Al Manakh 2
Overleaf, please find an assortment of images from Al Manakh 2
published by Archis.
For high resolution images,
please contact:
Valerie Bloom
info@archis.org
+31203203926
113
Billboard for Marmooka City, Ajman. As of July 2009, its 206-tower plan had been
scaled back to 20 towers.
Photo Todd Reisz
154
West Bay Lagoon Plaza Towers, Doha, March 3, 2009.
Photo Mitra Khoubrou
205
The Dubai metro.
Photo Katrin Greiling
206
The Dubai metro.
Photo Katrin Greiling
208
The Dubai metro.
Photo Katrin Greiling
235
Yas Island.
Photo Katrin Greiling
259
The preservation of Diriyah.
Photo Todd Reisz
263
The Arriyadh Development Authority makes public space in Riyadh.
Photo Ar-Riyadh Development Authority
352
Burj Khalifa is Downtown.
On January 4, 2010 a structure that had already been an indelible piece of Dubai’s landscape for the last five
years was deemed complete. The ribbon-cutting eventwas described by many onlookers as pleasant, not overdone, and by the press as both Dubai’s start to a comeback and the peak of a swan song. In a surprise dedication
the ‘burj’ was renamed Burj Khalifa, in honor of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the UAE and
Ruler of Abu Dhabi. The naming gave the tower yet another symbolic duty – it signified Dubai’s closer ties with
Abu Dhabi. Before the opening of the world’s tallest tower, Souk Bahar and Dubai Mall beat everyone’s expectation, not because Dubai got a Galeries Lafayette, but a muchneeded public space. It might be flooded with an
Andrea Bocelli song every hour on the hour to conduct the world’s largest fountain but you’d find it difficult to
say it didn’t attract a cross-section of Dubai’s splendid variety of society.
Photo Katrin Greiling
367
Bahrain’s rainbow houses.
Photo Nicholas Kothari
392
Tea counter in Calicut, India, May 4, 2009.
Photo Todd Reisz
392
A Malayali social group in Zalamat Park, Abu Dhabi, December 18, 2009.
Photo Katrin Greiling
400
Western Union Kamp Ka Champ is a three-year-old event sometimes referred to
as ‘Dubai Idols’. Western Union (whose yellowness drapes everything) is the main
sponsor of the event, supported by contracting and security companies who house
significant numbers of employees in Dubai’s so-called labor accommodations.
The singing/Bollywood-trivia contest spans over days of auditions when hundreds
compete to make it to the semifinals. The early rounds bring the streets and courtyards
of sponsoring labor accommodations alive with music and cheer.
Those making it to the finals head to Dubai’s historic Al Nasr Leisureland for a grand
stage watched by invited friends and sponsors’ guests. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis,
Sri Lankans and Indians mostly sing Hindi songs to please the majority. A Pakistani
chooses a patriotic Pakistan song as the finals fell on Pakistan’s National Day. Between
acts, Western Union commercials remind the audience just how easy sending money
to families back home can be. And then the music and swaying crowd begin again.
The winning duo – with the highest scores from SMS-votes and most correct Bollywood trivia answers – take home 1500 dirhams ($400), a new television, and the fame
from being this year’s idols.
Photo Katrin Greiling
407
A temporary mosque in Sulaibiya, Kuwait, September 4, 2009.
Photo Jasmine Melvin-Koushi
413
A covered courtyard in KAUST’s laboratories, October 18, 2009.
Photo Reda Sijny
428
The renovation of Souq Waqif, Doha.
Photo Todd Reisz
430
The flattening of Riyadh.
Photo Joumana al Jabri
437
The empty quarter.
Photo Katrin Greiling
465
Where: Africa
To Feed: UK (Private Investment)
What: Unspecified
In October 2008, the Financial Times
reported that Lonrho was putting
together funds to acquire 20,000 hectares of farmland in Angola in order
to make money from global food trade
in a time of high prices. It is part of a
wider, ‘aggressive’ strategy to acquire
ten times that amount for the same
purposes across Africa. The Angola
Government is reportedly trying to
attract $6 billion worth of new agricultural investment with corporations
from Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Argentina,
Canada and the US.
Where: Africa
To Feed: GCC
What: $1 billion investment
Three Gulf Firms announced the
creation of AgriCapital, a new Islamic
investment fund in August 2008. The
$1 billion investment vehicle will engage
in land purchases overseas to produce
food for the region through a separate
investment bank specially created for
this purpose.
Where: Ethiopia
To Feed: Saudi Arabia
What: Investment and development
In August 2008, Ethiopia’s Prime
Minister told the Financial Times that
he is eager to give Saudi investors
access to ‘hundreds of thousands’ of
hectares of farmland for investment
and development.
