Taylor Swift and her former record label traded barbed accusations on Friday about her rights to perform her old songs, winning support from singers like Selena Gomez and Sara Bareilles but silence from many of the big hitters in the music business.
Swift, 29, one of the best-selling names in pop music, said on social media that her performance as “artist of the decade” at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 24 was “a question mark” because her old record label had refused permission for her to sing a medley of her old hits on the show.
Big Machine Label Group, the Nashville, Tennessee-based company that owns the master recordings of Swift’s back catalog, hit back on Friday, saying the singer was giving out “false information” and that the label has no right to limit her live performances.
Under her contract, Swift is not permitted to re-record material from her period with Big Machine until November 2020.
Singer-songwriter Bareilles tweeted that the move by Big Machine was “an outrageous abuse of power and completely unforgivable” while Gomez, a close friend of Swift, said in a social media post that she was “sick and extremely angry.”
Camila Cabello, Halsey and Tinashe also expressed support for Swift on Twitter but many other female stars, including Katy Perry, Adele, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Cardi B and Beyonce, were silent on Friday.
Swift signed with Big Machine at age 15, recording some of her biggest hits including “Shake it Off,” and “You Belong With Me,” but left last November for Universal Music Group, a unit of French conglomerate Vivendi.
Swift has taken her disputes with Big Machine public before. In June, she tweeted that she was “sad and grossed out” by the purchase of the independent label by Scooter Braun, who manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. She also accused Braun of bullying her in the past.
In this week’s posts she accused Big Machine executives of exercising “tyrannical control” over her music, and said they also had denied permission for her old songs to be included in an upcoming Netflix documentary in the works.
Big Machine claimed in a statement that Swift owed them “millions of dollars and multiple assets.” That claim was denied by Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine, who said in a statement that Big Machine owed Swift $7.9 million in unpaid royalties.
“Right now, my performance at the AMA’s, the Netflix documentary and any other recorded events I am planning to play until November of 2020 are a question mark,” Swift wrote.
“The message being sent to me is very clear,” she added. “Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished.”
Taylor Swift wins some support in feud with old label, but big music stars mum
Taylor Swift wins some support in feud with old label, but big music stars mum
- Under her contract, Swift is not permitted to re-record material from her period with Big Machine until November 2020
- Many female stars, including Katy Perry, Adele, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Cardi B and Beyonce, were silent
Recipes for Success: Chef Elia Kaady talks kitchen discipline
DUBAI: Elia Kaady, head chef at Saudi fine-dining restaurant Maiz, may never have made a career of cooking if it wasn’t for his brother.
“Everyone probably has a person who inspires them to build a better a better future for themselves. For me, that’s my brother, who’s also a chef. He was the one who supported our family and took care of almost everything. So, I was inspired by him. Of course, I had a passion for food, but it’s mostly due to him,” Kaady tells Arab News.
Kaady began his career in Beirut, working at a wide variety of restaurants including La Posta, Burgundy, and SUD Rest-Bar. He then moved to Saudi Arabia.
Now he’s running the kitchen at Maiz, which opened its doors last summer in Riyadh’s upmarket Bujairi Terrace. The menu is inspired by recipes and ingredients from across Saudi Arabia’s various regions.
“It’s a Saudi restaurant that provides high-end, authentic and uplifted dishes in a beautiful location,” Kaady says.
During Ramadan, the restaurant is offering a Chef’s Suhoor Table, where diners have the chance to engage with the chef, ask questions, and gain insights into the menu and culinary inspirations behind each dish.
“The Chef’s Suhoor Table offers a great immersive experience for all the local Saudis and for all the foreigners as well,” Kaady says.
Here, the chef discusses shawarmas, his favorite dish to cook, and his management style.
Q: When you started out what was the most common mistake you made?
A: There were many challenges, especially when I was studying in the mornings at culinary school and working late nights in a restaurant. The main thing was getting the heat right — working with the stove was one of the biggest challenges. When you cook fish, or beef, or lamb, you have to get the heat exactly right.
What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?
