www.jmail.world
February 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Someone downloaded Epstein’s emails as a searchable Gmail inbox lookalike. Check to see who's there (are you?)
Qatar Museums has announced the programme for Rubaiya Qatar, the new nationwide contemporary art quadrennial (Nov 26 - Spring 27). 50+ artists include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Sophia Al Maria, Alia Farid, Naiza Khan, Lydia Ourahmane, Marina Tabassum
Qatar Museums Unveils Programme For Rubaiya Qatar, A New Contemporary Art Quadrennial
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tinyurl.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Qatar Museums has announced the programme for Rubaiya Qatar, the new nationwide contemporary art quadrennial (Nov 26 - Spring 27). 50+ artists include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Sophia Al Maria, Alia Farid, Naiza Khan, Lydia Ourahmane, Marina Tabassum
Every time you click the button that says “Please” this website sends you to random pages on the internet that really don’t do anything useful. Prepare to be amazed by the effort some people will put into producing uselessness
The Useless Web
The Useless Web Button... just press it and find where it takes you. The perfect button for the bored, or those looking to find useless sites online!
theuselessweb.com
February 8, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Every time you click the button that says “Please” this website sends you to random pages on the internet that really don’t do anything useful. Prepare to be amazed by the effort some people will put into producing uselessness
Create a comic from an AI prompt www.makecomics.io/?u...
February 7, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Create a comic from an AI prompt www.makecomics.io/?u...
More best booths
The 10 Best Booths at Art Basel Qatar 2026
Solo presentations of Matthew Wong, Olga de Amaral, and Lina Gazzaz are among the standouts from Art Basel’s first Qatar edition.
tinyurl.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:04 AM
More best booths
Looks like Art Basel Qatar is a hit – maybe not in sales, but def in presentation and market development
The Best Booths at Art Basel Qatar from the Quietly Sensual to the Colorfully Quirky
A closer look at the standout presentations at Art Basel’s first fair in Doha, from monumental sculpture to tightly focused solo booths.
tinyurl.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Looks like Art Basel Qatar is a hit – maybe not in sales, but def in presentation and market development
Art meets data: a beautiful collection of data visualisations: raw info like war casualties, language evolution, UFO sightings are transformed into contemplative visual experiences -- hence the title 'data poems' tinyurl.com/2rs9pnmx...
February 6, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Art meets data: a beautiful collection of data visualisations: raw info like war casualties, language evolution, UFO sightings are transformed into contemplative visual experiences -- hence the title 'data poems' tinyurl.com/2rs9pnmx...
The always readable Caroline Crampton on an underdiscussed element of novel prep: understanding the space your characters move in
The Invisible Exoskeleton
In my teens, I spent a lot of time playing an interactive fiction game called Hamlet: The Text Adventure. I enjoyed the snarky little additions the creator, Robin Johnson, made to the Shakespearean story (there's a room where you come across a character from another play, Othello, muttering about a
tinyurl.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM
The always readable Caroline Crampton on an underdiscussed element of novel prep: understanding the space your characters move in
Frieze magazine bemoans the plight of the independent curator, eg in biennials where "curators are increasingly drawn from the same pool of full-time directorship and curatorial roles"
Who Killed the Independent Curator?
Biennials have become a side-hustle for institutional directors, creating far-reaching consequences for the global art world
tinyurl.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Frieze magazine bemoans the plight of the independent curator, eg in biennials where "curators are increasingly drawn from the same pool of full-time directorship and curatorial roles"
"The global human rights system is in peril ... Democracy is now back to 1985 levels according to some metrics, with 72% of the world’s population now living under autocracy." Human Rights Watch just published its 2026 world report
World Report 2026
World Report 2026, Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.
tinyurl.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:00 AM
"The global human rights system is in peril ... Democracy is now back to 1985 levels according to some metrics, with 72% of the world’s population now living under autocracy." Human Rights Watch just published its 2026 world report
Indie in Tbilisi: underground music vs The Man (for real)
DIY Against the Oligarchy: Underground Music in Tbilisi, by Nick Hudson | The Quietus
It’s 5 May 2023 and Georgian anarcho-industrial collective Quemmekh are playing the Holoseum in Tbilisi’s old town. They’re flanked by wall-to-wall screens depicting burning cop cars and riot footage as a tall, imperious, rainbow-ribboned shaman – performed by queer Tbilisi icon Andro Dadiani, who has since found political asylum in Brussels – stands in the […]
tinyurl.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Indie in Tbilisi: underground music vs The Man (for real)
#MAGPIESEZ This week's FREE magpie weekly newsletter does Manual Rabaté, Dubai Loop, tax-free art and all that's best on the UAE's arts 'n' culture scene tinyurl.com/bp8a6zd6...
February 5, 2026 at 2:00 AM
#MAGPIESEZ This week's FREE magpie weekly newsletter does Manual Rabaté, Dubai Loop, tax-free art and all that's best on the UAE's arts 'n' culture scene tinyurl.com/bp8a6zd6...
In the blizzard of AI-makes-a-website-for-you promos, it's refreshing to find a plain-language guide to DIY webbuilding with HTML
HTML for People
HTML isn't only for people working in the tech field. It's for everyone. Learn how to make a website from scratch in this beginner friendly web book.
htmlforpeople.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:00 AM
In the blizzard of AI-makes-a-website-for-you promos, it's refreshing to find a plain-language guide to DIY webbuilding with HTML
"All serious intellectual work happens on the page ... If you want to contribute to the world of ideas, if you want to entertain and manipulate complex thoughts, you have to read and write." Adam Mastroianni thinks reading is not dead
Text Is (Still) King
Why the written word will never die.
tinyurl.com
February 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM
"All serious intellectual work happens on the page ... If you want to contribute to the world of ideas, if you want to entertain and manipulate complex thoughts, you have to read and write." Adam Mastroianni thinks reading is not dead
"Cultural institutions still feel it vital to hold onto the critical museum model ... What is needed is something more fluid, adaptable and responsive" Alistair Hudson argues that museums need a better approach to new digital technologies tinyurl.com/4r3ejhmw...
February 4, 2026 at 2:00 AM
"Cultural institutions still feel it vital to hold onto the critical museum model ... What is needed is something more fluid, adaptable and responsive" Alistair Hudson argues that museums need a better approach to new digital technologies tinyurl.com/4r3ejhmw...