The Crushed Can And The Lovely House

Once upon a time there was a can, full of air. Then it was filled with liquid, sold, opened and emptied. It was thrown in the dust and flattened by a truck. Over time it rusted and weathered. It caught my eye. Its surface – as flat as a card – seemed to speak of a space within and a volume without; it was uncanny.

It was rubbish before but, once I noticed it, it became treasure; base metal transformed into precious gold; the art of Alchemy.

Just beside where I found the can, I found thatmy favourite house in Al Ghanem – the neighbourhood of the Gold Souk in fact – was being slowly dismantled. I was shocked because it was beautiful before, and full of character. Was this treasure being turned into rubble ?

Some weeks later someone told me that it is being restored (that is good news) … but how I hope it won’t lose the filigree detail or the charming eccentricity of the way it used to be.