Stars show off Arab designs at Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles

US rapper and actress Awkwafina showed off an elegant look by Lebanese couturier Georges Hobeika. (AFP)
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Updated 14 December 2023
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Stars show off Arab designs at Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles

DUBAI: Hollywood stars hit the red carpet at the 2023 Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Monday night in a sparkling array of Arab creations, including looks by designers Georges Hobeika, Elie Saab, Tony Ward and Hedi Slimane. 

First up was US rapper and actress Awkwafina who showed off an elegant look by Lebanese couturier Georges Hobeika, complete with a tulle skirt and pearl-and-gemstone detailing across the jacket. The ensemble hailed from Hobeika’s Fall/Winter 2022 couture line and was styled with KatKim jewelry and a metallic Tyler Ellis clutch.  




Awkwafina showed off an elegant look by Lebanese couturier Georges Hobeika. (AFP)

Model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen opted for a gown by Lebanese Italian designer Tony Ward that was picked from his Fall/Winter 2023 couture line, while actress Taraji P. Henson chose a jewel purple number by Lebanon’s Zuhair Murad from his Fall/Winter 2023 ready-to-wear line.  

For her part, Danai Gurira showed off an ice blue Elie Saab look, from the Fall/Winter 2022 couture line, and model Kaia Gerber, whose mother is supermodel Cindy Crawford, was dressed in a custom-made gown by Celine’s creative head, Tunisian designer Hedi Slimane.  




Danai Gurira showed off an ice blue Elie Saab look. (AFP)

After being rescheduled from its original September date, the 2023 Academy Museum Gala took place on Monday night and saw the likes of Simu Liu, Dua Lipa, Lupita Nyong’o and Selena Gomez walk the red and pink carpet. 

The evening marked the third annual benefit for the movie museum, where current exhibits spotlight the works of directors John Waters and Lourdes Portillo as well as the 1991 film “Boyz n the Hood” Icons Meryl Streep, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Sofia Coppola were honored at the event this week.  




Kaia Gerber was dressed in a custom-made gown by Celine. (AFP)

Streep received the Icon Award, given to an artist whose career had a notable influence worldwide; Michael B. Jordan was given the Vantage Award, given to an emerging artist or scholar working to challenge and contextualize existing dominant narratives around film; Winfrey was awarded the Pillar Award, recognizing leadership and support for the Academy Museum; Coppola nabbed the Visionary Award, given to an artist or scholar whose innovations have advanced film as an art. 

Director Ava DuVernay, actress Halle Berry, director Ryan Murphy and Dr. Eric Esrailian were the co-chairs for the evening.  


Sistine Chapel sketch by Michelangelo goes on show in Dubai

Updated 54 min ago
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Sistine Chapel sketch by Michelangelo goes on show in Dubai

DUBAI: A previously unknown study by Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo for perhaps his most famous work, the frescoes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, went on show in Dubai this week, with Christie’s specialist Giada Damen on hand to convey the significance of the find to Arab News.

The sketch of the right foot of the Libyan Sibyl, whose final form is at the far east end of the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican, will go under the hammer at a Feb. 5 auction in New York, with an estimate of $1.5 million to $2 million.

This is the first time a work by Michelangelo has gone on show in the UAE. A significant degree of grit and determination went into identifying and verifying the small sketch, which first came to light after an unsuspecting owner sent a photograph to Christie’s online Request an Auction Estimate portal.

The sketch of the right foot of the Libyan Sibyl, whose final form is at the far east end of the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican, will go under the hammer at a Feb. 5 auction in New York. (Supplied)

Of the roughly 600 sheets by Michelangelo that survive today — only a fraction of the thousands of drawings he must have produced — this is one of only 50 studies relating to the Sistine Chapel.

“This drawing is the only preparatory (drawing) for the Sistine Chapel that has ever come on the market,” Damen explained, adding that the prolific artist was known for burning sketches after a painting had been completed.

“There are so many clues attached to this drawing that point to the fact that it is a real drawing by Michelangelo,” she added, pointing to the red chalk used in the small sketch — typical of the sketches Michelangelo  did in the run-up to the second half of the Sistine Chapel ceiling — as well as a sister sketch housed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“He made the first part of the Sistine ceiling starting in 1508, and it took two years. Then the scaffolding was removed and only at that point, Michelangelo was able to see the ceiling from a distance from the floor of the chapel (and he) realized that actually the figures that he had made, those scenes, they were too crowded and with too small figures that you couldn’t really see all these details,” Damen said of the first half of the ceiling.

“From here on, he decided in the second phase to do bigger figures and less details … and the (Libyan) Sibyl is part of this second phase.”

The figure of the female seer is depicted by Michelangelo in a dynamic, twisted pose, with her toes pressing down against a platform supporting her weight as she holds a book of prophecies.  

 Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) is one of the foremost figures in global art history, famous for his work as a sculptor, architect, painter and thinker. His frescoes on the ceiling and back wall of the Sistine Chapel are among his most famous works.