LOS ANGELES: In 2015 they were hailed as heroes by US President Barack Obama and given France’s highest honors.
This week, the three American childhood friends who overpowered a man wielding an assault rifle and a box cutter on a passenger train to Paris are starring in a Clint Eastwood movie about the attack, and it’s feeling a little surreal.
Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos from Sacramento, California, play themselves in the movie “The 15:17 to Paris,” opening in US movie theaters on Friday.
After meeting the three men in their 20s at an awards show, Eastwood decided to make a film, but rather than casting actors, the Oscar-winning director called on the friends themselves.
“Three weeks before shooting, he’s like ‘Do you guys want to do it yourselves?’ and we were like ‘What? The movie starts in three weeks and we never took acting classes,’” Sadler said.
“(Eastwood) was like ‘Don’t worry about it. We’re just going to go and do it.’ So he just kept it simple and said ‘Be yourself and we’re just going to capture it’,” he added.
The trio were on a train from Amsterdam to Paris on a European vacation on Aug. 21, 2015 when a suspected Islamist militant opened fire on passengers.
They helped overpower the man, and Stone plugged the wounds of another passenger with his fingers after being struck himself by the attacker. Two other passengers were wounded and the attacker was arrested when the train stopped.
Stone is glad the film also honors the other people who sprang into action. In the film, many of the passengers are the same people who were on the train in 2015.
“A lot of the times the story is depicted that we were the only ones who did anything,” he said. “For them to be honored for what they did in such a big way is awesome because it’s something we’ve always wanted but we just didn’t know how we could do that.
“We just wanted to get it right and I think we did,” Stone added.
Skarlatos said shooting the movie “helped us close a chapter in our lives and move on.”
But the trio is also hoping it opens other doors.
“Hopefully this launches movie careers for all three of us,” said Sadler. “We’re all trying to pursue acting. We’ve kind of caught the acting bug and he (Eastwood) gave us the confidence to do it.”
Real life heroes star in Clint Eastwood French attack movie
Real life heroes star in Clint Eastwood French attack movie
Oman reveals artistic team headed to Venice Biennale
DUBAI: The Sultanate of Oman has announced its second national pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition, titled "Malath-Haven," will run from Apr. 20 to Nov. 24, this year.
Curated by artist and gallerist, Alia Al-Farsi, the inaugural display in Venice showcases new artworks by Omani contemporary artists Dr. Ali Al-Jabri, Essa Al-Mufarji, Sarah Al-Olaqi, Adham Al-Farsi and Alia Al-Farsi.
In line with the 2024 Biennale’s curatorial theme "Foreigners Everywhere," the artists will present a body of work that captures the essence of Oman's multicultural legacy.
Sayyid Saeed Al Busaidi, Commissioner, Undersecretary for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for Culture, said in a statement: “We are delighted to return to this enchanting city for the second time, showcasing the rich artistic heritage of our nation. Our presentation will spotlight a diverse collection of contemporary artwork created by talented Omani artists.”
“Additionally, the Ministry is committed to fostering artistic development nationwide through various programs aligned with the Venice Exhibition. The participation of the Sultanate of Oman in the International Art Exhibition holds significant importance within the framework of intercultural dialogue and human interaction diversity. As a platform renowned for its celebration of global artistic expression, the Biennale Arte offers Oman a unique opportunity to showcase its rich cultural heritage and artistic innovation on an international stage.”
Curator Al-Farsi added, “The four chosen artists representing the Sultanate of Oman at the 60th International Art Exhibition have each made noteworthy and commendable contributions to their communities, effectively revitalizing the contemporary art scene in Oman throughout their careers. Their impact extends beyond their artistic endeavours, serving as inspiration for new generations of artists.”
Meet Abdullatef Alrashoudi, the Saudi baker making it big in Paris
- The former surgeon turned Cordon Bleu graduate incorporates flavors from his homeland into his high-end bakes
LONDON: Five years into his medical career, Saudi surgeon Abdullatef Alrashoudi hung up his stethoscope for the final time.
It was the morning of his 30th birthday, and an offer had recently landed in his inbox from Le Cordon Bleu, the prestigious Parisian culinary school that has trained luminaries from American chef Julia Child to Mary Berry, one of the original judges on “The Great British Bake Off.”
Now 34 and running his own café in one of Paris’ trendiest neighbourhoods, Alrashoudi looks back on that email as a turning point in his life.
“It was the biggest gift,” he says. “Baking had always been my dream, and medicine was showing me it was not the right path.”
After the switch, which he admits left his hospital colleagues “shocked,” Alrashoudi’s career has gone from strength to strength. Nine gruelling months studying bread dough, baking and boulangerie techniques led to spells working in leading Parisian restaurants — and finally to a place of his own.
