Kurta Carousel at the Art Oasis

I came across Zain Mustafa's 'Carousel' quite unexpectedly at the Art Oasis at the Wafi in Dubai this afternoon. At first glance, it wasn't particularly exciting: eighteen plain white kurtas, each emblazoned with a word from Allama Iqbal's poem from the Bang-e-Dara (Call of the Marching Bell). The transliteration from the Urdu read, 'Hazaroon saal nargis apni bey noori ray rothi hay, Bari mushkil say hotha hay chaman mein deedawar paida'. This was accompanied by a rather cryptic English translation which read, 'For thousands of years Narcissus weeps at her ugliness. It is with great difficulty that someone is born in the garden (of Eden) with eyes'. What was intriguing was the story behind each kurta, written in English in a neat cursive hand on a large yellow label attached to each garment. Difficult to tell if these were true or simply made up – they were certainly plausible enough to be affecting.

A random selection:

"Name: Muna
Age: 22 years old
Nationality: Emirati
Sex: Female
Recent graduate in architecture. Just married. Killed in a fatal car crash on Sheikh Zayed Road – was not her fault. Kurta was bought for her by her brother. Found in car at crash scene. Muna had dreams of becoming an internationally acclaimed architect."

"Name: Antonio
Age: 38 years old
Nationality: Spanish
Sex: Male
Financial analyst at the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre). Collector of ethnic items of clothing. As part of his collection, a kurta was hanging over his bed on his bedroom wall as a piece of art in his villa in the Meadows. During the rains last January, his house leaked, flooding his bedroom. Much to his sadness, he had to throw away the kurta."

"Name: Michiko
Age: 18 years old
Nationality: Japanese
Sex: Female
Fashion photographer's assistant. Travelling with a well-known international fashion photographer in her first time out of Japan. She was on a yacht for an editorial photo shoot wearing her kurta as a fashion statement. A sharp turn of the yacht and turbulent waters caused her to fall off and drown. Her kurta was found floating."

"Name: Luke
Age: 35 years old
Nationality: Australian
Sex: Male
Lived in Dubai for six years with his wife and two kids. Deported along with family for indecent exposure on the beach. Accidentally picked up someone else's shopping bag with kurtas at the mall. Kurta found in his home being used as a cleaning rag."