DUBLIN: Irish pop singer Sinead O’Connor, who converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018, has died at the age of 56, Irish media reported on Wednesday.
Her family said it was with “great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinead. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time,” Irish national broadcaster RTE reported.
Born in County Dublin, O’Connor made 10 albums in her career from “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” to 2014’s “I’m not Bossy, I’m the Boss,” and was best known for her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” released in 1990.
Ireland’s President Michael Higgins said Ireland had lost “one of our greatest and most gifted composers, songwriters and performers of recent decades.”
He praised O’Connor’s “fearless commitment to the important issues which she brought to public attention, no matter how uncomfortable those truths may have been.”
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said O’Connor’s “music was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare.”
“Condolences to her family, her friends and all who loved her music,” he added.
Instantly recognizable with her trademark shaved head, O’Connor courted controversy throughout her career, speaking out frequently against the Catholic Church.
Beginning her career busking on the streets of the Irish capital and performing in pubs, she recorded her first album “The Lion and the Cobra” — a punk cult classic released in 1987 — in London.
The artist said she had been abused by her mother as a child and in 1992 protested the abuse of children by the Catholic Church, tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II while performing on US television program “Saturday Night Live.”
In recent years O’Connor had melded her outspoken political views with spiritualism and was ordained as a priest amid controversy in 1999.
Writing on Twitter, which is being rebranded as ‘X’, Canadian singer Bryan Adams wrote: “RIP Sinead O’Connor, I loved working with you making photos, doing gigs in Ireland together and chats, all my love to your family.”
Irish comedian Dara O Briain said O’Connor’s death came as “just very sad news. Poor thing.”
“I hope she realized how much love there was for her,” he said.
Irish mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor commented on the singer’s death writing: “The world has lost an artist with the voice of an Angel.
“Ireland has lost an iconic voice and one of our absolute finest, by a long shot. And I have lost a friend.”
British pop singer Alison Moyet said O’Connor had a voice that “cracked stone with force by increment.”
“As beautiful as any girl around & never traded on that card. I Loved that about her. Iconoclast,” she added.
Lead singer for 90s rock band The Charlatans Tim Burgess wrote: “Sinead was the true embodiment of a punk spirit.
“She did not compromise and that made her life more of a struggle. Hoping that she has found peace.”
“It is hard to think of an artist who has had the social and cultural impact of Sinead,” Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland wrote in reaction to her death.
“What a loss. Heartfelt condolences to her children, her family and all who loved her,” he added.
O’Connor had also spoken publicly about her mental health struggles, telling Oprah Winfrey in 2007 that she struggled with thoughts of suicide and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
More recently she had shunned the limelight, in particular following the death of her son Shane from suicide last year at the age of 17.
O’Connor is survived by three children and had reportedly been dividing her time between Ireland and Britain prior to her death.
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor dies aged 56
https://arab.news/8rz38
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor dies aged 56
‘The Wild Within’ sees artists breathe new life into Mideast buildings
DUBAI: Lens-based artist Ryan Koopmans and digital artist Alice Wexell are staging a showcase at Dubai’s Leila Heller Gallery that breathes new life into regional buildings.
The series of digital artworks is part of the exhibition “The Wild Within,” featuring images of old structures in Beirut, Istanbul, and Abu Dhabi filled with wild flowers.
Two of the largest works, “Heartbeats” and “The Wish,” are displayed using Ventana, a microLED architectural display surface created by visual technology company Megapixel.
The former artwork depicts the entrance hall of Qasr Al-Watan, the UAE’s presidential palace in Abu Dhabi, while the latter reimagines the upper floors of the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental in Abu Dhabi.
“Each building we work with comes to us through a combination of research, travel, and intuition,” the artists told Arab News in a joint statement.
“We are drawn to structures that carry both emotional and historical resonance, often buildings that once embodied human ambition and now exist in a state of quiet transformation.”
Koopans and Wexell made sure to research the context of each building they choose to recreate, saying “an old villa in Jeddah or a former school in Sharjah each hold their own cultural memory, influencing everything from the lighting and atmosphere to the plants and flowers that we digitally sculpt and implement into the photographs.”
The hypnotic works depict the interior of buildings in the region, with digitally rendered flowers carpeting the floor in a bid to “(reimage) these spaces (and) explore the relationship between nature, place, and time, while celebrating each site as a unique work of architecture with its own spirit and story,” the artists said.
Koopmans is of dual Canadian and Dutch heritage, while Wexell is Swedish and based in Stockholm, so it is noteworthy that both artists chose to explore the Middle East for their latest project.
“In the Middle East especially, the architecture reflects a layered past that merges different styles and eras, while also expressing a sense of renewal and forward-looking energy, particularly in the region’s fantastic contemporary buildings. We are drawn to the symmetry, geometry and patterns that are found not only in nature itself, but in the architectural language of the region both past and present,” they said.
The series — featuring works such as “Adore You,” “Between Worlds,” and “Blossom of the Ancestors” — explores contrasts between the natural world and human-made forms, as well as the traditional and contemporary worlds.
“We are interested in how these elements coexist and merge into one another, creating a sense of hyperrealism that feels both familiar and imaginary. By merging photography with digital sculpture, the artworks question where the boundary lies between documentation and invention, and how technology can extend rather than replace our sense of the natural world.”
Although the scale of the artworks ensures they leave the viewer entranced, it did pose challenges, according to the artists.
“Presented at a large scale, every texture in these artworks becomes visible, which can be demanding but is also incredibly rewarding. The magnified detail allows the visceral and atmospheric layers of the pieces to come through with greater impact,” they said, adding that each piece took “many months” to create.
“Ultimately, we want our collectors to experience a sense of wonder and contemplation, as if they are standing inside a dream that feels both entirely real yet unreal.”
The exhibition runs until Jan. 15, 2026.