LÂM — which combines Alrashoudi’s nickname ‘Latif’ and ‘âme’, the French word for ‘soul’ — has been open for just over six months, but is already welcoming a steady stream of regulars through the doors.
The airy, mineral green-fronted space sits opposite a bubble tea shop and art gallery in a “hip, up-and-coming” neighbourhood just off the French capital’s Place de La République.
In the window, a hand-built La Marzocco machine from Italy, in the same vibrant green as the Saudi Arabian flag, churns out rich cups of coffee from the high-end Parisian brand Coutume.
These aromatic brews are accompanied by delicate counter bakes that fuse traditional French techniques with enticing Middle Eastern flavours — the nutty richness of tahini, the sweet crunch of pistachios, the fragrant allure of rose.
Alrashoudi, who hails from the date-rich province of Al-Qassim but grew up in north Riyadh, explains that, instead of a cinnamon roll, the café serves a black-lemon version inspired by the Saudi dessert klēja, made with soft brioche dough, honey, and biscuit.
Other inventive options on the menu include zaatar and feta buns, bakes mixing chocolate and cardamom, plus a tahini cookie, for which he uses the classic French technique of burned butter to add “a deeper flavour”.
Since opening in September, LÂM has quickly become a popular spot. While most patrons are “local to the street,” Alrashoudi, who is fluent in French, is hopeful that the coming months will bring more Khaleeji visitors — especially in the run-up to the Olympics, which will be hosted in the city this summer.
But before millions of visitors from around the world descend on Paris for a month of sporting action, Alrashoudi is focusing on getting through Ramadan, with fasting hours in the French capital running from around 5.30 a.m. until 7 p.m. this year.
To mark the holy month, he is serving Saudi dates with every coffee, and plans to continue that after Ramadan finishes because it is “working really well” with customers.
And while you can take the baker out of Saudi, you can’t take the generous spirit of Saudi out of the baker. In keeping with the principles of hafawa (hospitality), Alrashoudi holds back a cup of coffee every night for a fasting Tunisian restaurateur working next door.
Alrashoudi has already become known in the neighborhood as ‘the Saudi chef’ and his customers are “always asking” about his homeland — particularly the cultural transformation that has swept through the Kingdom in recent years under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030.
The young baker credits much of his success to those changes. It was the Crown Prince’s own Misk Foundation that granted him a scholarship to study at Le Cordon Bleu alongside a group of other young Saudis, who have since gone on to lead kitchens in the Kingdom and beyond.
“When I was growing up many people did not know about Saudi, but in recent years that has changed,” says Alrashoudi, who acknowledges that LÂM is one of a small number of Gulf culinary spots around the world positively influencing perceptions of the region.
But despite growing representation of Khaleeji culture on the global stage, for most people Arabic cuisine still predominantly conjures images of Levantine dishes such as shawarma, hummus, and falafel.
This is reflected in the culinary landscape of major cities, with TripAdvisor figures revealing that London and New York City combined have only one Saudi Arabian restaurant, despite hosting hundreds of Lebanese and Egyptian eateries.
Alrashoudi believes this needs to change, particularly at a time when diners are increasingly interested in broadening their horizons.
“The government has been trying so hard to have people come and visit Saudi Arabia and to export our culture,” he says. “It’s where I am from and I love it — now it needs to be experienced by the world.”
Abdullatef Alrashoudi’s orange saffron muffins
Ingredients:
200g sugar; zest of 2 oranges; 2 medium eggs; 105ml olive oil; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 300g all-purpose flour; 1/2 tsp baking soda; a generous pinch of salt; 60g almond flour; 120g buttermilk; 120ml orange juice; 20g sugar; a pinch of saffron
Instructions:
1. Mix 200g sugar with the orange zest until the mixture is fragrant and the sugar is slightly moist — this helps release the oils from the zest, packing a punch of orange flavor.
2. Crack the eggs into the sugar-zest mixture. Whisk vigorously until fully combined. Then add the olive oil while whisking. You want it all emulsified, giving your muffins a beautiful, light texture. Then add the vanilla essence.
3. In another bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and almond flour together.
4. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients. Pour in the egg, oil, and zest mixture. Gently fold everything together — just enough to combine.
5. Fold in the orange juice and buttermilk. The mixture should now look golden. In a separate bowl, mix 20g sugar with the saffron to sprinkle on top of the muffins.
6. Spoon the batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle with the saffron-sugar mix. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 10-15 minutes, or until the muffins are golden and a skewer comes out clean.
New book delves into lives of modern Arab artists
- Lebanese art expert Myrna Ayad says she wanted to ‘focus on the person,’ not their work
DUBAI: Lebanese author and art expert Myrna Ayad recently released “Alcove,” a book of 30 essays exploring the lives of celebrated and forgotten modern artists from the Arab world. Ayad based her essays on intimate interviews with the artists’ relatives, students, and close friends.
