“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.“

— Federico Fellini

Forgive me reader for I have not blogged and it has been 3 months since my last blog.

In my defence, life has been predictably uneventful and my second term was a challenging one. Just days before returning in January we were faced with the announcement that schools would be returning to remote learning due to increased case numbers over the holiday. Term then unfolded in a strange myriad of learning styles: a month at home, two weeks in school, another ten days at home, then the rest of term in school. The constant change in routine and planning for both eventualities was difficult for adults, let alone the children. This, coupled with the inevitable post-Christmas slump that is the first half of the Spring Term, did not make for high spirits.

It is at times like these when the little things really matter. It is important to seek out the things that make you happy and take some time to indulge. Is is, as our glorious 21st Century society would have us remember, good for our wellbeing. (Definitely not our ‘wellness’, this blog is just not that on-trend. Sorry). Having devoured every word of this website with awed fascination, devoted and dear reader, you will have read my opening gambit:

“My name is Richard Coppack. Teacher of Music. Lover of culture. And golf.”

Now, my Abu Dhabi adventure has certainly not been short on golf. I have reported on many happy days playing courses around the area and there will be many more to come. What Abu Dhabi has given in golf, unfortunately, it hath taken away in the arts. A lot of this is down to Covid restrictions but there has still been a definite sense of cultural starvation.

I am lucky enough to live in the cultural centre of the city and the jewel in the crown of creativity, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, has remained open throughout. This remarkable museum is the result of a thirteen year collaboration with the Louvre in Paris and is worth a visit for the building alone. Award-winning French archtiect Jean Nouvel sought to create a floating museum city, built right on the waterfront. The enormous metal dome gives this impression as well as creating a ‘rain of light’ through the geometric structure.

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The curation is equally interesting and is worthy of an entirely separate blog, however a quick mention must be made of the 20th century rooms at the end of the exhibition. Modern art is very much ‘my bag’ and several of my favourite artists were on display. Much time was spent lingering in this section, delighted by the small but perfectly formed collection. None delighted more, however, than the following by Wassily Kandinsky:

It is only recently I have discovered that Kandinsky had a sensory condition that caused him to ‘see’ colour as musical notes. The works are therefore a sort of visual representation of a piece of music. Whether this has anything to do with how drawn I am to them we will never know.

Two visits to the Louvre so far have been culturally fulfilling. There is, however, another gallery right opposite my apartment that has been of great interest since my arrival…

The Manarat is a museum showcasing contemporary Arabic art. It is a very exciting establishment for three reasons:

1. The wonderful originality and vibrancy of the 21st Century Arabic art on display.
2. The cafe bar which has served me well at the end of many a long week and has particularly good prices during happy hour. (The Lebanese lager comes highly recommended).
3. They run an independent cinema club in their auditorium.

Number 3 has excited me greatly since my arrival and my Googling during the 14 day quarantine of doom revealed it as, more or less, the only outlet for good quality independent cinema in the city. Two showings per week are advertised as, to my utter disbelief, completely free to attend! All you need do is RSVP to the email invitation to each film. Back in the autumn the cinema was still not running, however they were able to bring it back in February. And so off I went, to a little auditorium a stone’s throw from my flat, sat myself in a chair positioned 1.5 metres away from the chairs that surrounded it, and returned a few hours later a much happier blogger….

Since then I have returned to cinema night several times. It is hosted by an Emirati gentleman who is very knowledgeable and gives a little introduction to each film. The selection is particularly well chosen and as part of the Italian Film Season a few weeks ago I took myself off to see Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni. This brilliant character study of small town provincial Italy shows us that there is beauty in even the most mundane situation. The last 12 months, since the dawn of the pandemic, has certainly been a mundane situation and it seems to me that the arts it something we need now more than ever. The cultural starvation has left me ravenous and, as opportunities start to open up bit by bit, I will be devouring them.

Indeed, as Fellini has told us, there is magic to be found even in pasta.

Which is a good job, as there follows a review of some of my culinary excursions this term…..