Torab Al Wasl (The Soil of Al Wasl)

Year: 2024
Script: Jali Diwani
Materials: Stainless steel
Concept and design: Narjes Noureddine
Execution: Bassem Zbeeb, architect
Acquired by: H.E. Khalaf Al Habtoor

Torab Al Wasl is designed from a poem by Ousha Al Suwaidi, known as Fatat Al Arab . It speaks of the soil of Dubai, using its old name, Al Wasl. The poem greets the land with a prayer for gentle rain and describes it as a paradise with no hardship or distress, where every home is safe, built by men who gave it their effort.

يا تراب الوصل حييت وسقيت    يود سحب مالها برق ورعد

جنــــة فيها تــجد مـا لا رأيت    في سواها مابها عـسر ونكد

الأمـــان ابها مطـــمن كل بيت     من رجــال كرسوا فيها الجهد

The words of the poem overlap and interlace, forming a visual composition made of letters. They are written in Jali Diwani.  The interlaced letters pile up and rise like a mound of earth.

The sculpture was acquired by H.E. Khalaf Al Habtoor, businessman and sponsor of the Fatat Al Arab Award. It was presented at the ceremony of the award’s third edition in 2024, in the presence of Prof. Rafia Ghubash, Chairperson of the award’s Board of Trustees.