“I was not after describing their work,” Ayad, who lives in Dubai, tells Arab News. “My aim was to focus on the person — what moved them, what affected them, how they lived, how they survived and why they persevered.”
The artists hailed from the Gulf, the Levant and North Africa, and were working between the 1950s and 1980s — a time when the MENA art scene was far smaller than it is today.
“Despite geography, they all knew each other and were friends,” says Ayad. “They exhibited alongside each other and deliberated together. In those days, there were key cultural capitals like Baghdad, Beirut and Cairo, so they would all gather there. They were likeminded people.” What also united them was a sense of struggle — be it political, personal or professional. “It was not easy at all being an artist in those days,” says Ayad.
They were also documenters of their time — depicting contemporary historical and political events.
“They addressed topics full-on,” says Ayad. “They had enough liberty and confidence to do that, which is why you find a lot of answers in modern Arab art.”
The term “alcove” derives from the Arabic word “al-qubba”, meaning a vault or a chamber. And the interviews Ayad conducted for the book unleashed a vault of memories for her interviewees. “All of the conversations were emotional,” she recalls. “I was on Zoom calls watching grown men cry.”
Here are five noteworthy artists featured in “Alcove.”
Abdullah Al-Shaikh (1936 – 2019)
The Iraq-born Saudi artist was an introvert who devoted his life to painting folkloric scenes, local landscapes and abstract compositions. “It was so fascinating for me that this man — who grew up in a relatively conservative environment — belonged to a family who didn’t object to art-making,” says Ayad. “He never did it for fame or fortune, he was just so committed.” Al-Shaikh held his first solo show in Alkhobar in 1981, when he was in his forties.
Jumana El-Husseini (1932 – 2018)
Hailing from Palestinian aristocracy, El-Husseini was exiled from her native land in 1948 and eventually settled in Lebanon. “Like other Palestinians, (her family) were dealt a catastrophic blow. They lost their home and Jumana never got over it,” says Ayad. “She channeled that pain into painting.” Many of El-Husseini’s artworks are landscapes of Jerusalem, where she was born. In Lebanon, she married, raised a family of three sons and received double degrees in political science and child psychology. But her heart was still in Palestine.
Nuha Al-Radi (1941 – 2004)
The Iraqi artist worked with a number of mediums, such as ceramics, painting and found objects. The daughter of an ambassador, Al-Radi lived a cosmopolitan life, residing in India, Lebanon and the UK. She was also a noted diarist, who wrote about daily life under the first Gulf War. In the politically turbulent early 2000s, she created “junk art,” making figurative wooden sculptures decorated with feathers and ornaments “in response to Western sanctions against Iraq,” according to her biography.
Mona Saudi (1945 – 2022)
The Jordanian artist, famed for her abstract marble sculptures, led a remarkable life, marked by rebellion and creativity. When she was just 17, she took a taxi from Jordan to Beirut to pursue her artistic career. “She grew up in a conservative environment. Her father forbade her from going to university,” says Ayad.
In Beirut, she mingled with artists and poets, and, in 1964, staged an exhibition in a café. The funds she made financed her studies in Paris. Saudi was also an activist who designed posters for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Asim Abu Shakra (1961 – 1990)
In his short life, the Palestinian artist used the cactus as a symbolic motif, representing resilience and toughness, in his emotionally-charged paintings.
“He was studying in Tel Aviv, Israel,” says Ayad. “Can you imagine what that did to him psychologically? He felt he had been uprooted and put in a box. He’s separated and alone.”
Abu Shakra died of cancer aged 29. “When the cactus became darker and darker in his paintings, that was when he was sicker and sicker,” Ayad says.
Highlights from the inaugural Design Doha Biennale spotlighting regional creativity
DOHA: The inaugural Design Doha Biennale runs until Aug. 5 and offers a platform for designers from across the Middle East — including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank — to showcase their creativity through a wide variety of projects.
The central exhibition, titled “Arab Design Now,” is curated by Rana Beiruti, the co-founder of Amman Design Week, and features a survey of more than 70 designers. On view at M7 in Doha, the show also boasts 38 commissioned works.
“The works on display showcase a commitment by designers from the Arab world to present rich heritage-based traditions and rituals from the region while also reinterpreting them and adapting them,” Beiruti told Arab News. “This is a representation of the Arab nation because the borders that exist in our part of the world are imposed borders. We were all, kind of, one people before with similar cultures and traditions.
