The WAITING
Emirati Artist Jamal HABROUSH AL SUWAIDI explores both the perils that pearl hunters and traders face at sea and the powerlessness we have over time
The hard experience that the families of pearl hunters undergo whilst waiting for their loved ones to return from sea provides the inspiration for the work by the Emirati artist Jamal HABROUSH AL SUWAIDI.
In The WAITING, AL SUWAIDI draws on a vital, but danger-laden industry that has been deeply entrenched in the cultures and economies of both the UAE and wider region for centuries.
AL SUWAIDI uses his vivid memories to transport us back to a time when the region’s pearl hunters and traders spent months out at sea in their boats, unable to communicate with their families who could do nothing but count the days until their safe arrival back home. Anticipation would grow as the expected day of return edged closer, until the time came for the crowds to gather at the water’s edge, looking for the first sighting of the boats.
Suspense would fill the air until each man was accounted for, since the lengthy time spent at sea heightened the risk that someone might be taken ill on board or worse. Only once all the men were confirmed as back safely would everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
The WAITING takes the form of a stunning abstract bronze installation on a marble base, comprising geometric shapes, which immediately conjure up images of a life at sea. The lack of decorative or dynamic flourishes reflects the simplicity of the regional coastal lines in an era before today’s major port developments had been envisaged and the pearl hunters had to rely solely on each other to get their job done.
The WAITING features five key components, representing a man and a woman at each end, who protectively edge three children in the middle. It also includes another significant component in the form of two ropes, similar to those which are tethered to large cruise-liners to keep them docked at shore. The ropes envelop the two adults, retraining them and preventing them from moving, leaving them suspended in a moment in time.
AL SUWAIDI’s latest work serves as a powerful reminder of a time before today’s sophisticated seafaring vessels when men set out in traditional boats made from wood to seek their catch, be it pearls or fish.
It also explores the broader and sometimes tortuous process of waiting, when we are powerless and struggling to find patience. In this respect, the work has a highly personal and poignant backstory since tragically, AL SUWAIDI’s father died before the artist was born, having fallen ill at the time. As a young boy trying to come to terms with this devastating realization, the artist spent many hours roaming the shoreline, waiting and hoping in vain that his father would return to the family, like the pearl hunters in their boats.
“The artist Andy Warhol described waiting as exciting, while Charles Stanley said that our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on what we’re waiting for”, AL SUWAIDI said. “But the words that perhaps resonate the most with me are those of the author, ethicist and theologian Lewis B. Smedes: “Waiting is our destiny. We wait in fear for a happy ending that we cannot write.”