Business & Technology
Marshmallow Laser Feast exhibition makes Doha debut
Northwestern University in Qatar’s Media Majlis Museum and ACMI will present All That Is Unseen in Doha, the first major exhibition in Qatar and the wider region by London artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast.
The exhibition will run at the Media Majlis Museum on Northwestern’s campus in Education City and will be free to attend. It premiered at ACMI in Melbourne and later travelled to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa before making its Middle East debut in Doha.
All That Is Unseen explores biological and cosmic systems beyond ordinary human perception. Through large-scale video works, guided meditation and interactive elements, the exhibition moves from the formation of a single cell to the birth of galaxies.
Marshmallow Laser Feast is known for immersive installations, film, performance and extended reality projects. Its work explores the relationship between human perception and the natural world, often through collaborations with scientists, ecologists and other researchers.
The Doha presentation has been reworked for the Media Majlis Museum, with the audience journey and context adapted for the venue. The exhibition draws on collaborations with artists, filmmakers, musicians and scientists including Terrence Malick, Edward R. Pressman, Cate Blanchett, Daisy Lafarge, Jon Hopkins, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Meredith Monk, Howard Skempton and Jonny Greenwood.
Seb Chan, Director and Chief Executive Officer of ACMI, reflected on the show’s reception in Australia and New Zealand.
“ACMI is excited to have our survey exhibition of Marshmallow Laser Feast come to Qatar with Media Majlis Museum and Northwestern Qatar. This exhibition has had a transformational impact in Melbourne and most recently in New Zealand, and we hope the exhibition excites Qatari audiences in similar ways,” Chan said.
Regional debut
The exhibition marks another international partnership for the Media Majlis Museum, which focuses on journalism, communication, media and art. The museum describes itself as the first university museum in the Arab world dedicated to those fields and has used exhibitions to examine questions of language, identity, technology and news.
For Northwestern University in Qatar, the project fits into a broader effort to frame media as part of cultural memory and public debate, rather than simply as communication tools. That approach has shaped the museum’s programme since its launch, combining academic and public-facing work.
Marwan M. Kraidy, Dean and Chief Executive Officer of Northwestern Qatar, linked the exhibition to that institutional focus.
“At Northwestern Qatar, we believe that media are not merely technologies of communication, but powerful archives of memory, identity, and human experience,” Kraidy said.
“This collaboration between the Media Majlis Museum and ACMI brings together stories, histories, and perspectives across continents, inviting audiences in Doha to reflect on how media shape the ways we see ourselves and one another. It is a testament to the power of cultural exchange and to our shared commitment to fostering dialogue through evidence-based storytelling,” he added.
Artist perspective
The collective said the works were developed through research ranging from the Amazon rainforest to outer space. Those references reflect a practice that often translates scientific and environmental data into sensory experiences for museum audiences.
“We are thrilled to present All That Is Unseen at the Media Majlis Museum. This exhibition is a celebration of life, and explores our continued fascination with what sits just beyond the reach of our senses. Created through collaborations with scientists, researchers, and technologists, these artworks draw on everything from scanning trees in the Amazon and listening in on black holes to mapping the human body in microscopic detail. Together, they invite audiences to experience the invisible systems that connect us to one another, to the natural world, and to the wider universe. In bringing this work to Qatar for its first presentation in the region, we hope audiences feel these connections too,” Ersin said.
The partnership also extends ACMI’s touring work beyond its home market. As Australia’s national museum of screen culture, ACMI has increasingly developed exhibitions that combine film, digital art and interactive design, placing it within a wider group of museums using screen-based works to attract new audiences.
In Doha, the arrival of All That Is Unseen adds another international exhibition to a cultural landscape that continues to expand through museum openings, imported shows and cross-border collaborations. Its focus on immersive media and scientific storytelling also reflects growing institutional interest in exhibitions that sit between art, technology and education.
The exhibition will remain open until January 21, with public access from Sunday to Thursday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Business & Technology
Oxfordshire McDonald’s granted 24-hour application despite opposition
The eatery, which is currently open seven days a week from 6am to 11pm, applied to stay open for 24 hours back in February.
The application, submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council, was approved by councillors yesterday with the provisions that is would only be for Drive-Thru and delivery applications.
This means the inside seated restaurant of the business will open and close with its usual hours.
Councillor David Edwards-Hughes confirmed the news, acknowledging the significant local interest the application has received.
READ MORE: David Cameron’s favourite Oxfordshire pub issues urgent plea
Councillor David Edwards-Hughes (Image: David Edwards-Hughes)
The Witney Town Councillor stated that the licensing panel retain the power to review the licence should any issues arise once these hours take effect.
He also encouraged residents to log any noise of disruption with WODC licensing.
Some residents welcomed the application however some said it encouraged people to eat more fast food.
