Pearl Diving in the Desert
Pearl Diving in the Desert is a sound-based mapping project that uses poetry to trace a path to the Wabar impact site in the Empty Quarter, one of the largest sand deserts in the world.
The Wabar meteorite, which fell deep in this desert, exists at a crossroads of colonial exploration, oral tradition, religious text, and scientific study. Its story has been passed down, often through word-of-mouth rather than formal documentation.
The parallel between water and sand is central; how sand in desert landscapes, substitutes water in both the ritual and the speculative. This includes practical traditions like tayammum, a form of purification before prayer using sand instead of water and speculative ones like the “Wabar pearls,” impactite beads formed from the meteorite strike.
The project draws from traditional Pearl Diving songs from the gulf, where music was used not only for rhythm but as a structure for labour. These songs serve as inspiration to help formulate the counter map and relay the story of desert pearl divers searching for Wabar pearls.
Offering an alternative way to navigate the way to the Wabar Impact Site. The Empty Quarter becomes legible, not through maps, but through sound and the voice.