Compulsive reading – Lee Miller: A Life with Food Friends and Recipes

December 04, 2023 by Lisa Reinisch in art, anecdotes, books, food, history, photography, recommendations

When this book arrived on my doorstep, I held off on unwrapping it until the day’s work was done. I waited until I could finally take it all in, everything the promotional blurb had promised: a whopping 350 pages containing “over a hundred of her recipes and material from the cookbook that Lee Miller was secretly hoping to publish at the end of her life”. That evening, I, bona fide Lee Miller fangirl and collector or cookbooks, greedily devoured the book. Here is why I couldn’t put it down until late, late that night.

Spot the difference: life in the United Arab Emirates vs life in Austria

May 25, 2020 by Lisa Reinisch in Abu Dhabi, food, lists, local culture, photography, UAE, Austria

For ten years, from 2009 to 2019, I lived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since moving back to my native Austria, 18 months ago, I’ve gone through my personal version of reverse culture shock – slowly but surely wrapping my head around the many contrasts between how life was and the way things are now. I have no regrets about leaving but wouldn’t say it was easy either. Looking back, it’s clear that even though so much has changed, ultimately, the essence of “home” shines through. Here are eleven images that sum up the many ways my old reality diverges from the new.

Snapshots from Quoz Arts Festival 2014

November 11, 2014 by Lisa Reinisch in art, Dubai, events, photography, UAE

On Saturday, I spent a couple of hours exploring this year's edition of the Quoz Arts Festival, which turned out to offer exactly the kind of immersive, sprawling cultural whistle-stop tour I wanted that day. In a bit over two hours I somehow managed to see four exhibitions, watch a photography demo as well as part of a movie, listen to several DJs, giggle at witty, locally designed t-shirts and spend way too much money on a tiny (but oh so pretty) bottle of organic lemonade. Here are some of my favourite moments from a leisurely stroll around Alserkal Avenue's hive of galleries, food stalls and retail spaces during Quoz Arts Festival 2014.

An alternative breed of Dubai city guides

May 16, 2014 by Lisa Reinisch in books, Dubai, local culture, photography, recommendations, UAE, travel

Two new guide books take it upon themselves to reveal the hidden charms of Dubai, a city routinely dismissed by travel writers as artificial, crass and devoid of character. It seems both books (Uncommon Dubai, edited by Hind Shoufani, and Soul of Dubai, sponsored by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority) have their work cut out for them. After all, the churn of ready-made write-ups about Dubai is thoroughly entrenched. But now an alternative breed of locally produced guide books is emerging, partly in response to incessant one-dimensional portrayals, partly as a result of a revival in the city's cultural and intellectual life. Their message to the world: forget everything you've heard about Dubai and look at the city through the eyes of its inhabitants.

The crocodile and the canard

April 11, 2013 by Lisa Reinisch in journalism, Dubai, UAE, media, uae media watch, art, photography

This morning, I was about to chuck away the free copy of 7Days that lands on my doorstep every day, when the cover story caught my attention: "Is there a nile croc loose in Dubai Creek?" read the headline, set above an image of an open-mouthed specimen of the species. When I flipped to the page with the 'amateur snapshot' the story was based on, I saw that Duncan Hare, the reporter who wrote it, had fallen for a hoax.