In between spaces again

I'm barely functional right now due to jet lag and weird stress but wanted to share before things got away from me. I was so relieved to be able to take the flight (over 11 hours) from Boston in comfort. Still not a full night's sleep, but I think I got about two or three bouts of 20 to 30 min naps.

Emirates is known for putting stars in the 'sky', which was weirdly comforting while trying to sleep.

I was greeted at the gate and whisked away at high speeds to passport control. The service has their own lane, so even though I happened to land in Dubai during a lull when it was pretty dead, I would have been able to pass through quickly.

This line of wagons were ready to go, though upon landing I found out the hotel had been changed so we'd be further north. Due to traffic and probably an accident up ahead, it took an hour to get there.

I'm staying in Sharjah but this hotel happens to be right next to the border with Ajman, another emirate that is engulfed by Sharjah (which is next next emirate up from Dubai).

I felt crazy from being canned in airports and planes so I took the tiniest nighttime walk once I arrived and the crescent moon looked like it was smiling.

The bed is comfy but I haven't gotten onto the time zone yet, 9 hours ahead of my body, so it feels a bit extravagant for sleeping.

But the first morning it was an excellent tool for dress storage while ironing.

That morning I met my hosts from the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, and they took me to the Heart of Sharjah, the area where this giant festival is happening. They build everything from scratch each year and built a gallery just for my show. This happens for each exhibit, a freestanding gallery for every one.

You can barely see it, but the background is a traditional Korean design and the words in Korean for hanji are large but faint, nearly transparent, behind each dress image.

I had seen the design mockup online before I arrived but didn't realize that the background was pink. I kind of love that.

They looked up the images of paper mulberry tree leaves and had them made, to try and urge questions of, hanji is made from what? A tree.

Hooks in each panel where there weren't branches, to hang each dress.

All 16 dresses traveled in that suitcase. Which is why I was ironing at 6 in the morning or whatever time it was.

This was much trickier than expected. I have no idea what kinds of tree branches they got but they are thorny and dusty as all getup. Ow ow ow.

I LOVE the stand they are on, and took pics. It's like a sawhorse met half a table.

After installation the first night that the space was ready, I went back last night to light and tweak.

And at night the whole thing is lit up. Actually, the festival happens in the afternoon/evenings, so I'm supposed to be there from about 4:30 to 10pm every day.

You can see my hall just behind the large tree. I love that we're next to a tree.

The big exhibit if you turn the other direction is to honor the 50 years of rule by the current emir. Apparently in Jan he became the longest-ruling Arab sovereign.

This is all happening in an older part of the city and this is the gate along the Sharjah Wall.

After the first night of installation, my hosts walked me around the premises. I hope I get to see things in action, since the gallery will always have attendants. So curious about the craft work that will be shown.

Ropes and roofs all made of date palms, which you can see below.

Yesterday I took my first dip in the hotel pool, which I really needed. But now am on a mission to find appropriate shoes for the opening ceremonies later today. I packed in a very disjointed way and that led to making poor decisions (temps in the 90s, forget these boots! But maybe I should have remembered how much A/C is here, including in my gallery).

Delirious but grateful to my generous hosts, looking forward to all that comes with these Sharjah Heritage Days.