Others also said that they would like to see improved litter picking in the area as various side roads are full of wrapping.
One woman said: “The hedgerows in the alley leading down to the Leys is full of discarded McDonald’s debris.”
In 2024 the branch reopened following a major refurbishment, which included a complete restaurant redesign.
Improvements included a front counter redesign making more space for customers to enjoy their meals, less congestion around touchscreens, and shorter queues.
Business & Technology
Historic British shoe chain closes Oxfordshire store
First established in 1924, Charles Clinkard has closed its Oxford store, after closing its Teesside Park store in May.
It comes just two years after the North East footwear brand closed its first ever store, which was in Middlesborough.
The store, on Banbury Road in Summertown, stocked a wide range of footwear and accessories
While the reason behind the Oxford store closure has not yet been confirmed, the brand recently confirmed they are changing spending habits on the high street and wider retail sector, forcing it to focus on stronger business performance in other stores and online.
READ MORE: Stoke Row pub forced to close ‘disappointed’ after devastating fire
Charles Clinkard at Teesside Park (Image: CONTRIBUTOR)
Speaking to Retail Week earlier this year, Charles Clinkard managing director Tim Payne said the brand was considering closing two-fifths of its store portfolio in favour of online sales.
The UK shoe giant celebrated its 100th anniversary two years ago and closed its Keswick store in February.
The Clinkard Group, a family-run business, operates 32 stores across the UK.
The group also runs a store in Witney in Woolgate Shopping centre, as well as a store on High Street in Burford.
It is unknown if these shops will close as well.
The Summertown shoe shop was hit by a blaze in December 2014 caused by a faulty fuse box.
The fire left extensive fire damage and thousands of pounds worth of repair and stock costs.
Business & Technology
Kritmatta launches AI agent platform for SME businesses
Kritmatta has launched an AI agent platform for small and medium-sized businesses, designed to run workflows across existing business software.
The Hertfordshire-based company is targeting businesses that want to move from AI experimentation to using tools in day-to-day operations. The platform works with email, CRM systems, LinkedIn, messaging platforms, productivity tools and internal data sources.
Kritmatta was founded by Kalpesh Baxi, Duncan Stuart and Manjit Johal. It is backed by Velocity Capital and is part of the firm’s technology portfolio.
The platform is aimed at non-technical teams managing work across multiple systems. Its agents can monitor signals, structure information, identify relationships and queue actions for review.
A central part of the product is an intelligence layer based on a knowledge graph and entity resolution approach. This allows the system to recognise when the same person, company, customer, project or opportunity appears across different systems and treat it as a single connected item of work.
That addresses a common issue for smaller businesses, where information is often split across emails, WhatsApp messages, LinkedIn activity, CRM records, sales updates, documents and internal notes. Staff then have to connect the context manually, decide what to prioritise and track follow-up actions.
More than 60% of registered users have active agents within 24 hours, although the company did not disclose the total number of users.
Kritmatta said the platform operates across three layers. The productivity layer handles tasks such as inbox summaries, meeting summaries and communication aggregation. The intelligence layer connects signals across channels and prioritises activity.
A third layer, Vega, focuses on lead generation, opportunity identification, relationship expansion, account penetration and signal-based outreach. The same workflow model can also be applied across teams handling relationships, projects, clients, candidates, campaigns and commercial activity.
Founder comments
Kalpesh Baxi, Co-Founder at Kritmatta, outlined the problem the company is targeting.
“Most teams do not have a data problem. They have a workflow problem. The signal is already there, but it is spread across inboxes, CRMs, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and internal notes. Kritmatta is designed to connect that signal and turn it into action,” Baxi said.
Manjit Johal, Co-Founder at Kritmatta, described how the product differs from prompt-based systems.
“A lot of AI tools still behave like search boxes with better language. We have built Kritmatta around entities, relationships and context, so agents can understand how people, companies, projects and opportunities connect across a business,” Johal said.
Duncan Stuart, Co-Founder at Kritmatta, said the business wanted to make the software usable by operational teams without specialist support.
“AI only becomes useful when people can apply it inside the way they already work. Our focus has been on designing workflows that operational teams can configure directly, without needing technical expertise,” Stuart said.
Velocity Capital also outlined why it backed the company. Thomas Lindup is Chief Operating Officer at the investment firm.
“Kritmatta is focused on how AI and AI agents can be effectively deployed within the workflows of non-technical teams in small and medium-sized businesses, in a predictable, auditable and safe manner,” Lindup said.
The platform is already being used across recruitment, talent, professional services, SaaS businesses and other commercial settings where teams manage fragmented communication and large volumes of workflow activity. In one example described by Kritmatta, a team might receive a LinkedIn message from a prospect, an email from a client, a CRM note linked to an opportunity and an internal update about the same account. The platform then connects those signals and queues the next action for review.
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