British explorer and photographer Wilfred Thesiger, known to those close to him as Mubarak bin London – “the blessed one from London” – crossed the Empty Quarter Desert twice during the 1940s. His remarkable story can be seen in the first permanent photographic exhibition of his work, curated by Barker Langham, at the Al Jahili Fort in the oasis city of Al Ain.
For the exhibition, we undertook a significant amount of archival research, selecting appropriate and engaging content and collections to curate the exhibition spaces. As well as being integral to the production of support materials, which included bespoke learning resources and a short documentary film, Barker Langham also authored and edited the accompanying exhibition catalogue, which was a bestseller at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair.
The success of this exhibition has led to our appointment as oral historians, interviewing former Trucial Oman Scouts who were based at Al Jahili Fort in the 1960s.
Read more about Thesiger’s photographic work in the April 2012 Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford.
