‘I have learned in my practice to be very close to people but invisible at the same time’ - Ammar

How do we give importance to the unwanted and overlooked?

Film still from an ‘out of focus’ interview in April 2017 with Ammar Al Attar. Courtesy of Suzy Sikorski.

It seems like an oxymoron, but the footage of my very first interview with the fine photographer Ammar Al Attar was completely out of focus.

That’s right, after I completed a full-length interview session in 2017 in the artist’s Sharjah studio as I documented his life and inspiration, I came home nearing 2am to greet the fuzzy recordings. I can’t blame myself though - it’s been a difficult journey as a one-man show since 2016 while I have been recording, interviewing and video editing mostly on my own (and by NO means am I an expert). Despite the challenges, it has been an extremely rewarding experience to have captured these stories when I did.

(It’s better than coming home to find no footage recorded at all, which has happened to me a few times!)

Ammar Al Attar has a dual role as a fine art photographer and archiver of UAE history. Come to his studio in the Sharjah Heritage Area and you’re in a jungle gym of dusty cinema reels, scattered rusted large format cameras, both in use and those of a bygone past, along with eternal boxes of negatives and Kodak slides. A menagerie of found objects from all over the region found themselves in his safe haven. As he is known within the country as a collector of these objects, many have entrusted him with their unwanted photo albums and stacks of negatives - which in a way bestows to him an overwhelming and tedious task to capture the importance of what was not ‘necessarily important’ yet carries a very historical rich narrative.

Ammar Al Attar’s studio in his November 2019 exhibition. Image courtesy of the artist.

What I feel is most striking in Ammar’s work is his methodical approach to repetition and consistency. A self-taught photographer based in Ajman, the emirate north of Sharjah, Ammar first began documenting his life through a disposable camera as early as high school, gradually upgrading from plastic cameras to megapixel DSLRs. Taking more interest in analogue photography, he then studied further photography history from the greats like William Houston and Stephen Shore and has applied this to his practice. He has taken workshops at Gulf Photo Plus since 2007 and Tashkeel since 2009, including in the darkroom and screen printing.

As Ammar says to me ‘I have learned in my practice to be very close to people but invisible at the same time’. This is so pertinent to his work - as if he takes an aerial snapshot of his surroundings, chronicling the people, places and stories within a rapidly developing UAE —whether he is documenting the busy street scenes of Deira, the beloved architectural monuments across the country, snapping self-portraits of himself in prayer across the country or accumulating portraits of notable practitioners in the art scene.

His ongoing research project, Reverse Moments is a collaboration with some of the oldest photographic studios in the UAE since the 1960s. Interviewing these studio owners, mostly from India, Iran and Pakistan, he captures stories of those that had documented the development of the UAE.

In the fall 2019 the artist was selected as part of the Al Burda Endowment, an initiative that celebrates Islamic art and culture launched in Abu Dhabi. His high-tech work documented the ritual that celebrates Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) birthday - Al Milad (noted in Egypt and other Arab countries it is called ‘Al Mawlid Al Nabawi’). He photographed and took a virtual reality of one of the Milad celebrations that happened in Abu Dhabi. It was a very engaging work with the VR experience, on view at Manarat Al Saadiyat during Abu Dhabi Art Fair in November 2019.

Most recently the artist will currently be showing this Saturday 7 March 2020 at Maraya Art Centre- ‘The Place I Call Home’ which is a touring exhibition between young photographers living in the UK and Gulf countries, commissioned by the British Council.

LET’S TALK SHOW BIZ

I last visited Ammar’s studio in November 2019 during his opening unveiling his latest iteration of ‘Cinemas in the UAE' project. Since 2015 Ammar is producing a comprehensive take on the cinema culture in the UAE and the Gulf, exploring a history that dates back to the late 1940s. The first movie theatre in the UAE was the Royal Air Force Cinema in Al Mahatta in Sharjah in 1948, which at the time was for the British based there. Then in the 1970s, these eclectic standalone cinema buildings were built and would show a multitude of films from Bangladesh, Egypt, Hollywood, India, Lebanon, and Pakistan. Today, with the demolition or abandonment of many of these buildings with the modernization of the country’s urban fabric, Ammar has rushed to the scene, taking the last documentations of these structures, from the Kalba cinema in Sharjah to the much loved El Dorado in downtown Abu Dhabi.