Be patient. Rushing can cause you to lose your passion. Especially if you get something wrong the first few times; you will lose hope. For sure, speed can be important in the kitchen, but when it comes to doing it well, organization is the most important thing.
What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?
Olive oil, or extra virgin olive oil. It’s a major element in Mediterranean cuisine. I belong to Lebanon, so I feel olive oil uplifts the taste of the dishes to another level. Moreover, it’s an essential part of our daily routine in the Middle East.
When you go out to eat, what’s your favorite cuisine?
Mediterranean is one of my favorites. But I also love Middle Eastern street food, which is famous worldwide. I love beef shawarmas. Each bite reminds me of my childhood. The sourness of the tomatoes, the parsley, the julienned onions and the tahina sauce take me to a different space. It’s so simple.
And when you’re eating out, do you find yourself critiquing the food?
Honestly, yes; I do do that sometimes. Being a chef, or being in the food industry, does make you a critical person.
What’s a common mistake you find other restaurants making?
The issue I find in a lot of places is that the food is unsalted or unseasoned.
What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?
OK, let’s go simple again. In 20 minutes, I could have crispy French fries and tabouleh salad —adding some slices of red chili makes it taste very different. This combination makes me really happy.
What’s your favorite dish to cook?
I love making pasta dishes. Italian dishes are very rich but use just a few simple ingredients like tomato, olive oil, ricotta cheese, basil, garlic and eggplant. You could add pine nuts too. A dish like this will make my day.
What customer request most annoys you?
When a customer asks me to make sure their chicken is well-cooked. I know meat needs to be cooked properly.
As a head chef, what are you like? Do you shout a lot? Or are you quite laid back?
In this industry, we’re under constant pressure — we have to give our guests the best experience. And to keep a good environment in the kitchen, the staff must behave well. I believe it can be necessary to shout a bit; it’s another tool with the employees to have the rules followed in the kitchen all the way.
Trailblazers: Menhat Helmy bridges worlds through art
- The final part of this year’s series highlighting pioneering female artists from the Arab world in honor of Women’s History Month
DUBAI: From scenes of local village life to images inspired by the cosmos, the late Egyptian modern artist Menhat Helmy’s oeuvre was a varied one.
Helmy was born in Cairo in 1925 into a large family of seven sisters and two brothers. She died in May 2004.
One relative who remembers her fondly is her eldest grandson, Canada-based journalist Karim Zidan, who grew up with her paintings hanging in his family’s house.
“Though she passed away when I was 12 years old, I still have vivid memories of her and our interactions. I remember her helping me build Lego sets and complete jigsaw puzzles,” Zidan, who manages Helmy’s estate, tells Arab News.
Long before she became a grandmother, Menhat was a bright young woman who studied at the Egyptian capital’s High Institute of Pedagogic Studies for Art in the 1940s. Next came a great opportunity to study at the famed Slade School of Fine Arts in London, during the 1950s, reportedly making her only the second Egyptian woman to study there.
“London played a pivotal role in her career,” notes Zidan. “It was during her time at the Slade School of Fine Arts that she discovered printmaking, the art form that would come to define her work and legacy. My grandmother produced her first etchings at the school.”
The 1970s saw Helmy delve into abstraction, as in her 1973 masterpiece “Space Exploration.”
“During this time, my grandmother was fascinated with space and technological developments such as the computer,” explains Zidan. “She sought to depict her newfound fascinations in her work, but the geometric synergy in it is rooted in her appreciation for Islamic art. All of this is clearly represented in ‘Space Exploration,’ which can be viewed as a depiction of the night sky; constellations in perfect formation; a universe in flux; or even electrons flowing through a circuit board.”
Today, Helmy’s artworks can be found in the UAE’s Barjeel Art Foundation, the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts and the UCL Art Museum in London.
“The variety of her oeuvre, coupled with the sheer complexity and avant-garde nature of the work, is precisely what makes her such a pioneering figure in modern Egyptian art,” Zidan concludes.
