Canvas

Canvas: You recently showed Once Upon a Pirate Coast (2024) at Abu Dhabi Art, in the Beyond Emerging Artists section. How do the pieces prompt a rethinking of historical archives and memories?

Fatma Al Ali: This installation is based on my research into the British presence in the UAE and consists of three works. Of Ships, Sails and Misguided Labels (2024) features frames with text and images that delve into the British campaign against the city of Ras Al Khaimah and their lies about a pirate presence. I added a tone of playfulness to it with the words: “Row, row, row your boat aggressively to our shore. Claim it’s piracy, go on and start a war.” The central coin installation, I Picked up a Coin and Heard a Whisper (2024), was accompanied by an audio piece, the voice of the land reclaiming the narrative. I Read Their Words, but I Heard my Own (2024) is a series of tablets made from desert sand, beach sand and seawater, mixed and bonded. They are presented in pairs, with excerpts from Arab and British newspaper articles overlaid to tell two sides of the same story: the British resources, which refer to the place as “the pirate coast”, and the Arabian resources, with information about the environment, fishing and people living their lives and trying to survive the harsh environment.

How does language fit into your practice, and what impact does it have when looking back on these events, particularly with such a satirical, playful tone?

When dealing with history, I am surrounded by language. I wanted to present the works similarly to how I first encountered the history. For example, reading about the pirates was amusing, something you would hear about in childhood stories. I wanted to add that initial playfulness. Also, with the written history of the UAE being very limited or skewed towards other perspectives, I am reclaiming that narrative, but in a playful way. I also focused on the sculptural elements of materiality and tension. These concepts stayed with me, even as I started delving more into the archives. I wanted both to showcase this idea that there is a rich history in the UAE that people are unaware of and bring it forth to Emiratis of my generation in a digestible way. It’s a reintroduction to history. We are focused so much on the future, but we should know our past.

Can you describe your approach to using archives in your work?

I started by collecting as many books and magazines as possible. I also have access to the National Archive and subscribe to the British Newspaper Archive. I try to read as much as possible from varied sources and slowly start shaping a narrative in my head. I’m trying to understand the past from a contemporary, individual perspective. I always keep tabs in my head for things to research in the future.