At first, in 2008-2009, a project on the creek in Sharjah, from where a large number of ships leave for ports in Somalia.
This arrow of trade (in which Foucault's heterotopic ship is not an escape from but an entry into the space of conflict) became our subject. It offers an opportunity to think about how "business" in this context, and the relations between people that ground it, avoids the business of war, and how a "free port" created in Somalia by the lack of a customs regime, mirrored by Sharjahs' "cheap port", produces a "free trade" not governed by the WTO. With conflict up ahead and economic crisis at its tail
(and pirates in the middle), this movement of goods and their sailors may
trace old trade routes, but maps out something new: a contemporary landscape of new and used
objects, refrigerators, dentist chairs, pink limousines and baby food, labour, charcoal (the only bulk item on the return journey), Asian and African diasporas, and giant wooden ships being built in Salaya, Gujarat.
The project consists of two parallel pieces: Wharfage, a book containing two years of port records related to the Somali trade;
and Radio Meena, four evenings of radio transmissions from the port in Sharjah, which broadcast in a 5+ kilometre radius songs, commentary, phone and ship radio conversations with ships in Salaya, in Bossaso and enroute, accounts from Gujarati sailors, loaders from Dera Gazi Khan and NWFP in Pakistan, Sikh truckers, Iranian shopkeepers, Somali trading agents. All of whom spoke hindustani (hindi+urdu) as a common language of the port.
The book was republished in 2022.
Wharfage is a CAMP project invited by the 9th Sharjah Biennial, 2009.
As part of the program "Past of the Coming Days",
curated by Tarek Abou el Fetouh.
CREDITS:
In Sharjah:
Production: Amna Ali Abdulla and Mohamed Tohami.
Data Entry and Translation: Khalid Abdul Khaleq Abdulla, Mohammed Al Ahdal
Mohammed Al Shaibani, Hala Al Hedeithy, Omar Arif, Alaa Edriss, Sameh Ghassan, Nada Al Jasmi, Khalid Mezaina, Noaf Yusif.
Manifests and port records:
with the cooperation of Jarsh Mohammed Jarsh, Ahmed Mohammed Iqbal, Esam Eisa Al Hashmi, Jamal
Ahmed Abdalla Al Shaikh, Abdul Rahman Saeed Bughanim, Ahmed Abdul
Rahma, Ahmed Abdul Bughanim, Eisa Khalifa Bin Qasmoul, Majid Rahma Al
Shamsi, Hamad Sultan Abu Shibs, Muneer Mukilapeedikayil from the Department of Seaport and Customs (Sharjah Creek Customs).
From CAMP:
Research and interviews: Shaina Anand, Nida Ghouse, Hakimuddin Liliyawala, Ashok Sukumaran, Samira Nadkarni.
Database Software: Sanjay Bhangar.
Texts: Ashok Sukumaran, Nida Ghouse, Shaina Anand.
Photographs: Nida Ghouse, Hakimuddin Liliyawala , Shaina Anand (Sharjah), Samira Nadkarni (Salaya).
Copy Editing: Zinnia Ambarpardiwala, Samira Nadkarni.
Book design: Europa, London.
Printed at: Spenta Multimedia, Bombay.
This publication accompanies Radio Meena (100.3 FM), four days of radio broadcasts on the Sharjah Creek:
Radio Sound Engineer: Shuaib P.
Radio Voice / RJ: Ryan D' Souza, Hakimuddin Lillyawala.
With many thanks to:
Muhammad Rafiq and crew on M.S.V. Nazre Karam.
Abdul Rashid Bhaya, Adam Noor Mohammed Bhaya, Adam Bhaya, Gafur, Zubair, Abu Bakar, Ali and rest of the crew on M.S.V. Faize Sultane Khwaja.
Ibrahim bhai, Hamid bhai, Bashir Uthad, Osman and rest of the crew on M.S.V. Ghoushe Vashila
Akbar bhai on M.S.V. Madina Zulficar, Hussain Bhaya on M.S.V. Al Bismillah, Eesa Ali bhai on M.S.V. Ratna Sagar, Siddique Umar and Junis on M.S.V. Sabir Priya.
Mohammed Abdul Qadir and his father Abdul Qadir from Al Tayseer Shipping Company.
Mohammed Salat, Yusuf, Farrah and other Somali Traders.
Saad Samir, Jack Persekian, Lara Khaldi, Khalid Mezaina, Noura Randle, Maya Nasser and Sevdar Khan at the Sharjah Biennial.
Mia Frostner and Paul Tisdell at Europa, London.
Catalina Lozano and Anna Colin at Gasworks, London.
