Yeru Ebuen

In a viral video from Ras Al Hadd, a sea turtle is trying to make its way across the sand. A blonde woman sits on its shell. A man appears to straddle it as though it were a horse. I kept watching the turtle. Every bit of ground it covered seemed hard won. Perhaps the people involved thought it was a funny holiday moment. Perhaps they simply did not think at all. Either way, the animal was trying to get on with its life while people turned that effort into entertainment.

Some of the sculptures at LUMEN look as though they have arrived carrying secrets. One is built from stones, packed into a square and held together by two weathered bands. It resembles a fragment of an old wall, or something protected before it could fall apart. Another rises in a rough grey column, pierced by hollows. From one angle it resembles a misshapen beehive; from another, a face or a shelter. Nearby, a tall pale form seems almost human, although it never quite settles into a body.

A friend recently introduced me to a pop-up stall in a Muscat mall with an irresistible promise: some of the world’s best fragrances could be copied for a fraction of their price. True enough, among the bottles were scents associated with an ultra-luxury perfume house. I knew immediately that they were not the real thing. The fragrance was familiar enough at first, but it did not have the same depth and certainly did not last. Still, for a moment, I understood the appeal.