Where: Pakistan
To Feed: UAE
What: Rice, wheat, dairy
Abraaj Capital, together with the UAE
Government, acquired 800,000 acres
of supposedly ‘barren’ farmland in
Pakistan over the last year. Reports are
also circling that the Emirates Investment Group and the Abu Dhabi Group
are not far behind in seeking similar
deals. Overall investment from Abu
Dhabi in Pakistani agriculture is said
to be worth $3 billion already.
Where: Pakistan
To Feed: UAE
What: Unspecified
The UAE Government is in bilateral
talks with Pakistan to purchase $400500 million worth of farmland. The deal
would involve 100,000-200,000 acres
in large holdings in Pakistan’s Punjab
and Sindh provinces. Under the deal,
the UAE investors would be able to
purchase land directly in Pakistan for
agribusiness operations or enter into
joint ventures with Pakistani farmers.
The talks are focused on large holdings
in order to keep transport and logistics
costs down, and the attraction of joint
ventures is to cut out middlemen.
The UAE is also requesting to exempt
the lands entirely from Pakistan’s
export policies.
Where: Pakistan
To Feed: Qatar
What: Rice
One Qatari firm is reportedly eyeing
the acquisition of Pakistan government’s Kolurkar farm in Punjab to
produce food to export to Qatar.
The head of Pakistan Farmers Forum
says that if the Qataris get the land,
it may dislocate 25,000 villagers.
Where: Indonesia
To Feed: Saudi Arabia
What: Rice, grain
In August 2008, the Binladen Group
signed an agreement to invest at least
$4.3 billion, on behalf of a consortium
of fifteen Saudi investors to develop
500,000 hectares of rice land in Indonesia. Binladen has been described
by some sources as the principal firm
‘tasked’ by the Saudi government to
deal with the Kingdom’s long-term food
supply problem. With ‘acquisitions’
of land already in the Papua and Sultra
provinces, the group has considered
reserving some rice for local markets
‘so that the people there don’t cause
us problems’.
Where: Cambodia
To Feed: Qatar
What: Rice
Qatar sealed a deal to access Khmer
farmland for production and export of
rice to Doha. In exchange, Cambodia
will receive technical assistance as
well as an invitation for Hun Sen to visit
Qatar in 2009 to make a bit for Cambodia to ‘corner the gulf rice market.
Cambodia is hoping to become the
world’s top rice exporter by 2015
despite continuing domestic hunger’.
Where: Cambodia
To Feed: Kuwait
What: Rice
In August 2008, Kuwait inked a bilateral
deal with the Cambodian Government
in which Kuwait will receive access to
Khmer rice lands to produce rice for
export back to Kuwait, with any surplus
going to international markets. Cambodia will receive agricultural technologies
and a $546 million loan to develop
irrigation and road infrastructure in
Battambang, Cambodia’s rice-growing
province.
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Where: Philippines
To Feed: Bahrain
What: Rice and livestock
In May 2008, Bahrain’s Trade Minister
went to The Philippines to secure
access to ‘large plots of land’ to grow
basmati rice for Bahrain’s consumption.
According to some reports, the project
aims not only to serve Bahrain’s food
security but also provide employment
and raise supplies to local communities.
Where: Thailand
To Feed: Saudi Arabia
What: Rice
A delegation of Saudi businessmen
visited Suphanburi province to explore
the potential of leasing land for their
own rice production, and rice export
joint ventures with local counterparts
to supply the Saudi market. Any surplus
would be sold to other Gulf nations.
Public debate regarding scrutiny of
the project revealed unreleased details
that Taiwanese and US investors
already had bought land in Thailand
to grow crops for export abroad.
Where: China
To Feed: …
What: Poultry
In 2008, Goldman Sachs invested
$300 million to acquire full control of
more than ten poultry farms in Hunan
and Fujian provinces. Goldman already
controls Henan Shuanghui and holds a
13% stake in China Yuran Food Group
(China’s top two meat processors).
Where: Everywhere
To Feed: UAE
What: Rice, Livestock, Dairy
Al-Qudra Holdings plans to acquire
400,000 hectares of land in Australia,
Croatia, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Morocco,
Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Syria,
Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam. The land
is to be acquired through a mixture of
20-30 year leases, concessions and outright purchases. The CEO of Al-Qudra
states reported that 40% of the total
investment would go to maize crops
although no decision has been made
about whether to convert it to Ethanol.
This investment plan may expand to
port operations, breeding, and manufacturing of irrigation equipment.
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Volume 23
Where: Sudan
To Feed: UAE
What: Wheat, maize, potatoes
The UAE Government is investing in
378,000 hectares of farmland in various
Sudanese states. According to some
sources, Khartoum is providing the
land for free.
Where: Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey
To Feed: Saudi Arabia
What: Rice and wheat
In August 2008, The Saudi Fund for
Development announced that it will set
up a $566 million special investment
vehicle for buying land abroad for
domestic food production. According
to the Asian Times, Pakistan has
requested $6 million of oil and financial
aid in return for access to its farmlands.
Food Security
Illustration Jonathan Hanahan
501
The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
Photo Todd Reisz