Janna Graham at Serpentine Gallery, London.
Rob la Frenais and Gillean Dickie at Arts Catalyst, London.
Rishita Chandra and Minoo Davar at Spenta Multimedia Production, Mumbai.
Jan Gerber and Sebastian Lütgert at Pirate Cinema, Berlin.
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
&
Wharfage
On Display at Tate Modern, Media Networks, till November 2022
Our Documenta(13) installation "The Boat Modes" at Freedom, Kunstpalais, Erlangen
Feature-length film by sea between western India, eastern Africa and the Persian gulf. First shown at a purpose built outdoor cinema on the creekside in Sharjah in 2013, where many of the sailors gather. Shown in Documenta 13 in an abridged form, as part of the installation The Boat Modes.
83 mins. Original format(s): HDV, SDV, VHS, Cellphone videos (variable). Stereo audio and in-cameraphone music.
A film that compiles observations made by volunteer guards watching the English Channel, over one year. Filmed by small cameras connected to the eyepiece of telescopes.
Produced with the National Coastwatch Institution, Folkestone, Kent, UK.
60 minutes, 5.1 surround sound.
An interview with Shaina Anand in Oceans Rising, a companion reader to the research exhibition “Territorial Agency: Oceans in Transformation,” commissioned by TBA21–Academy.
A survey exhibition of the spatial, technical and cultural imaginations cultivated by CAMP.
Curated by Hoor Al Qasimi
4 channel HDV, 8 minutes
20 mins, HD. 2 - channel installation
Cantonese, Mandarin
Filmed in Guangzhou at the Zhuhai International Container Terminal
CAMP’s From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf (2013) at the Len Lye Center Cinema, New Plymouth
Celebrates its 40th year with an inventory of 40 films and a publication. CAMPs From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf along with films of Wang Bing, Edward Yang, Tsai Ming-Liang, Lav Diaz, Akram Zaatari, Lucrecia Martel, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Abbas Kiarostami...
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
at
The Ocean After Nature
YBCA, San Francisco
curated by Alaina Claire Feldman
Screening dates:
July 5, August 20 2016
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf 83"at Underdox: document and experimentWerkstattkino, Munich20:30, 16th October, 2013
Two exhibitions:The Boat Modes in a house in the Karlsaue Parkand with Pad.ma on Afghan Films, in the ex-elisabeth hospital/ex-chinese restaurant.
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf 83 mins At Athens Avant-Garde Film FestivalGreek Film Archive Screening Room B20:30 pm, 22nd October, 2013
Mapping Asia
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
Social Factory: The 10th Shanghai Biennale
November 23, 2014–March 31, 2015
Power Station of Art
200 Huayuangang Rd
Shanghai
China
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf atVerzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival
Budapest, 11 to 16 November, 2014
Single-exposure solar cyanotype print on cotton fabric
2015
16 X 5 feet
at Experimenter, Kolkata
Raster-Emerging from the grid
November 18 to December 31, 2016
CAMP with Shunya Collective present a large solar cyanotype map of the sea, part of the long-term maritime project Wharfage.
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
Film Program
Allan Sekula - Okeanos
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
TBA21, Vienna
Artists lecture
31st March, 2017
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
at
Curutiba International Film Festival
New Views, International Competition
Curutiba, Brazil
28th May to June 5, 2014
Update: awarded the New Views prize.
Video lecture with materials from CAMP's ongoing Wharfage project,
involving state records, seafarers and "free trade" between parts of the
Persian Gulf, South Asia, and Africa.
by Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaranfor"Hydrarchy: Power and Resistance at Sea"UCL, London, Saturday, September 18, 2010, 10 am to 5 pm.
