From Souq Al Jubail Garageer Baskets to your Plate

Overview

Participants in the Sharjah Waterfront Trip to Souq Al Jubail, Sharjah’s newly opened fruit, vegetable and fish market experienced the journey of caught fish, from the bustle of offloading from the hand woven fishing baskets ‘Garageer’, to the rhythm and chaos of the fish auction to the industry and efficiency of the cleaning stations. This Community Programme workshop was the second of a series of drawing excursions called ‘The Journal’, led by artist Rania Jishi. This workshop took place on Saturday 21 January, 2017.

Ali Al Suwaidi, Director of Souq Al Jubail, gave participants a personal tour, detailing the architecture and atmosphere of the market, the history of fishing in Sharjah and important aspects of maritime law. At the same time, artist Rania Jishi worked with participants to document their experience through sound recordings, sketches, imprints, oral history and photography.

Among the highlights of the trip was watching Jishi create imprints of cuttlefish with their ink, using the Japanese ‘Gyotaku,’ a fish rubbing technique. Jishi had encouraged the idea of mark-making with both found objects and inks throughout the day. Other documentation of the visit included audio and video recordings of the rhythmic auction chanting by the auctioneers and sailors’ stories of their travels. The participants were able to explore the docked fishing boats, and among their discoveries were a carpeted upper deck, a small prayer room, the lower deck engine room and a built-in tannoor oven used to make fresh bread during long fishing journeys. Another highlight was observing the fish cleaning station where you take your chosen fish to be cleaned and filleted in a setting which looked almost like a precision laboratory. The day ended with participants sampling the catches of the day and fresh fruit juice from Souq Al Jubail.