Athr Foundation fosters creativity with Bait Shouaib open studio
- Bait Shouaib offers an immersive and supportive environment, fostering creativity and cultural exchange among the rich heritage of its surroundings
- During the residency, artists learned about the Al-Balad district from the perspective of a local inhabitant, resulting in studio presentations and site-specific installations
JEDDAH: The Athr Foundation has launched the first open studio at Bait Shouaib, an artists’ residential program located in the heart of Al-Balad.
Bait Shouaib offers an immersive and supportive environment, fostering creativity and cultural exchange among the rich heritage of its surroundings.
During the residency, artists learned about the Al-Balad district from the perspective of a local inhabitant, resulting in studio presentations and site-specific installations.
One artist, Badr Ali, told Arab News: “My memories of Al-Balad were from childhood, where my mom warned me of its rough and dangerous nature. Coming from Germany, I took a hiatus from art and decided to join this residency for inspiration. I was struck by the district’s homogeneity and outdated toys, sparking research on their intended audience. These toys, originally meant for Umrah migrants, now seem out of touch with today’s tech-savvy kids.”
He added: “Through my art, I explore the irony of these toys in a district that has undergone gentrification. My painting highlights the decay of mass-produced toys, using glitter and embellishments to emphasize the contrast between superficial esthetics and inherent quality issues. This residency in Jeddah has been a unique experience, different from my previous ones in France, Germany, and the UK. The cultural nuances and art scene in Saudi Arabia have presented new challenges and inspirations for my work.”
The intimate perspective offered by the artists has deepened their understanding of Al-Balad’s rich cultural heritage. The night-time festivities during Ramadan added an extra layer of enchantment.
Artist Tamara Kalo said, “This residency program has been really inspiring. I feel like there are so many things I wanted to do and not enough time. But, also, that’s the beauty. Maybe it’s like you get to explore little bits and pieces of things that are inspiring, then you do what you can and it still opens doors for other things in the future.”
On her artwork, she said: “The bedspace is a realm of the subconscious, holding tensions of dreams and nightmares, comfort and discomfort. By intertwining my body with a green ribbon on the bed frame, I create a cage-like enclosure for imaginative safe space. The green screen material offers infinite representation possibilities, blurring the line between material and immaterial through video overlay. This references the virtual world as a collective subconscious that interrupts our rest. The roshan-turned-camera work brings the public into private space by capturing direct light reflections.”
And Abdulla Bahiji’s innovative approach to reimagining the urban landscapes of Jeddah and the Hejaz region involved transforming concrete blocks into biodegradable incense burners infused with scents and flora.
Reflecting on his experience as a newcomer to Al-Balad, he said: “As a first-time dweller in Al-Balad, I found myself captivated by its essence, enveloped in a rich tapestry of scents ranging from Jawi bakhoor to fish, oud to meat. These fragrances not only altered my perception of time but also served as tangible markers of the city’s evolving narrative. Investigating the history of Al-Balad, I uncovered the remarkable resilience of the local businesses as they transitioned from traditional to medicinal products, showcasing the city’s adaptability.”
The curator of the open studio, Alana Alireza, said: “In my role I oversaw the coordination of two artists and a researcher to cultivate a harmonious and collaborative workspace. This led to the creation of a reflective essay inspired by my time in Al-Balad, exploring the themes of scent and nostalgia.”
Bait Shouaib, hosted by the Athr Foundation offers a transformative experience for artists worldwide. The four-week residency provides a fully equipped studio space and facilitates cross-cultural dialog, heritage exploration, and artistic development.
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.
Oman reveals artistic team headed to Biennale Arte 2024 in Venice
DUBAI: The Sultanate of Oman has announced that its national pavilion at the 60th La Biennale di Venezia, or Biennale Arte 2024, will be titled "Malath-Haven" and will be curated by Alia Al-Farsi.
Set to run from April 20 to Nov. 24, 2024, the display in Venice will showcase new artworks by Omani contemporary artists Dr. Ali Al-Jabri, Essa Al-Mufarji, Sarah Al-Olaqi, Adham Al-Farsi and Alia Al-Farsi herself.
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, 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.”