organised by Gasworks
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
at
Agadir International Documentary Festival
Algeria
28th april to 4ht May, 2014
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf2009-2013Sharjah Biennial 11 March 13- May 13 2013Film screening every evening 8 30 pmat an open-air cinema on the corner of Bank Street and Corniche Road, SharjahRun-time 80 mins
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulfat Doc Lisboa28th and 31st October 2013
30th October Political Cinema Panel
1st November International Debate Passages
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulfat Viennale
2nd and 5th November, 2013
Double Bill: Two films by CAMP
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf (83 mins)
and
The Neighbour Before the House (60 mins)
at the Cork Film Festival
November 12, 2013
Curated by Vassily Bourikas
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
83"
at
BFI London Film Festival(moved to NFT 1)
South Bank, London
13th October, 2013
6:30 pm
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
M+
Hongkong
13 March to 26 April 2015
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
Tagore Centre for Global Thought
Kings College, London
January 31, 2017
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
Samstag Museum of Art
Adelaide
Friday 3 March - Friday 9 June 2017
(An exhibition building upon photos of another exhibition, and more)
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulfat Migrating Forms Brooklyn Academy of MusicDecember 12, 7pm. BAM Rose Cinemas
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf at Film and Television Institute of India, Puneat CRTDecember 8th, 2013 at 9:00 pmin the presence of the filmmakers and editor Sreya Chatterjee
The Boat-Modesin Border Cultures: Part Two (work, labour) Art Gallery WindsorJanuary 25 - April 13, 2014
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf atDhaka Art SummitBangladesh Shilpakala AcademyExperimental Film Programme8th and 9th February 2014
From Gulf to Gulf to GulfFriday, March 28th 20143:00 pmHelmut Stern AuditoriumUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf at Museum for Modern Art in WarsawSunday, March 23 20147:00 pm
Opening FilmFrom Gulf to Gulf to Gulf10th April 2014 7:00 pmThe Royal, Toronto
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
at
Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature
Paris
November 19, 2014 7:30 pm
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
at
Carte Blanche/FID Marseille
Porto/Post/Doc
December 13, 7:00 pm
Rivoli, Grand Auditorium
Porto
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
at
Rupert, Vilnius
December 5, 7:00 pm
Transactions
Manifesta Parallel exhibition
June 10 to July 13 2016
University of Zurich
Country of the Sea (2015)
CAMP in collaboration with Shunya Collective
single exposure cyanotype
17 feet x 5 feet
Hold (2016)
Plimsoll line, Printer, Paper, Manifests
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf (2013)
HD, HDV, SDV, VHS, Cell-phone (variable) 83 mins
Opening Film
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
Goethe Institut, Kolkata
3 December, 2016 6:00 pm
Masterclass with Shaina Anand
TENT (Theatre for Experiments with New Technologies)
4 Bipin Pal Road
4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
The first in a series of curated films to be aired at midnight on Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation's public TV channel as part documenta 14 programming.
11:59 pm
December 19, 2016
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulfis showing at FID Marseille
July 2-8, 2013
Update: is awarded the Jury special mention
(International competition)
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf
with an introduction by Edward Simpson, curated by Nada Raza
at Mosaic Rooms, London
14th April, 2016 7:00 pm
The Ocean After Nature
Grossman Gallery
School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University
January 26, 2017 – March 18, 2017
From Gulf to Gulf to GulfFeb 28th to March 6th 2014 at FICUNAM, Mexico
From Gulf to Gulf to GulfHugh Lane Dublin City Gallery 7th September to 7th January, 2018
CAMP at Transmediale 2018, Berlin with reprinted Wharfage, The Annotated "Gujarat and the Sea" Exhibition and The Country of the Sea cyanotype.
A non-imperial view from the 'Other Boat', counter to images of the 'distressed seas'. With a presentation and screening of From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf at Transmediale 2018.
General Rehearsal
A show in three acts from the collections
of V-A-C, MMOMA and KADIST
by Iram Ghufran
50 mins, 2023
7:00 pm
Introduction and post-screening discussion with Iram Ghufran.
A science-fiction fable set in the "miracle city" of Yiwu in China, in one of the world's largest wholesale markets for small commodities. Time is plastic as we travel into the near future, in the company of an unusual pair of guides, a mannequin and a person.
by Wang Bing
232 mins | 2023
6:30 pm*
Note* film starts earlier than usual, at 6:30pm, on account of its runtime.
There will be a short interval with food.
by Johan Grimonprez
150 mins| 2024|
7:00 pm
A story about the encounter of American Jazz and African decolonisation, via the UN and the CIA, with a lot of world around it. Featuring among others Patrice Lumumba, Krishna Menon, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Nikita Khrushchev, Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Abbey Lincoln, Adou Elenga...
Join us for a season of new films at CAMP which explore configurations and revelations of "world", amidst a world in pieces.
We begin the year with
GRAND TOUR
by Miguel Gomes
2024, 120 mins.
7:00 pm.
in memorium, Tejas Pande.
Five narratives developed in the class "Footage Films", that re-assemble archives of campus protest, Penn Museum collections, university weapons development projects, the Schuylkill river, a utopia called Shangri-La, and their intersections across time and place.
*Recalling Far From Vietnam, collectively-made essay film from 1967.
Screening and conversation in collaboration with University of Pennsylvania’s Cinema & Media Studies department and CARG. At old Slought/ new Public Trust.
Film screening, and conversation
6-8:00 pm