The First Day of Summer, February the 1st

Tuesday was the day we were interviewed for the National Newspaper. We had our photos taken, which finally enabled me to have a proper group photo as well! Ops, Nasır is missing from the scene as he just had a little baby!

Zeinab and Hadeyah

These pretty Emirati ladies always look amazing on the photos! Ali and I are practicing Emirati pose, but can't say we are successful.

Finally finished making the structures for the roofs of 3 of the towers. Looks like little work needed but took me ages to finish the joints. It was 12.30 when we arrived Tashkeel with the rest of the group, and it found 20.30 when I finished making them.

It was quite handy and relaxing to participate Rebecca's opening at Tashkeel, after hard work. Had some minty lemonade and nice snacks. Always there are good treats at Tashkeel. And Rebecca's exhibition was really good, I enjoyed her tiny objects individually, as well as their well thought shadows and the overall installation. One can't stop thinking of the origin of each artifact, and the artist's relation to the act of collecting.

The other day, we headed to Sharjah for The 30th Annual Exhibition of Emirates Fine Art Society that Khalil curated. But arriving early in the day enabled us to discover the city and compare the three Emirates we visited so far since we are here. We went to this amazing restaurant called Jabal Al Thalj. Delicious and very cheap food. It's always good to ask a local shop for a good recommendation.

At first sight, Sharjah appeared to me a little bit bleak. You come across to those blank sandy areas in between tall buildings much more often than in Dubai. Apparently Sharjah is economically poorer than Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but this allowed the Emirate to preserve what has been provided to it in time, so it's easier to follow its timeline..

We visited the Barjeel Foundation in Al Qasba, and this is the view from the window.

Then we headed to the area where Sharjah Art Museum is. I should acknowledge that, this was the time I really started to enjoy Sharjah. The oil rigs, cranes, cars and water juxtaposed with the beautiful streets of historic emirate.

After the lunch, Magdi went to look for his machine for his project, so Fayçal, Ali and I started to discover the little streets and souks of Sharjah.

Around 18.30 we went to the opening of the big show that Khalil curated, where Nasır, from our residency showed his work. Khalil was so sweet and smiley as always, although we put him off for a moment, when he was just about to talk to the Sheikh! It was a huge show, with many artists having small shows. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience in Sharjah.