dispatches from the field

my host's inspirational post-its

What Not To Wear

Zayed Family Portrait, Abu Dhabi Marina Mall

Roomy cheese for sale at Carrefour

Manarat al Saadiyat advertising, 9th St @ Shakyh Zayed St

Graffiti, Kia Motors Building

Saving the Best for Last: Exploring Dubai & Sharjah

Abu Dhabi's new souq

Abu Dhabi Corniche

 My time here has come to a close - and I spent the last weekend of my two and a half-month long jaunt across the Middle East in Dubai and Sharjah. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE, and of course the site of my dissertation research, but ...there is something about massive cities in the desert where you drive fast with the stereo up loud and the cities are criticized for being modern and soulless, but they are places where larger-than-life dreams come alive. They are cities of possibility. Los Angeles is one of these, and I didn't expect to like it before I lived there and fell in love with it. Maybe that's why Dubai immediately felt right to me: I recognized the humming of energy and big dreams. Emily Dickinson said it best: I dwell in possibility.

The Burj Khalifa by night

I stayed at the Ramada Downtown Dubai, right next to the Burj Khalifa. It is the tallest building in the world, and it's really beautiful. The hotel was really great, too. It was a quick (but sweaty) walk to Ara Gallery around the corner, which had a really beautiful exhibition on Arabic calligraphy. If I hadn't been so desperate to see Rob, I might have pawned my ticket back just to buy something so beautiful to look at.

Ara Gallery, Downtown Dubai

Backstage

I also drove up to the Museum of Islamic Civilization in Sharjah. Getting there from Dubai wasn't a directionally complex story, but the roads got skinnier and the traffic didn't slow down accordingly, so it was a bit harrowing. And the signs didn't point to where they were supposed to, which is always disconcerting. I was really thankful I had paid $7/day for the GPS, it proved invaluable.

Sharjah, of all the Gulf cities, has the jump on museums. The government has about 16 of them, incorporating various facets of Gulf history and built heritage. Many of them are located along the Corniche in or near the Arts Area in the heart of Sharjah. The Museum of Islamic Civilization is located in a former souq, and it's a really long skinny building that's quite beautiful. Due to Ramadan, entry was free and there was free parking. Fantastic!

Museum of Islamic Civilization in Sharjah, UAE

 The museum's ground floor is dedicated to temporary exhibitions, a hall on Islamic faith, and a hall about Islamic scientific and technological innovations. The display above was entitled "stretching assist." Uhm....what? When paired with the drawing behind the little mock-up, and the slicing & dicing tools in the foreground...call it what it is, folks!

Upstairs, the galleries attend to Islamic decorative arts chronologically. The museum houses over 5000 artifacts in total, and many of them are just stunningly beautiful.

After the museum, I headed to Maraya Art Center. I thoroughly enjoyed this place, even if I had to do some minor off-roading in my Mitsubishi Lancer (that's right!) to get there.  

It's the Middle East, so yes, obviously it's about camels...

Installation from The Beginning of Thinking is Geometric

by Basmah Felemban

Both the exhibitions were excellent. The Beginning of Thinking Geometric felt akin to exhibitions in New York & LA, big open white cubes that are covered in various interpretive contemporary art. In a different vein, the RE:Oriented exhibit of Arab modernists was thought-provoking (even if there was only one female artist included). While the security guard followed me around the exhibit, and I was the only one there at the time, it wasn’t as awkward or oppressive as some similar experiences have been (ie, Crafts Museum in Bucharest, Romania – that security guard takes the prize for creeper guards). At the end, he handed me a pretty sweet canvas tote with the exhibition catalogue and a bunch of swag inside. I’m a grad student, so please understand I am extremely susceptible to being bribed with free swag or food.

While in Dubai, I thought I’d check out Al Serkal Avenue, which is a trendy new consortium of galleries that have set up shop in the warehousey, industrial area of Al Quoz. Many galleries are closed or operating on restricted hours for Ramadan & August (because, really, who leaves their air-conditioned office, car or home during this heat? Really.). This crazy girl, apparently. A half-block walk from where I parked into Ayyam Gallery had me coated in a slick film of sweat, and I wished there were some way to un-awkwardly hang out in the entryway and cool down sufficiently under the A/C before any of the immaculate gallery attendants saw my pink face. Alas.