Ammar documenting the demolition of Golden Cinema. Image courtesy of the artist.

Golden Cinema (originally called Plaza cinema). Image courtesy of the artist.

Since four years, along with documenting all old cinemas in the country, Ammar has specifically focused on the demolition of Golden Cinema (originally called Plaza Cinema) —one of the most popular stand-alone movie theaters in Deira in Dubai. His exhibitions of this series in Alserkal (2017) and NYU Abu Dhabi (2018) have showcased his photographic documentations with found objects such as celluloid prints, flyers, posters, glass slides with advertisements, old movie tickets and even worn seats!

The activity of archiving is fundamentally an adventure; an open-ended exploration into subjects and histories that have been virtually or orally forgotten. Ammar and I were in sync in our respective roles when we met in 2017 - myself as an art historian and Ammar as chronicling the social developments of his surroundings. Our paths would also converge in our appreciation for the late pioneer Emirati photographer Saleh Al Ustad. Whether we are discussing comic book graphics, theatre history, or photography collectives, our conversations always encourage me to pursue further my own research and take a look outside the normal art historical references into the wider cultural modes at play.

From the archives - 2017 interview with Ammar. Video courtesy of Suzy Sikorski.

Mid East Art had the chance to speak to Ammar on his investigation into cinema:

Mid East Art: What was the inspiration to your Cinema in the UAE project?

Ammar: The idea started when I first heard from my friend who was living near Golden Cinema that it would be demolished. They announced the last show would be in April/May 2015. So I started going with him to document the place in videos and photos. This cinema was near my grandfather’s house in Bur Dubai in an area called Al Ghubaiba. I heard from my uncles and father about it, since they used to go, but I never went inside. That eventually started my interest in documenting all of the cinemas in the UAE - to travel and find more cinemas in Sharjah and the East Coast in Fujairah and Khorfakkan; also in Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah and in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

Demolition of Plaza Cinema. Image courtesy of the artist.

MEA: Where was the family cinema you went to as a child in the UAE? Did you have a few favorite films?

Ammar: The first movie I saw was screened in a movie theatre called Nasser Cinema in Dubai- an Egyptian play called ‘El Wad Sayed El Shaghal’ (Sayed the Servant). This was my first cinema experience in the early 90s. After that was the Titanic with my cousin and his friend in the Metropolitan Cinema which currently is in Habtoor city. I frequented normal cinemas in City Centre - it was opened in the 90s. I watched normally Hollywood (English) and Arabic movies, but rarely Indian movies. Mostly Egyptian movies were on TV, which was my favorite. Every weekend we used to go with friends to cinemas in Ajman. In Al Ghurair every Friday afternoon at 4pm I would go with a college friend to another cinema.

‘El Wad Sayed El Shaghal’ ( Sayed the Servant)

MEA: Were there magazines or periodicals that discussed the film culture in the region people were reading?

Ammar: From my research I found some articles in Gulf News and Arabic magazines that wrote about movies, mostly before it was about Indian movies in Gulf News. There was a journalist that I met through my research and he gave me some articles that he wrote in the 80s and 90s about Indian movies. Mostly it was newspapers that included information on show timings. This was all before internet and social media in the 90s so it was the only way we had access to the cinema news.

Ammar in his Sharjah studio showing us some advertisement slides. Image courtesy of Suzy Sikorski.

MEA: How many iterations of the Cinemas in the UAE have you exhibited?