“The commonalities emerge in unexpected ways from designers hailing from Morocco to Qatar,” added Beiruti. “Knowing the design landscape of the region, there were certain moments that I was looking to explore as well as parts of the conversation about Arab design I wanted to fill … and I did so with this constellation of works from around the Levant, North Africa and the Gulf.”
A large stonework structure made in a triangular, tent-like form that emulates pointed arches found across Palestine, Syria and Lebanon appears prominently on the second floor of the exhibition space. Titled “Tiamat” (2023), it is by Palestinian architects and brothers Elias and Yousef Anastas who run the award-winning AAU Anastas design studio in Bethlehem.
“’Tiamat’ is part of our ongoing research ‘Stone Matters’ that is advocating for a contemporary use of structural stone in architecture in Palestine and elsewhere … (we have) been particularly interested in the politics of stone use for low carbon footprint structures, more resilient cities and more responsible quarry exploitation,” Elias Anastas told Arab News.
Nearby is an elaborately rendered dresser titled “Bridal Chest” by Jordanian collective Naqsh, by sisters Nisreen and Nermeen Abu Dail. Its rich and ornate detailing reflects traditional patterns worn by a bride during Palestinian weddings.
“This piece was inspired by a Palestinian bridal bag where the bride places all of her attire that she then carries to her husband’s house,” Nermeen Abu Dail told Arab News. “The chest is made in onyx stone and hand cut (with) inlaid pieces of brass. It also evokes the patterns on a Palestinian shawl.”
In an adjacent room, Jeddah-based Bricklab joined the 6:AM collective to create “An Archive for Modern Glass” (2023), an illuminated five-meter-tall column that combines Bricklab’s ongoing research on modern development in Jeddah with 6:AM’s knowledge of Venetian glass. The patterns, textures and colors reflect those found in Jeddah’s modernist structures built from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Once again marrying traditional Arab design with materials and structures from the West, particularly Venetian glass (a material that shares a rich Arab history), is Abeer Seikaly’s “Constellations 2.0: Object. Light. Consciousness” (2023), a stunning chandelier made in brass, stainless steel, cables and LED light fittings handcrafted from over 5,000 pieces of Murano glass, intricately linked together to form one continuous mesh circular form. The piece merges Venetian glassmaking with Bedouin weaving practices.
In addition to “Arab Design Now,” five additional exhibitions are running as part of the inaugural edition of Design Doha: “Colors of the City: A Century of Architecture in Doha”; “Weaving Poems; 100/100 HUNDRED BEST ARABIC POSTERS Round 04”; “Crafting Uzbekistan: Tradition in Threads; and “Cultural Kinship.”
Artistic Director of Design Doha Glenn Adamson told Arab News visitors would be treated to a “profound story.”
“The way it is conceived by beginning with the theme of the land reflected by using materials that come from the land through craft, through symbolism, spirituality, and then into these ideas about advanced technology, computational design, followed by language and culture — it is all very subtle but the works on show. and the journey it takes visitors on, reveals a profound story,” he said.
Saudi Arabia to present ‘Shifting Sands: A Battle Song’ at Venice Biennale
DUBAI: The Saudi pavilion at Biennale Arte 2024 in Venice has revealed the name of artist Manal AlDowayan’s installation at the event as “Shifting Sands: A Battle Song.” The multimedia installation artwork was inspired by the evolving role of women in Saudi Arabia.
“Shifting Sands: A Battle Song is a call for solidarity in the context of the global representation of women in and from Saudi Arabia, and a rally to take ownership of our identity as we navigate both the physical space we inhabit and the narratives that have historically defined us,” said AlDowayan in a released statement.
The work, which will be unveiled during the Biennale’s opening week beginning April 16, is the result of three preparatory workshops the artist conducted across Saudi Arabia — in Alkhobar, Jeddah and Riyadh — in January, where she welcomed more than 1,000 women who responded to an invitation to contribute to her upcoming work for the pavilion.
During the workshops, women of all ages and backgrounds were invited to engage in group singing sessions led by AlDowayan and Ileana Yasmin, a vocal coach for Saudi Arabia’s Music Commission.
The women were also asked to reflect on the idea of visibility and invisibility in the context of the international media. Additionally, they were asked to bear witness to each other by writing about and illustrating what they see in each other.
“For this artwork, I have returned to my community of women and asked the questions: What is the history that needs to be written through this work? What is the marker of the transformation that needs to be examined?” said AlDowayan in a statement.
The recorded singing, drawings and texts created by workshop participants will be incorporated into “Shifting Sands: A Battle Song” so that participants of the artwork will have their voices heard in unison on the international stage in Venice.
An all-female group of curators are responsible for the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia at the 60th Venice Biennale this year, with Jessica Cerasi, Maya El-Khalil and assistant curator Shadin AlBulaihed working with AlDowayan on her installation for the event.