Stop Press Archive

The Fellowship and the Gulf

The Fellowship has always had a keen interest in developing overseas contacts, both with similar organisations which emphasize leadership among young people and with broader cultural and educational initiatives.  Two recent developments have brought Fellows into close contact with exciting projects in the Gulf.

Tim Young has been closely involved in spreading the word in the UK about NYU Abu Dhabi. This key hub of New York University's global university programme opens in September: they have accepted150 of the 8000 applicants for the first year from 39 different countries (including two from the UK).  Almost all of these students will receive very substantial financial support, semesters of overseas study in NYU’s other global venues and special access to NYU’s graduate schools in New York.  By 2015, there should be 500 admissions a year when the university occupies its purpose-built campus (pictured)on a Gulf island which will also house the (Abu Dhabi) Guggenheim and the (Abu Dhabi) Louvre.   The university has an emphasis on providing leaders with a broad understanding of the wider world.  It might be an ideal destination for Rank's Leadership Award holders.

Meanwhile, Stephen Day is an important influence on museum projects in neighbouring Qatar.  He brings word of Cultural Village, an enormously ambitious development aiming to establish Qatar as a major cultural venue. The first of four phases has now taken shape, including a multi-purpose hall that will seat some 1200 people, a 450 seat Opera House, a 700 seat theatre, an amphitheatre in Roman style that will accommodate 5000 and so on. Phase 2 will include housing for artists, poets and musicians in 270 villas built over artificially-created “hilly” zones and there are plans for two further extensions culminating in a giant convention centre in the shape of a traditional Istanbul mosque.

There is no doubt that Abu Dhabi and Qatar are redoubling their efforts for educational and cultural primacy in the region.