MAMAS – Dubai

MAMAS Dubai is a sub-project within my broader artistic exploration of Malabar Mappila culture and its long-standing relationship with Gulf migration. The work is rooted in personal family histories and collective memories shaped by economic necessity, separation, faith, and imagination.

“Mamas” refers to my father's brother's wife. Like many women in Malabar's Mappila community, she spent most of her life as a homemaker while her husband worked in Dubai for many years. Due to financial limitations, Gulf migrants often return home only once every three or four years, creating long periods of absence that deeply affect family life.

During a conversation, I asked my Mamas where she imagined Dubai to be. She replied that she thought Dubai was somewhere above the clouds because airplanes travel into the sky to reach it. Her response revealed a powerful mixture of innocence, longing, distance, and limited access to the outside world. This simple statement became the conceptual foundation of the work.

The project reflects on the experiences of women who remain behind while their husbands and family members migrate for work. Many spend their lives within domestic spaces, dedicating their time to family responsibilities, Qur'an recitation, dhikr, and spiritual practices. Their understanding of distant places is often shaped through stories, memories, and imagination rather than direct experience.

Through a visual language of layered imagery and symbolic composition, MAMAS – Dubai examines migration, absence, emotional geography, and the imagined landscapes created by separation. The work positions Dubai not only as a physical destination but also as a dreamlike space suspended between reality, memory, and aspiration.