Ammar: The first exhibition was in 2017 in Alserkal Avenue, which was right around the same time the last part of Golden Cinema was being demolished. Alserkal commissioned the project and they gave me one of the warehouses to showcase my research. I showed almost 630 photos of the process of the demolishing —from the last show until the last days that I took the photos. In the same exhibition there were two huge prints - depicting a contrast between the conception of building the cinema until its demolition. I showed some artifacts too - like papers and documentation I found. Documents consisted of government correspondence with the cinema, accounting papers like invoices or tenancy contracts with the Dubai government. One document included a letter to the municipality with the number of tickets sold for an event for a Lebanese singer that came in the mid 1970s. This was an important find showing that cinemas didn’t just show movies, they would also use it for events and concerts. Other documents included approvals from censorship committee from movies and service charges for these censorship requests. That next year in NYU Abu Dhabi I showed some archival material from some cinemas and the varieties of cinemas across the country, whether these centers were cinema screens or proper buildings. The last one you came to was in my studio in November 2019. I wanted to make artwork from these memories and archived findings. It was a place people could go and gather. I ultimately found this evolution of the cinema today became more commercial, like Andy Warhol’s factory when he created silkscreen prints. This is what inspired me to work on the silkscreen prints most recently.

Advertisement slides found in xxx cinema. Image courtesy of Suzy Sikorski.

MEA: What most surprised you about the cinema project?

Ammar: The research and finding people who used to work in this business. I found a couple of relatives who used to work in the censorship committee who used to censor movies. It was surprising that they used to work there. Also looking at how the theatre developed from open-air theatres to air conditioned ones. I found interesting portraits for movies that were acceptable to show in the 70s too.

MEA: During the process of covering the demolition - did you have moments of extreme sadness that this was being destroyed?

Plaza Cinema (Golden Cinema) movie poster. Image courtesy of the artist.

Ammar: Of course I was sad that they would demolish this building, but at the same time I was happy that I came to hear about it. I documented the whole ceremony of the last show at Golden Cinema. Even if we don’t have the building now at least we have documentation for the history. I was very happy that I found these artifacts/documents and archives to preserve and show them to people. I felt it was a very important action to take a preserve. Otherwise all of this would just disappear with the demolishing. Sometimes you feel sad but at the same time the owner of the buildings and the cinemas -they had also this idea if it sustainable to keep. At the end of the day they are businessmen and they need to sustain their business. You can’t just keep it for nostalgia, for people to keep their memories. The building was historic and useful for the Indian and South Indian community, they had a lot of meetings there so it is a fateful memory to pardon with. My friend mentioned it was very sad news to his family, not only to those in UAE but also people in India who had found out about it were upset.

MEA: What was the most unique item you found in the cinema?

Ammar looking through old news reels while documenting the demolition of Plaza Cinema. Image courtesy of the artist.

Ammar: I found a slide projector for the advertisements- that was very unique (a few ads stated ‘Do Not Rest Your Feet on the Seats’ or featured a Subway sandwich ad). Also the documents and manuscripts that I found and mentioned above.

MEA: Architecture-wise which cinema was most appealing? Why?

Ammar: I saw pictures of Sharjah Cinema which was very architecturally interesting. Even Golden Cinema was very strong - it was a very big building.

MEA: Best location cinema? Why?

Ammar: Golden Cinema had a very unique location in Al Ghubaiba - it was a very active place. It was a meeting place. Located right near to bus station, it was very accessible.

MEA: How did the public engage with your work in your openings? Did they add to your research?

Ammar: The public found much interest from my research - so many directed me to meet other people in the industry. I met someone who was distributing movies, until now he still does since 1960s in Dubai. When you research more, you know more about people who used to work in the industry. Even my uncles interacted a lot when I showed them some documents or posters - they remember and they would tell me stories.

MEA: For your November show - you began to exploring silkscreen printing, cyanotype. Did you like the process, was it challenging for you?

Ammar: It was challenging, especially with finding materials and understanding the complex way of doing stenciling. But I asked a lot of friends and artists who worked in the same field. Especially the screen printing. I watched a lot of videos. I had actually did screen printing before thankfully in a Tashkeel workshop class with artist and printmaker Salama Nasib. It is interesting to explore new materials and I had a lot of fun in the summer 2019. For 3-4 months I used to work with these materials. It was fun. I think it’s important for artists to explore, to express ideas in different materials.