IBritish Museum 2002

MARTIN YEOMAN
'YEMEN In the Land of the Queen of Sheba'
Held at The British Museum 2002
Catalogue with etchings by Martin Yeoman throughout.

"An Artist's Response to Yemen"
by Caroline Singer

'When I first got to Yemen I wanted to draw all of it, everything. It was hard to focus at the beginning, because there was too much to see and take in all at once. I realised I would have to try and sketch what appeared in front of my eyes and take each opportunity as it came, rather than going out looking for certain scenarios or trying to capture whole streets full of people and buildings.

One place I decided to focus on was Bab al-Yaman. It made a powerful impact on me as soon as I saw it. I loved the fact that there was this magnificent gateway still standing, with a huge cannonball hole blasted through it. If it had been a National Trust monument the hole would probably have been filled in long ago, but instead it had just been left as it was, and I felt there was such a strong connection to the past.

During my latest trip to Yemen I went to Bab al-Yaman every morning, and stood in the middle of the roundabout next to the metal fountain, with cars rushing past and the cassette shop behind me playing the same song over and over again. After a while people started to recognise me as the person who painted at Bab al-Yaman. They would call out to me on the streets - even in the really remote corners of old Sana'a I would be walking past and someone would call out 'Bab al-Yaman'. And a few people approached wanting me to draw them. One time a man came up and led me down a small alley to a carpet shop with an old man sitting inside. He asked me to draw him, so I did. When I had finished the sketch I showed it to the old man and he was genuinely amazed, he gasped. He didn't want to keep it though. He was happy enough to see that it really was him on the page, and then he handed it back to me.

It wasn't always so easy, and I was conscious of having to tread carefully and avoid offending anyone, because not everyone likes to be drawn, especially in a Muslim country. One old man punched me in the chest as I was painting, for daring to recreate life. You also have to be selective. There are so many scenes passing you by every moment and you just have to let them go, but where you might lose out in some situations you gain in others. Qat chews provided the perfect opportunity to draw, because qat chewers sit very still for several hours. So I would have this wonderful row of faces and poses lined up in front of me, and I would listen to them talking about poetry and politics and God - because God comes into every conversation - and it was beautiful, a bit like being in ancient Greece I imagine, with this calm reflective atmosphere in the room.

Some of the etchings that went into Tim-Mackintoch-Smith's book Yemen, Travels in Dictionary Land were drawn on the spot. I had 36 or so zinc etching plates prepared with wax, and the idea was to use them like pieces of paper, drawing what I saw directly from life onto the plates with an etching needle. Having so many plates meant I could afford to relax, which has given the etchings more life and movement, I think. I also made drawings and converted them to etchings, and they had a different kind of life to them. I never intended to illustrate Tim's text directly, because we didn't want the pictures to be an artist's interpretation of a writer's words. I wanted to give my own version of Yemen.

I liked working in old Sana'a, finding a little corner and just watching the world go by, seeing how people interact. There's something different every day, every moment. The old man who looks like he is dressed up as a pirate; the salesman selling plastic bags; the women covered in their sitarahs when the wind catches the material, so that suddenly they remind you of a Renaissance Madonna with flowing robes. They are just tiny moments, but they encapsulate a lot.

People are much more used to foreigners wandering around now than when I first went to Yemen, but their friendliness has not diminished at all. I think one of my favourite memories was during my first visit back in l987. I was perched low down on a piece of concrete, sketching a building. There was dust everywhere and a group of young boys gathered round to watch me draw. A girl approached , she was covered but I could tell she wanted to see what I was doing, so I lifted up my sketchbook and let her have a look. Eventually the kids got bored and left me alone. After a while, I noticed a figure out of the corner of my eye. It was the same girl. She came up and stood next to me, and a henna'd hand emerged out of the robe holding a big lemon yellow gobstopper. She handed it to me and then walked away. It was a beautiful moment, and so touching. I would love to go back to Yemen. It's unlike anywhere else in the world.'

Caroline Singer, 2002