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Damien Hirst interview

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Salman Siddiqui interviewed British artist Damien Hirst in October 2013 in Doha, Qatar, when he was visiting to launch his art exhibition. Following is an excerpt of that interview published by Gulf Times. Damien Hirst is widely regarded as one of the world’s most successful contemporary artists, who has created some of the most seminal works in recent art history. Emerging from the Young British Artist movement that originated in London in the late 1980s, he was part of a group which became renowned for their audacious and often shocking works, receiving international acclaim and succeeding in revitalising the  British art scene. Interestingly, his recent works such as the ‘Miraculous Journey’, a group of 14 bronze sculptures, that was recently unveiled in Doha, are being interpreted in religious terms, and some say it depicted the miracle of birth as explained in the holy books. When asked whether he felt comfortable with such religious interpretations of his artwork, Hirs
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Northern Cyprus to ‘feel impact’ of global oil price war

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By Salman Siddiqui Consumers in the TRNC might see oil and gas prices eventually go down this year as the global oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia intensified over the week. Oil and gas prices in the country have remained quite stable over the year. On Wednesday, the websites of the oil and gas companies – Kıbrıs Türk Petrolleri Limited and Alpet Kıbrıs – maintained the prices of gas at 4.9TL/litre, diesel 4.96TL/litre and high-octane oil 5.36TL/litre. In 2019, the gas price was 4.9TL per litre while diesel was 4.96TL per litre, according to ALPET. A leading global energy expert told the Cyprus Today that the impact of the global oil price war will be felt on small island nations like the TRNC gradually, not immediately.  Last Monday, international crude oil prices had made a steep fall, dropping over 30 percent, when Saudi Arabia decided to slash its oil prices in response to what analysts believe was Russia’s fall out with members of the Organization
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First case of coronavirus detected in Northern Cyprus

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By Salman Siddiqui A 65-year-old female tourist, who had arrived in the TRNC from Germany on Sunday evening, tested positive for the coronavirus Tuesday, the health minister revealed this week as the government announced a series of precautionary steps to deal with the ongoing threat in the island. This is the first reported case of the virus in North Cyprus. Health Minister Ali Pilli told the official TAK news agency the coronavirus victim had arrived via the Ercan Airport as part of a tour group of 30 people from Germany's Balingen town. They were staying at a hotel in Mağusa that was immediately placed under quarantine once the test result came out positive. The victim was taken to the Dr. Bruhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital in Lefkosa on Monday after she complained of high fever, Pilli said; her test result later came out positive. The minister said the overall health of the tourist remains stable as her treatment at the hospital continues.   Prime
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Greatstone property buyers on tenterhooks in Northern Cyprus

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Expats in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus demand ‘no quick fix’ to property disputes  By Salman Siddiqui Expat buyers of the Greatstone property dispute saga are on tenterhooks as they await the outcome of a government-appointed committee that is expected to meet next week to find an amicable solution, the Cyprus Today has learnt. The Greatstone saga refers to a legal dispute involving the landowners, building contractors and expat residents over a set of properties in Lapta. There are 13 homes of expats at stake which were auctioned off last month for 3,445,000TL following a legal dispute between the landowner and the building contractor. The landowner, who bought the properties in the auction, previously said he would give the buyers up to three months to reach a deal with him before taking legal action to evict them. Prime Minister Ersin Tatar had earlier announced the establishment of an ad hoc committee to examine the Greatstone-2 issue, which has been tasked with
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Dam mast qalandar mast

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Entrance to the shrine of Sufi Saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar - All pictures courtesy of Arif Soomro By Salman Siddiqui AT times it is difficult to differentiate between madness and love. It defies logic what magnetism pulls thousands of devotees each year to the shrine of Syed Usman Marvandi Qalandar Lal Shahbaz on 18 Sha’aban in Sehwan , where the 755th Urs was held last week (in September 2007). With temperatures soaring above 45 degrees, pilgrims from all corners of the country, in particular Punjab, start to converge at the small town in Dadu district weeks before the annual three-day event takes place. Many walk barefoot from as far away as Larkana to pay homage to the most revered saint of Sindh. Mohammad Ismail was one such young devotee. Hailing from Muzaffargarh, he abandoned his family to become a Mureed at Bodla Bahar’s shrine, located near the Qalandar’s Dargah. Bodla was a steadfast disciple of Lal Shahbaz and legend has it that he used to sweep the floor with hi
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In service of Karachi's dead

