Al Jassasiya 2022 by Salman Al-Malek

Al Jassasiya 2022 honours the petroglyphs left by fishermen on the Al Jassasiya Rock Art Site.

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Salman Al-Malek (b.1958) is a Qatari visual artist and renowned cartoonist. He has exhibited locally and internationally, and his works form part of collections across the world, including the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Al Jassasiya 2022 is an installation named after, and inspired by, the Al Jassasiya Rock Art Site. Located on the northeast coast of Qatar, the Al Jassasiya area used to be a seaport. Up to 900 petroglyphs have been found there to date, with residential ruins and pottery remnants. The first inhabitants were fishermen, sailors and pearl divers who lived in the area. The range of markings left resemble ships, fish, birds, mammals, and geometric shapes.

The sculpture reflects one of the markings found in the area: a boat with paddles of different sizes, connected abstractly.