Journey of a lifetime
Malluh created ‘Journey of a Lifetime’ as an homage to Lady Evelyn Cobbold (1867-1963). Lady Cobbold, with the Arab name Lady Zainab, was the first British-born woman on record to perform the Hajj. She traveled to Jeddah via Cairo at the age of sixty five, during a time when a generation of post First World War women were becoming increasingly empowered – leading the way to a new world order of equality between the genders.
Lady Cobbold’s pilgrimage was also a deeply personal issue of faith. She didn’t remember actively deciding to convert to Islam, because she always identified as Muslim. In the personal account of her journey, “Pilgrimage to Mecca”, she recalls visiting the Pope as a young girl, declaring herself Muslim, when asked if she was Catholic.
Journey of a Lifetime situates itself in a discussion of the freedom of mobility set against the static nature of domestic life. This discussion has been at the center of millions of women’s lives, both in the lifetime of Lady Evelyn Cobbold and in present day. The work consists of a group of metal suitcases mounted on a gilded trolley. The suitcases all show signs of wear, having previously been used for travel and/or storage in private homes in Saudi Arabia – a vocalization of both mobility and domestic rooting. The gilded trolley can furthermore be seen as a comment on the influences of both imperialism and globalization. Gilding is not rooted in traditional Saudi Arabian aesthetics but has historically been part of the Western representation of the Arab world. The use of gilding is also used to point toward a contemporary, externally induced aesthetic, tightly connected to the mass marked furniture produced in the Far East and sold throughout the Middle East and the Gulf Region.
The trolley, and with it the entire work, thus becomes a symbol of motion, travel, and thereby possible change but also a symbol of belonging – the question arises: Does belonging or domestic rooting always mean to be attached to a singular geographical location? Or, can a sense of belonging be a mental space, a continuous movement; or even an adventure into other cultures and religions?
