Oman: Experiments

Nouf Khalifa Al Azzani - Identity (2016)

In general terms, Oman – a sultanate of about three million inhabitants located in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, bordered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, overlooking the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf – has over a thousand state schools, in addition to more than 400 private schools and 30 international institutions, where the country’s young people – more than 80 per cent of the population is under the age of 30 – can prepare for life and the future.

Samar Al Kaabi - Omani Women 1 (2016)

Oman, in fact, experienced several centuries of isolation before embracing the Islamic faith, enduring the domination of Portugal (attracted by the country’s position on trade routes), and flourishing under the dynasty of Ya’aruba, followed by the Sultanate of Said bin Sultan (in the mid-nineteenth century). Under his leadership, the country rapidly achieved imperial dimensions and prestige, controlling certain African territories on the east coast and the island of Zanzibar.

Asma Abdulaziz Kulaib - Al Masheir (2016)

Since ancient times Oman has played a key role in the exchange of goods, people, ideas and cultures, becoming a cultural and commercial intermediary with the countries of the Indian Ocean, China and the Mediterranean. While today about 80 per cent of the economy is based on the extraction and sale of oil, Oman believes the future could lie, above all, in the sustainable tourism business. So they are building roads, airports and a rail network, but without excesses of concrete and steel for here – like Islam itself – everything is gentle and moderate, including the architecture. Buildings do not exceed the height of the minarets, for example. Regulations exist that require new structures to have traditional elements, such as a dome or timber-framed windows. The natural ingredients for the success of tourism, moreover, are all here. Its magnificent, imposing mountains are reminiscent of the early days of creation in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey; ochre desert dunes and unbounded flatlands occupy 80 per cent of the country (around 310,000 square kilometres); and its ancient and bustling capital Muscat was elected Tourist Capital of the Arab world in 2012 by the tourism ministers of the Arab League. Surrounded by mountains and the Jalali and Mirani forts built in the sixteenth century during Portuguese occupation, Muscat offers white palaces and sand- colored houses, the domes of mosques, a labyrinth-like souk and the waters of its old port are criss-crossed by dhows, the traditional wooden boats of the Arabian Peninsula. The capital is also home to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, inaugurated in 2001, with a capacity to accommodate twenty thousand worshipers, and the Royal Opera House, opened in 2011, which testifies to the Omani love for music and ballet.

Laila Abdullah Al Moqbalia - The Sunset (2016)

At Expo 2015 in Milan, the Omani pavilion was inspired by the theme of sustainability and conservation. At its entrance, a sundial, with some stones placed along its surface, told the story of the precise water distribution method used in antiquity in its villages. Each community was allocated an hour of the day, corresponding to the time when the shadow of the sundial reached the stone symbolizing their village, testimony to the country’s strong tradition in water resource management, to which the first section of the Pavilion, “Exploit every drop of water”, was dedicated. Oman’s main water source is the khareef, the summer monsoon which, crossing the Indian Ocean, feeds the aflaj, an ancient irrigation system created by a dense network of canals and dams that dates back more than 2,000 years and is included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Said Saleh Al Sulaimi - We Are One (2016)

In ancient times, much of the Sultanate’s fame came from the production and trade of frankincense, in which the ports of Khor Rori and Al Baleed, now UNESCO World Heritage Sites, played a strategic role. Marco Polo, in fact, mentions the port of Al Baleed, where he made a stop on his trip to China. Both ports were of primary importance in the long-distance trade between the Mediterranean and the East thanks to their location in pre-desert areas where the best varieties of trees providing frankincense resin grow. The resin was stored in warehouses at the ports before embarking on long journeys by camel or boat to faraway destinations. Here, thanks to the campaign of excavations conducted by the University of Pisa, the most varied collection of incense burners of all of southern Arabia has been found, from the simplest incense burners, used in daily fumigation, to the more unusual models that demonstrate the skills of local artisans and their ability to absorb and reinterpret exemplars from different cultural traditions.

Said Ali Mohammed Alalawi - Old Wooden Door From Oman (2016)

In 2004, the Pisa archaeologists also began digging in Salut, in the north, near the city of Nizwa. These excavations have brought to light much of the structure of the site and have enabled the recovery of a significant quantity of materials. Bronze Age tombs have been excavated in Salut, but the settlement’s greatest splendour dates back to the Iron Age. Here something scholars consider to be unique in southeast Arabian archaeology has emerged, a small temple characterized by a platform of mortar on which six columns rested, arranged in two rows.

Yousuf Al Fowri - Untitled (2016)

This great heritage is the solid foundation upon which the Omani cultural identity is constructed. The country’s most important cultural institutions are found in Muscat, brought together under the supervision of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture: The Omani Museum, founded in 1974, which houses many objects of Islamic art, the National Museum (1978) and the Museum of Natural History (1983). In 2011, a collaboration was initiated with the Tate Gallery in London, which lent Oman six important paintings by Gainsborough, Stubbs, Constable, Turner, Millais and Sargent for The Art of Seeing Nature exhibition at the Sayyid Faisal bin Ali Museum in Muscat, a museum established in 2008 in a former theatre, with a focus on a significant collection of traditional weapons.