A review of Al Bidiya Mosque: a visual essay by Marco Sosa

Back cover of book

*UPDATED AGAIN* Marco's images are now available on ARCHNET, an MIT website for researchers and practitioners of architecture. You can access the photos and rich infomration about the site here: Jami' al-Bidiya Badiyah, United Arab Emirates

*UPDATE* Please watch the video from the official book launch to know more about the research process and how Marco got this amazing project from initial idea to amazing final result:

I work with some pretty amazing people.  I count myself lucky that I have been blessed with wonderful students and colleagues with talents and passion for teaching that amaze me daily.  I need to share with you a recently published book by just such a colleague, and friend, Marco Sosa.

Front cover of Marco's book (available at MacGrudy's!)

Marco started this project almost three years ago. As a working architect/artist before coming to teach Design at Zayed University in September 2009 he was looking to show students what architecture was - and how it can have a major impact as something we live, pray or work in - but also as a symbol, of our heritage, culture and religion.

He heard about Al Bidiya mosque and decided to investigate himself. He went to visit and had to know more.. and knowing more for a researcher means learning more, discovering more and getting your hands dirty.

The research process involved many meetings and discussions with experts and reading about the mosque and about the region close to Dibba, where the mosque is located. In late spring 2010 he went to take the photographs of the mosque. And since then he has been working at bringing his photos to print.

Entrance - Marco Sosa

I would talk about his project with my students from the region and they were surprised that anyone would be interested... and yet Mr. Sosa was.  When my students saw the finished book they felt proud and mentioned that there should be a similar book about other archaeological sites around Dibba - such as the old houses in Watt and the old forts. They are going to use the book, and Marco as a reference and source for their Capstone projects about economic development in the Dibba region through eco-tourism. 

Al Bidiyia Mosque - Marco Sosa

Marco's Art & Design students had to same reaction to the project and to the book - we should do this too! We CAN do this too. They too are working on projects to capture their heritage through images and the written word.

All I can say is buy the book to feel the beauty of the mosque and to learn of the history of the mosque and the journey Marco took to realize his project from idea to realization. If you aren't in the UAE you can see a video of it here: Marco's video

This is the description of the book provided by Marco:

"The book provides a pictorial insight of the Al Bidiya Mosque in the Emirate of Al Fujairah,

United Arab Emirates. The publication aims to express the building’s importance as a

place of worship, as a living, working ‘vessel’ of historical, cultural and religious importance

in the UAE and provides a personal view of the mosque to the public, nationally and internationally.

The book uses black and white photography to capture the phenomenology of the place.

The book also contains an essay adding historical context by Dr. Ronald Hawker and an

artist conversation between the artist Marco Sosa and International sculptor Udo Rutschmann."

The description provided of course does the book justice - but it is not just a book. Marco has created something which will inspire students to look at their heritage in a new way, it will inspire and motivate them to take on the challenge of doing something similar (knowing they can ask Mr. Marco for guidance along the way).

Thank you Marco for this - we really all are proud of you for this beautiful piece of art.

A quiet corner - Marco Sosa

The Golden Potential of Honey: Another Excellent Strategic Adventure!

This blogpost is based on the field trip and report written by Ahmed Al Bloushi, Jasem Al Shehhi and Salem Al Yammahi, three of the first men to graduate from Zayed University.

I remember the first class I heard that some of my students actually go into the mountains and collect honey - following the bees trail from the water source to the hive - it sounded so exciting and really like a treasure hunt. I remember that feeling when I used to go "hunting" mushrooms (Pine and Chantrel)with my brother (yes, skipping school might have been involved). Then I heard that one bottle of honey can cost over 1,000 dhs and that it was used for medicine and not for toast - and I knew I had to learn more.

So, given the awesome students I am blessed to teach, I was given the opportunity to learn more about the ancient art/trade/vocation/industry that so many of my boys from Fujairah and RAK know so much about -

All photos in this report taken by Obaid Al Zaabi

They made contact with the well-known honey guru in Dibba - Mr. Ali Salem Al Dhanhani and they made arrangement to visit his home-museum and honey/bee preserve.

Mr. Ali

We arrived at his house and he showed us his museum devoted to honey and life in the mountains of Fujairah - to say I could have spent hours in it doesn't begin to describe how fascinating it was - I tried on palm frond socks (scratchy, but keep your feet warm in winter and protect them from rocks) - we all agreed that his collection deserves a museum of its own - hopefully one day as tourism and eco-tourism develop in Fujairah.

After a tea break with traditional bread - honey and liquified butter (yes, as delicious as it sounds) we went to the reserve. Mr. Ali told the students (in Arabic - they translated the important bits to me and wrote a great report) that he got the idea for creating a preserve in 1986 as urban development began to encroach on the traditional honey grounds - destroying the flowers, trees and grasses that bees need to make their honey. The land was allocated for the reserve in 1988 and is still protected today.

Egyptian bee going into hive

Now, there are hives and imported bees from Egypt (much bigger than Emirati bees) but there are also still the caves with hives on sticks of old times (with Emirati bees).

Egyptian bee

Honey from the boxed hives is still delicious (and not inexpensive as it is still local, and all hand collected in small batches) - I bought some of course and it has helped soothe my throat on many occasions.

The really expensive, rare and most precious honey comes from local bees, often from hives they have formed in caves.

Mr. Ali holding the "hive" in his hands & yes I held it too :)

We were so honoured that Mr. Ali shared his wisdom with us - and it got my students thinking about the local honey industry - and that it is based on trust - you need to know exactly where the honey comes from to spend 400 - 1000 dhs on a bottle! We talked about how this trust is formed and how and if the honey industry - which is at the moment a craft industry - should become something more formal. We also talked about eco-tourism and learning more about their own heritage.

First males to graduate from ZU, Mr. Ali and his friends in the mountains of Dibba, Fujairah

It was an amazing day - I held the hive in my hand (after a trek up the mountain in my long dress & getting caught in the bushes) - and we all learned so much. After, we went to one of the student's farm in Masafi and had a fish Mendi lunch (delicious) and I rode on an Arabian horse (all photos have been destroyed :) ).

Strategy in the UAE in action - it is all around us and we need to learn and study traditions and traditional industries to develop a theory for here - thank you boys - it was a wonderful experience and I will always remember it!