FATMA AL ALI

Once Upon a Pirate Coast​

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​Once Upon a Pirate Coast is a multifaceted body of work that explores the British presence in the UAE prior to its unification, focusing on the shifting power dynamics and the stories of those who lived through these changes. Comprising three distinct but interconnected pieces, the work embodies a dialogue between history, art, and narrative.

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Of Ships, Sails, and Misguided Labels critically engages with early 19th-century prints that depict the Arabian Gulf campaign of 1809, notably the attack on the Qawasim fleet in Ras Al Khaimah by the British East India Company and Royal Navy. Three Al Qasimi bases and over 80 vessels were destroyed by the operation. These reappraised visual representations are playfully altered; they are overlaid with text, composed using typewriter, assuming the voice of the land as a witness to the events. The installation challenges archived colonial narratives about the campaign and reclaims the perspectives of the local population, formerly lost to history.

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I Read Their Words, but I Heard My Own is a sculptural piece made from a mix of desert and beach sand, fused with salt water from the sea. This raw material becomes a canvas for text transferred from both Arab magazine excerpts and British newspaper articles, presenting two divergent accounts of the same history. Through this contrast, the piece highlights and emphasizes the complexity of truth in the documentation of history.

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I Picked Up a Coin and Heard a Whisper is an audio piece, hidden amidst a pile of replicated coins from the era, critiquing the slow erasure of Qawasim-minted currency, which was replaced first by the Indian rupee and later, by a newly created Gulf rupee, under the British protectorate.

The audio, again narrated by the voice of the land, speaks of the rise and fall of various powers throughout history, emphasizing the resilience of the land and its people. Visitors are invited to explore the coins and take one or two as a keepsake.

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Together, these works form a commentary and critique on colonialism, memory, and the resilience of the land and its people, offering a nuanced view of the British presence in the region from 1820 – 1971.

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