2016 ︎ Video + Samavar ︎ Every year, Ghulam Mohammed Andalib comes from Afghanistan to Dubai for work. He’s here for a period of four months, where he is offered a stage to perform his craft on for the visitors of Global Village. At his assigned setting, Ghulam sits and engraves poems from Hafez, Saadi, or Quranic verses.
The film is filmed in late Sheikh Abdulaziz al Qassimi’s abandoned palace in Ras Al Khaimah, where Ghulam explores the interiors. Like himself, Sheikh Abdulaziz had a passion for persian poetry and miniatures, and can be found hand painted on the house walls. Part documentary, part performance, exploring the themes of migration, trade and cultural identity that shape our world; this film brings two shared loves, of two seemingly different men, together.
