Enquanto a cultura nos separa, a natureza nos une

Artist Statement

This piece came to me when I was in the Sharjah desert. I saw a mirage that I couldn't understand – I don’t know if it was a human figure with some kind of veil or an architectural construction with a dome in the center.

Later that night, I had a dream. I was in the desert, and the whole landscape was just sand. It was nighttime, and a pink star became brighter and brighter, until the day came, and I realised that the star was a person, I guess a woman, coming down from the sky. She landed on her feet in the desert, and then she was slowly swallowed by the sand, until her heart had touched the ground. I was just a spirit – I had no body, no eyes, no nose – but she had two strong and gentle eyes, and suddenly she blinked and disappeared, like a gas on the wind. Left behind was a transparent net, as if still covering her head and shoulders.

I began to move, rolling like a stone, getting closer to the structure. Hanging in the center of the dome was something like a flower stigma, from which water fell continuously, creating a pond in the desert. Suddenly, an egg of ice emerged from the lips of the stigma, and – plop – it fell down into the pond. Thirteen hours later there appeared a grass never seen before on this planet, and little by little it began to grow, spreading out faster and faster. Other vegetables began to pop up: a tree here, a bush there, forests, fruits, flowers and later, some animals – little ones, then bigger ones, birds, mammals, insects. After the silence of the vast sand, the landscape became full of colours and sounds.

Before sunset, the living grass touched me – I mean, it touched my spirit – and suddenly I had a body, brown curly hair, brown eyes. I’d always felt that I was a man, but until then I had no body and senses; I didn't understand what a body was, and how life could be so good. Like all the other animals, I began to run around. There were many little lakes, and it was so good to taste the water! The pond was so big now that I couldn't see the other side, and it was full of seaweed, anemones and fish. The reflection of the sun on the water made me jump in, and I discovered that unlike the other lakes, this one was salty. When I turned back, I saw a woman with green nails looking at me. Before I could talk to her, I was woken up: 'Good morning, sir, we are arriving. Please bring your seat to an upright position and fasten your seat belt.


2013

This project was part of Sharjah Biennial 11

Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation