F e a t u r e s

MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

l if e st yle

Mohamed Naser Al-Sayer & Sons (MNSS) one of the Al-Sayer Group Holding Companies held a B2B confer-ence for NEXA AUTOCOLOR, to highlight latest devel-

opments of products and services in the Auto refinish marketsin the Middle East as well as globally. The event which wasorganized at The Crowne Plaza Hotel was attended by distin-guished guests from a large spectrum of popular automotiveOEM companies in Kuwait.

The event proved to be a great platform for the attendees tolearn how quality is at the center of NEXA AUTOCOLOR businessoperations. Alberto Gonzalez Business Solutions ManagerEMEA said “Color experts at NEXA work actively with car manu-facturers and pigment suppliers worldwide, to match the thou-sands of new colors produced annually to ensure comprehen-sive, up-to-date color offerings. In addition to this NEXA brandhas a range of innovative color tools focused on delivering fastand reliable color excellence and color accuracy for “right firsttime” results.”

Krishna Kumar General Manager MNSS Tires, Oil and PaintDivision (TOP) welcomed delegation from NEXA AUTOCOLORrepresented by Bulend Alpay, Market Director Middle East &Turkey, Juan Navarro Business Solutions & Branding DirectorEMEA, Alberto Gonzalez Business Solutions Manager EMEA,Serdar Gursess Business Solutions & Technical Manager MiddleEast & Turkey, Praveen Kalia Market Manager Middle EastRefinish, and Dayanand Shetty Business Development ManagerRefinish.

Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer CEO Al-Sayer Group Holding said“We are bringing to you NEXA AUTOCOLOR brands long historyof incorporating color Excellence into paint technology. Overthe years our partnership as a specialist distributor has grownstronger and our best in the business work approach has alsoenabled us to achieve leading market position. I thank our part-

ners for the valuable support as well as our distinctive salesefforts enabling us to achieve top results.”

NEXA Auto color is a brand owned by PPG Industries head-quartered in Pittsburgh, USA. The hallmark of the companyfounded in 1883 is Innovation, Sustainability & Color. PPG’sglobal operations stretches across 70 countries and employs46000 people. PPG’s product portfolio includes, Aerospaceproducts, Architectural paints, Automotive paints, Fiber glass,Industrial coatings, Packaging coatings, Marine coatings, otherspecialty coatings. The world’s leading supplier of automotivecoatings is PPG and two out of three cars in the world use theirpaints.

Acknowledging the valuable partnership between MNSSand NEXA Krishna Kumar General Manager MNSS Tires, Oil andPaint Division (TOP) said “MNSS will continue to offer qualityservices through best facilities to compliment the top qualityproducts from NEXA. Through such important events we aim tostrengthen the ties with our partners to further reinforce themarket leading position of the brand”.

The mission statement of NEXA Autocolor is to deliverProductive and Innovative products, easy to use colour tools,and provide value added services to optimize performance inautomotive body shops globally. The mission statement is bestcaptured in their tag line “We provide tailored solutions”. As partof this process, Nexa Auto Color has introduced the “MVP” pro-gram spear headed by Mr. Juan Navarro - Business solutions &Branding Director, Europe, ME & Africa, to help body shopManager’s with management tools to improve their operationsand reduce cost and improve their efficiency.

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Mohamed Naser Al-Sayer holdsB2B conference for NEXA AUTOCOLOR

Living in an aesthetically appealing and energiz-ing space can certainly enhance one’s happinessand sense of well-being. Over the years Home

Centre, the largest home retailer in the Middle East,has transformed the personal living spaces of severaldeserving customers with its popular RoomMakeover competition. In its fourth edition in 2016,the Room Makeover competition successfully refur-bished the homes of 15 people across the region andinfused new energy into their lives.

Winners were identified from six countries in theregion - the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Omanand Lebanon - based on their unique stories of whythey believed their rooms needed a makeover. HomeCentre received an overwhelming response of closeto 60,000 entries and worked to shortlist a final 14while carefully factoring in the personality traits ofthe contestants. The 15 winners was picked via anonline voting system created on Home Centre’sFacebook page.

