Art from the heart

Sarah White, artist and arts advisor to the Bait Al Zubair Arts Foundation, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

"I was never inspired to become an artist. Different things may inspire my artwork, but being an artist was always innate. From the age of six I was always drawing, as many photographs of mine at the time will attest.

I was born in the United Kingdom and spent the early years of my life in India before moving back to the UK when I was two years old.

Our family lived in Banstead, Surrey, and I completed my schooling there.

I studied fine arts at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of West England, Bristol and the Royal College of Art (RCA) respectively.

After graduating, I worked as an artist, supporting myself through commissions, exhibitions and teaching. I also represented Britain in the Best of British Artists exhibition in Sweden as well as exhibiting in prominent London art galleries such as Flowers-East.

My parents were living in Oman and I first visited it in 1986.
I continued to visit it on and off during my holidays between 1986 and 1993.

One of the first things that struck me about Oman was the amazing quality and clarity of its light; another aspect was the humanity of its architecture.

I had explored architectural themes in my work in the UK, such as industrial ports and cityscapes.

In Oman, I was inspired by its traditional architecture, particularly the way in which people had adapted to the harsh geographical conditions. I went around sketching and took many black-and-white photographs, documenting the influence of the desert, mountains and coast on the architectural style.

In 1993, when my parents were retiring and preparing to leave Oman, I decided to exhibit all the oil paintings, etchings and pen and ink sketches I had been doing in Oman over the

last seven years that had not been exhibited. The British Council and RCA supported the exhibition while the local media provided tremendous encouragement. It was the most successful exhibition I have ever had. [The exhibition was successful as it was probably] the first time that people in Oman had been exposed to artwork that challenged convention.

I decided to remain in Oman for a year, working and painting. I could not justify staying in Oman unless I was able to support myself and cover my painting and studio expenses.

It so happened that my father had worked for the Al Zubair family, a prominent Omani business family, and had known them since the 1970s.

At a social occasion, I met Mohammad Zubair...
... [ advisor to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos for Economic Planning Affairs] who told me he had a proposal that might interest me. He wished me to catalogue the Zubair family's private collection; this led to my being involved with the inception, development and execution of the concept of the Bait Al Zubair Museum, which would exhibit the collection.

I also began teaching middle and high school art at the American British Academy [in Muscat].

At one stage [in 1995], I was simultaneously involved in three full-time jobs: cataloguing the Zubair family collection, teaching art and working on my painting. It became very exhausting and I ultimately had to give up teaching, much as I enjoyed it.

I continued my work in the museum, enjoying working under Mohammad Zubair and his son, Ziyad. Our work was undoubtedly a team effort and it bore fruit when the museum was officially opened to the public in 1998.

Bait Al Zubair, ?House of Zubair' in Arabic, ...
... is an exhibition of a private collection that uses the wealth of Oman's historical past to explain the collection rather than vice versa. It can be considered as the Al Zubair family's private tribute to Oman.

We regularly hold exhibitions, displaying items such as khanjars, male and female costumes, jewellery, prints, maps and photographs. We also have examples of external architecture such as a falaj system, a hut made of palms and an area designed like a souq.

We have also renovated an Omani house dating from the 1920s that [existed] on the museum grounds.

A three-storey building is currently under construction; it will house and exhibit additional collections as well as contain a large gallery that will provide exhibition space for Omani artists, reflecting the interests of Mohammad Zubair, who, being an artist himself, has always been keen to promote heritage and the arts. We are also involved with the upcoming Shangri La's Barr Al Jissa Resort and Spa [20 km outside Muscat], in which we are working with established and new contemporary Omani artists, commissioning them to work on certain themes.

We are a close-knit team at the museum, proud to be contributing towards a great cause: sustaining Oman's cultural heritage. The official opening of the museum was one of the most significant moments in my life.

I wouldn't have been able to do what I have done with the museum if I weren't an artist. My arts background has contributed towards developing a sense of aesthetics in the museum.

I believe every exhibition is akin to staging a performance; the objects may be static but they are involved in a performance nevertheless.

I see my artwork as continual research.
I am interested in exploring so many aspects of my work that it is difficult to narrow it down [to a few areas].

My work in Oman initially dealt with architecture; I am also interested in Islamic design and jewellery and Omani culture and clothing.

Oman is a country with a diverse landscape, ancient history and cultural heritage - the more I learn the more I realise I still have to learn. The more I explore the more I need to explore. 

I have been painting Omani architecture since 1986 and am still on a journey of expression.
I have worked through various concepts relating to light, shapes, surface, texture, design and history and I am still searching for ways of interpreting what I see and feel about this fascinating country. I view my artistic life as a journey that is continual and fraught with constant challenges. The destination is still unclear, for my journey becomes divergent every day, with several new paths opening and becoming clearer as one grows older.