On Saturday, I visited a colleague at his university office at Al Ayn. In two days, I put 700km on the rental car and visited 3 of the top 4 cities in the UAE – much more movement and activity than two weeks in Abu Dhabi. I couldn’t help but think, at the end of my first research trip here (inshallah, one of many, if I do my job well!)…I think we, Westerners who reside in the West, perhaps judge expats in Dubai and Abu Dhabi unfavorably at times. But this is a place where people who don’t belong anywhere can belong, and as someone who belongs nowhere and cringes at the question “Where are you from?” I understand the desire to live somewhere that question is irrelevant. My professor friend here said that belonging and citizenship are different things. They are. And one of my interviewees told me, “The great thing about Abu Dhabi is that you come here, no matter who you are, and you are accepted. It is open.” And it is incredibly diverse – more than just a lip service diversity.* The UAE has made itself a land of dreams coming true, of big aspirations, of grandiose plans, and a desire to shape the future. We can criticize the Gulf and its expats for this, but at the end of the day… at least they’re going for what they want. They're doing. By putting it out there, they change the terms of the conversation and make it necessary to acknowledge them. And they may just represent a post-nationalist way of belonging.

*To be clear, diversity does not always mean equality and there are always discrimination and exploitation issues where migrant labor is involved.

The Last Weekend

Manarat al Saadiyat by night

This is my job: going to art exhibitions, going to talks about minarets (for real), and hitting up an affordable art sale (and no, I didn't bring anything home). Not bad, all in all.

Did you know minarets existed before Islam, and served a general announcement function - often doubling as lighthouses for coastal cities?

Ramadan Cultural Talks: on Minarets at Manarat

Affordable Art Sale at Abu Dhabi Art Hub

I recognize that I don't really have any right to complain about my job, especially not right now (talk to me again in winter, and I will have grounds for copious complaints)...but I'm so excited to go home in three days. It's been a long trip, and not all of it easy or comfortable. This weekend, I'm giving a talk at Art Hub, checking out some galleries and museums in Dubai and Sharjah, and visiting two friends before heading to the airport late Monday evening. Hopefully all these fun things will make the time fly by!

The adolescent phase of anthropology

This is like middle school, all over again.

I'm in this agonizing phase of crafting my elevator pitch, figuring out who I want to be to strangers, and struggling to find a good way of presenting myself. See, when you're an anthropologist, you basically hang out and try to talk to people, and then build relationships with them, so that you can understand where they're coming from. I feel like a junior high school kid, asking people to be my friend. So I've been going to art and cultural sites here in Abu Dhabi and basically talking to strangers.

On Friday, I decided to visit the Abu Dhabi Heritage Village and see what they had going on. It was surprisingly like the heritage constructions in Oman: Bedouin tents, weaving, falaj systems, and frankincense burners. And of course, displays of sailing ships in their various incarnations throughout the history of the Indian Ocean.

Empty vending machines - you shouldn't be eating during Ramadan anyway!

Abu Dhabi Heritage Village: the "Desert Environment" section

Giant frankincense burners! A Khaleeji (Gulf) staple

 Then on Saturday, I attended an art workshop at Manarat al Saadiyat. The workshop was entitled "Metal Etching," and was specifically targeted to adults. I signed up because I wanted to see what the workshops were like, and gain a better sense of the offerings on Saadiyat. Who goes to them? What are they like?  I had no idea what I was in for, and on top of that, I'm not good at art and have no previous experience with metal etching. But...gotta get started somewhere!

Manarat's workshop room

 We began by taking a piece of carbon paper, a picture of our choosing, and a metal plate covered in a blue varnish. Taping the carbon paper on top of the plate, and then the drawing on top of that, we used pencils to trace over the drawing. When we removed the papers, penciled outlines of the drawing appeared on the plate. From there, we used nails (really, long metal sticks shaped like pencils) to etch the penciled outlines into the plate. Our instructor, Fatima, explained how to do shading: essentially, with etching, you're creating an mirror image. So what you etch into the metal, even though it shows up light against the darker blue of the varnish, will actually show up in the print as black, and any text you write should be backwards.

After we finished etching our designs into the plates, we washed it in a chemical bath (you can find recipes for how to make safe, nontoxic varnish and the chemical bath here). As the plate sits in the bath, you use a paintbrush and swirl over the plate. As the chemicals interact with the plate and the varnish that's coming off, they start to rust and create these little brown flecks. You use the paintbrush to get rid of these, and to prevent the chemical reaction from corroding so deep that it ruins the metal plate. After ten minutes, you remove the plate and use bathroom cleaner (no joke!) to clean the plate.

My plate post-chemical bath

 After the plate is clean, you cover it with black ink. Then, you put it into a press with a piece of cotton paper. Fatima told us if we don't have a press handy (clearly, most people have them in their homes, what cretin wouldn't), we could "run over it with your car in your driveway." Unfortunately, we had to make do with the printing press...I'd like to try the other method sometime soon!

 I started with the far right image, of the Hindu God Vishnu, and traced that onto the metal plate (middle) and then printed it out (far left). I definitely have some work to do as an artist, but it didn't turn out half as badly as I expected. In addition, I met some of the other workshop participants, got some valuable observational data, and made some friends who work here in Abu Dhabi and in culture. All in all, I'm counting it as a success.