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By Salman Siddiqui   A father and son duo who work as post mortem specialists recall Karachi’s violent history which they have together literally dissected over the last 50 years.  Saleem Karachi: When Saleem digs in his blade into a gunshot victim, his hand doesn’t shiver. He says he blocks out all his thoughts so that he can focus on his mission to retrieve the bullet, which according to instructions handed out to him, he must at all costs. As the on going violence in the city spirals out of control, there are people like Saleem, whose workload literally increase with the death toll of the day. Working at the mortuary as an attendant for the last 16 years, his job is to preserve the evidence of injuries to the victims no matter what the nature of incident might be. It could be poisoning, accident, homicide or bomb blast case. But whenever a body turns up on his table, he must work like a robot. Although illiterate, he will tell you the names of each bone and organ in a human
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The Greatest Last Punch

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Salman Siddiqui talks about his father Hamid Siddiqui's meeting with the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali. My late father Hamid Siddiqui with Muhammad Ali prior to his press conference in Kuwait in Jan. 1972. It is January 1972 and Muhammad Ali, the legend, is replacing a Cross chain pendant around the neck of an Indian woman with a small Quran one in Kuwait. “Mary Lobo is now a Muslim,” the Kuwait city-based Daily News, for which my late father then worked as a journalist, splashed on its main page as it reported on Ali’s visit to the tiny oil-rich gulf state. News clip from Daily News, Kuwait, dated Jan. 11, 1972. The daily also prominently displayed a picture of a beaming all-smiles Lobo along with Ali, who was dressed in a white half-sleeve shirt sporting a massive yet stylish tie, during a small conversion ceremony held at a fancy hotel. 46 years later, as the world mourns the loss of The Greatest, my family rummaged through my father Hamid Siddiqui’s long forgot
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Twin bombings in Karachi target mourners

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By Salman Siddiqui This story published on Dawn.com on Feb 5, 2010, was my first real close shave with death. I was at the hospital area when the second blast took place and only minutes before it went off I had interviewed the humanitarian Edhi at the exact sane spot it exploded. Everytime I think of this day I feel quite bewildered and lucky that nothing happened to me, at least physically. Unfortunately there were many young men like me who were not so fortunate and died in that senseless violence. Here's my report from that day which I had to do file asap following my own harrowing experience.   Edhi just minutes before the second blast outside the Jinnah hospital in Karachi on Friday Karachi: On Friday, an explosion in Karachi targeted Shia mourners on their way to a Chehlum procession. A second blast hit the main public hospital where causalities from the first blast were being taken. According to agencies, the latest death toll is 25, while nearly 100 people were wound
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Gadani: A ship breakers’ paradise and workers’ nightmare

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By Salman Siddiqui The Gadani Ship Breaking Yard in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province hosts one of the most beautiful untouched beaches on earth where handsome men from the country's north come not to enjoy the waters but to blacken their skin through back-breaking hard labor. This is their story. Gadani: When 55-year-old Gul Rehman says he has been working at the Gadani Ship breaking yard since Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s reign in the 70s when he was just 16 years old, it is hard to believe him. Not because one would have a doubt about his ‘39 year work experience.’ But because of the smile he continues to have despite the back breaking labour work the man from Peshawar continues to do. Even more surprising is the fact that his 20 year old son Habib too has joined him in this hardcore line of work. “I wanted him to study and be a big man, but he just wouldn’t listen,” said Rehman. “I find studying harder than this work,” said Habib behind his father’s back, who already
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Largest mammal fossils on earth lost in Pakistan

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Fossils of Baluchitherium are believed to have become collateral in the 2006 military operation against the late Nawab Akbar Bugti in Pakistan. By Salman Siddiqui KARACHI: The scorched, dusty hills of Dera Bugti held invaluable treasure that could have made the world a richer place. That treasure, however, may have been destroyed in a military operation in 2006. Besides the Baloch chieftain, Nawab Akbar Bugti, who was targeted and killed in the operation, another great casualty was the fossilised remains of the largest mammal that walked the earth – Baluchitherium. The discovery of the first, almost-complete skeleton of the mammal was made by a team of French scientists in 1999. Thirteen years later, they fear that their discovery, packed into containers at Bugti’s mansion, may have been lost. Continued military control of the region, however, ensures that there is no way to find out if the fossils, that hold invaluable information about the world as it existed millions of years
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