Artist's Statement

On my first visit to Sharjah, I came with very little knowledge about the cultural and physical nature of life in this part of the world.

I got interested in the meanings and the weight of materials, gestures, Sharjah’s history and the link to other histories. I was struck by its special link to India, past and present, by the fact that till around 1960 the currency in use in the Emirates was the Indian Rupee. I was moved by the stamps issued by Sharjah, of European paintings, the celebration of another country’s ‘the first man on the moon’ mission. I was curious about a country that has to import almost everything for its people, the absence of grandiose historical buildings and artifacts (I had visualized huge mosques with patterns inlayed with lapis lazuli), its geographical sparseness, and its present excesses.

I was fascinated by the system of drip irrigation which uses recycled water for greenery to exist in the cities. I was intrigued by the presence of the colour black in a hot climate, the predilection for gold and shiny things.

Sheela Gowda
2009

Excerpted from Provisions, Book I, the catalogue for the 9th Sharjah Biennial