This September Adel Abidin's Abidin Travels premieres at WHITE BOX at its new Bowery location. This work was featured in the Nordic Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale. They will be selling real tickets to travel to Baghdad!
rami khouri has some interesting ideas on what makes a great city: multinational populations, expanding economies, efficient infrastructure, cultural production, intellectual and scientific output and pluralistic politics. i think the first five will be ticked off in doha, dubai and abu dhabi by the end of the decade. pluralistic societies (it's bigger than pure politics) will probably take a little longer. possible triggers (descending order of likelihood) : leadership succession planning (or crisis), bottom-up pressure as society achieves critical mass, enlightened autocracy, intelligentsia / media-led awakening.