Art Hub's Ramadan tent

Yesterday, I went to Abu Dhabi Art Hub to attend an artist talk. They have a Ramadan talk series. I got there five minutes before the talk was supposed to start, and sat down in the Ramadan tent on the roof. About half an hour later, I asked the girl setting up the a/v and serving me coffee if the talk was still happening. Long story short, the speaker never showed, and I ended up meeting the staff of Art Hub and chatting with them for an hour...and they asked me to give a talk on Saturday!

It's been a completely uncomfortable week. I feel like an awkward teenager again, stumbling all over everything, but I've been lucky enough to meet and speak with so many key people in the art scene here and they've been open, supportive, and welcoming. A week ago, I was really afraid that my project wouldn't be feasible in the long run. But now, I have some new contacts and some openings to work with people here in the future.  I might just be able to pull this off after all, and I'm growing up as an anthropologist. Slowly, painfully, but growing up all the same.

I definitely feel like I live a blessed life. 

Some things just get lost in translation

Signs don't always look the way I'd expect them to.

 And sometimes the translations into English just make things weird. Have I been eating ...inauthentic cheese?

And sometimes, big companies like Baskin Robbins go local!

The Waiting Game: Or, Joys of Fieldwork

These days, there's a lot of waiting. I should be grateful for it, because it's a chance to catch my breath after going non-stop for ... well, a year. As my generous boyfriend never fails to remind me, it's been a busy year full of change (although I think he lets me off the hook too easy). I have never been one to relax well. It's an art, and I am a novice.

I'm here in Abu Dhabi, having put out feelers to all my contacts in the Emirates...just waiting for them to get back to me. In the meantime, it's also Ramadan - which means shorter working hours. Most places in the UAE follow the requisite 9a-2p workday, and since it's illegal to eat, drink or smoke anything in public places (including buses and taxis) during daylight hours in the UAE during Ramadan, you can't even go work in a coffeeshop for the afternoon. They're all closed. Things open up at night after evening prayer, and iftar, when Muslims break their fast. So the tea shop I'm currently sitting in is only open from 7p-midnight, daily. The weather in the evenings is nicer, a blistering 95 degrees instead of the 111 during the day.

Abu Dhabi's Corniche at dusk - today's mandatory "you can't stay inside all day alone or you'll go crazy" preventative outing

Another slight complication for my plans is that I don't have a keycard to get into the building I'm staying in, and security has to buzz me in every time I come back. Half the time they remember me and it's no problem - I've taken to trying to make eye contact and smile every time I exit the building to encourage friendly recognition - or asking questions I already know the answer to so that they remember talking to me. The other half of the time, we have an awkward conversation where I show my passport and the key and namedrop, attempting to communicate across multiple language barriers to the Filipina/Singaporean/Pakistani/Indian security guards that they should let me back in. It makes every outing an adventure. Can I go home again? Will I ever see my belongings again? Stay tuned!

I have been busy making plans, hoping that, as the Beatles song promises, life will start happening because I'm making other plans. I am interviewing the ED of the Tourism and Culture Authority tomorrow, and she has promised to put me in touch with her senior culture managers to interview them as well. Hopefully that starts the ball rolling. One of the artists I reached out to has responded to me. I have signed up for a couple of talks and workshops on Saadiyat Island, and looked up talks at the Abu Dhabi Art Hub. There are a bunch during Ramadan - and all at 10:30pm. I've been working my schedule sideways to accommodate Ramadan, but in general I don't like going out at night, and I definitely don't like going out alone at night via taxi. But I'm going to bite the bullet, because otherwise I'll just hide in my overly air-conditioned apartment and never get any actual research accomplished. And figuring out these sorts of logistical things are important - they are clues and indicators of how I'm going to have to structure fieldwork in the long-term. Important to know, but honestly, a pain in the butt and seriously outside my comfort zone. Is this what I signed up for? Oh. Yeah. I did. 

Additionally, I made an executive decision to spend the last three days (2 nights) of my trip in Dubai. I want to check out the gallery scene in Dubai, as well as the museums in Sharjah, and connect with an NYU colleague who works for the Sharjah Museums Authority.  Dubai is a 2-hour drive from here, so I wouldn't want to make the trip multiple times, and since everything is open at night, it makes sense to stay overnight rather than drive back to Abu Dhabi at 2am. In an odd way, I am looking forward to my little trip - I will have a key to my room and unquestioned access (!), wifi on my own computer (I have to borrow my host's because NYU, despite still taking chunks of my meager income for my MA degree, won't let me sign onto the NYU wifi WITH MY NYU LOGON), a car and the flexibility to go where I want when I want, and a pool. When I come back, I'll drive to Abu Dhabi to attend one final talk on Saadiyat on Monday evening, then go to the airport, turn in the rental car at 11pm, and (in sha allah) board a 2am flight to London, connecting to a 10am flight to Chicago O'Hare.