Mederic Payne, CEO of Home Centre, said: “Theunprecedented response to this year ’s RoomMakeover Contest is a testament to the close relation-ship we share with our customers. The contest reiter-ates our keenness to give back to the communitythrough this all-inclusive initiative. At Home Centre,we welcome the chance to touch the lives of our val-ued customers and help them achieve their dreamhomes with the help of our expert team of visual mer-chandisers and designers.”

An aggregate amount of KD 1200 was used toreinvent the living space of the two winners each inKuwait, Qatar, and Oman while AED 15,000 was usedfor the four winners each in the UAE and one winnerin Lebanon. Home Centre’s expert stylists ensuredthat every winner’s room was transformed as per

their personal preferences and needs to reflect theirdistinctive personalities. Each of the makeovers wascompleted within a single day and accomplishedusing Home Centre’s vibrant new collection.

Speaking of the room makeovers, Nancy Ajram,celebrated Arabic singer, diva and Home Centre’sbrand ambassador in the region, said: “This is a greatexercise that Home Centre conducts annually thatmakes a real difference to the lives of customers.Looking at the final outcomes of this year’s roommakeovers, I commend Home Centre’s stylists fortheir exceptional efforts in improving the aestheticappeal of so many living spaces. This competition istruly one-of-a-kind and I am confident it will continueto garner positive reactions year-on-year.”

In Kuwait, one of the winning stories was of a fami-ly that had lost most of its furniture in a gas explosion- following which the mother was keen to make sureher sons had their ideal Star Wars-themed room. Thesecond winning story belonged to a lady who wasunhappy with her living room and after severalattempts was unsuccessful in making it look any bet-ter.

The third cycle of Home Centre’s Room Makeovercontest attracted over 37,000 entries and the winners’journeys received more than 200,000 views across thebrand’s social media platforms. The popularity ofHome Centre’s Room Makeover contest has grownexponentially in the region since inception, both forthe novelty of the concept and for the opportunity itprovides to winners to ‘refresh’ their lives.

Home Centre stores are located across Kuwait atAl-Rai, Shuwaikh, Awqaf , Fahaheel ,The Avenues -TheMall and opening soon at Al-Sama Mall.

Home Centre’s 4th ‘Room Makeover’ contest infuses color and energy into lives of 15 winners

Papa Wemba, one of Africa’s greatest musicstars, died yesterday after collapsing on stageduring a festival in the Ivory Coast, the event

organizers said. Papa Wemba, renowned as the“king of Congolese rumba” for the fusion of Cubanand electronic rock that he pioneered in the 1970s,was 66. The flamboyant world music singer diedafter collapsing during a set in the early hours ofyesterday at the Urban Musical Festival Anoumabo(FEMUA) in Abidjan.

Video footage broadcast live on televisionshowed the dramatic moment that Papa Wemba-wearing a bold black and white patterned tunicand oversized bowler hat, slumped to the floorbehind a group of dancers, before performersrushed to his aid. The FEMUA managementexpressed its “deep sorrow” at the death of a manwho has been at the forefront of African music formore than four decades. The festival was the firstmajor cultural event in Ivory Coast since theIslamist attack on the beach resort of Grand-Bassam last month that left 19 people dead.

Papa Wemba won international acclaim whenthe fashion for African and world music took holdin Europe and the United States in the 1980s, andrecorded with British rock star Peter Gabriel. Thefather of six was also known as the driving spiritbehind a cult movement known as “Sapeurs”whose members-young men-spend huge amountsof money on designer clothes. However, he was

convicted in France in 2004 for smuggling illegalimmigrants into the country.

Papa Wemba was born Jules Shungu WembadioPene Kikumba in June 1949 in what was thenBelgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic ofCongo. He began his singing career in religiouschoirs in which he developed his trademark highrange voice, making his debut in the capitalKinshasa at the end of the 1960s. He inherited hislove of song from his mother, who was a profes-sional “wailing woman” at unerals.

