33 Songs, 99 Words

Music charts the life of artist Sawsan Al Bahar.

This article was first published in Hadara Magazine, September 2023

Like the inherent or invisible music in the Arabic language, harakat (vocalisation marks) intimate music and create material rhythm. 33 Songs is composed of 330 such sheets. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Sawsan Al Bahar’s father raised her with music. “There was never a moment without music playing in our house. I grew up listening to a rich spectrum: songs by superstars and obscure musicians, songs known to all and songs known to nobody,” she says. But it was songs by Arab music’s pioneers that captured her heart. Richly lyrical numbers taught her—yearning, nostalgia, love, joy, pride, protest, celebration, mourning, and humour. Now the Damascus-born, Dubai-based artist presents an exhibition at Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah, which charts her life through 33 songs, a track for each year.

This is not music as we know it. The songs have been interpreted into visual abstract rhythms. Al Bahar transcribed the Arabic lyrics and raised only the diacritical marks using 3D printing. As a result, the diacritics create sculptural patterns on otherwise blank sheets. “By highlighting these lyrical marks, my intention is to dissect the ways we usually experience the words by extracting representations of the innate sounds of the language. Through the shapes, sequences and repetitions, music is intimated, and songs are visualised, finding new physical interpretations as patterns and codes and material rhythm,” she says. She traces over the diacritics with her pencil, making the protruding patterns more visible before being laid on the floor for the viewer to experience. The result is that the songs are never revealed, which equates them to personal memories.

Her autobiographical journey continues with a second part to the exhibition, 99 words. Here, she created three collages by extracting 99 words from the same songs. It maintains the dialogue, revealing emerging themes, words, and phrases. Although the songs are illegible, the artist is questioning interpretation and understanding of a piece of music once it becomes part of the subconscious. —Anna Seaman

33 songs, 99 words by Sawsan Al Bahar at Maraya Art Centre from September 11 to January 11.