Western influence Like many of his generation he was strongly

influenced by American and British pop cultureand initially took the stage name Jules Presley. In1969 he helped found Zaiko Langa Langa, a Zaire-based pop group that was to achieve cult status inthe 1970s with its revival of Latin American rumba.The group revitalized the style that had been pop-ular in the 1940s, using a combination of Afro-Cuban rhythm and Congolese song while introduc-ing rock rhythms and electronic sounds. PapaWemba settled in France in 1986 as his fame beganto reach as far afield as Japan, dazzled by theAfrican dandy who was dressed by the world’sleading designers.

He went on to reach a much wider publicthanks to a world music album produced byFrance’s Martin Meissonnier in 1988, which blend-ed African and Western sounds. Papa Wemba part-ed ways in 1999 with the Real World record labelfounded by Gabriel, the former Genesis singer. Buthe remained immensely popular in Africa, takingpart in major music events including a concert inLondon for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday. He wasconvicted by a Paris court in 2004 of smugglingillegal immigrants into France by disguising themas members of his band but walked free as he hadalready served four months behind bars. — AFP

A still frame taken from Ivory Coast national television RTI 1 yesterdayshows Congolese music star Papa Wemba collapsing on stage during theFEMUA music festival in Abidjan. — AP/AFP photos

In this file photo dated Congolese pop star Papa Wemba is hoisted by sup-porters as he leaves the courthouse in Bobigny near Paris Tuesday, Nov 17,2004.

This file photo taken shows Congolese singerPapa Wemba performing during a concert atthe New Morning in Paris.

‘King of Congolese rumba’

Papa Wemba dies

Coming so closely on the heels of theOscar-nominated documentary “WhatHappened, Miss Simone?” the contro-

versial new Nina Simone biopic is bringingthe artist’s life and struggles back into publicconsciousness. “Nina,” available in theatersand on-demand Friday, has been dogged byproblems almost since its inception. Simonefans railed when Zoe Saldana was cast as thesinger, saying the actress’ slight frame andlighter skin made her a poor choice to play awoman who celebrated her dark complexionand African features. “Nina” writer-directorCynthia Mort ultimately sued the producersover creative differences, and the film’srelease was postponed several times.

Reviews for “Nina” have been dismal, withone critic calling it “a cinematic insult to theicon and her fans.” But Simone expertsencourage the discussion the films haveinspired. “Regardless of what the response tothe movie is, it’s gotten a debate about Ninaand about representation of black womenand about a lot of things she dealt with andstruggled with back into newspapers,” saidAlan Light, author of the 2016 biography,“What Happened, Miss Simone?” which wasinspired by the documentary. “In the end, itcertainly will contribute to more visibility andconversation around Nina.”

Passionate songwritingAs the film touches on and the docu-

mentary deeply explores, Simone faced dis-

crimination from her earliest days as a clas-sical music prodigy and throughout hercareer. This fueled passionate songwritingand performances and ultimately her com-mitment to the civil rights movement. Light,who has yet to see “Nina,” said the contro-versy over Saldana’s casting highlightsSimone’s struggle: “That debate is aroundactual issues that were actually relevant toNina and her life.” “Nina” does little to illumi-nate the singer ’s ar tistr y and activism,focusing instead on her personal problemswith alcohol and depression. The f i lmbegins when Simone has already exiled her-self to Europe out of frustration with racialpolitics in the music industry and Americansociety.

She’s being held in a psychiatric wardafter pulling a gun on a record executivewhen she meets a kindly nurse, CliftonHenderson (David Oyelowo), whom shehires as her personal assistant. Simone ver-bally abuses Henderson as he tries to rein inher health problems and move her toward amusical comeback. Simone received 15Grammy nominations and was wildly popu-lar in the 1960s, but unlike contemporariesMiles Davis and John Coltrane, she wasn’t aswell-known in popular culture. Though thatseems to be changing. —AP

Nina Simone defied genre, new films may inspire exploration

This image released by RLJ Entertainment shows Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone in a scenefrom, ‘Nina.’ — AP