This is a small video from my favourite house in Amman. It is placed in the area called Jabal Webdeh. The artist Abdul Aziz Abu Ghazaleh dashes about in the house guiding students, talking with fellow artists and thinking about his next project. It is an experience just to talk to this man. He is mostly a sculptor, but the latest years he has used a lot of energy in renovating the old house.
Actually I came by one day, where a fire was started on the site next to Mohtaraf Remal. The fire was started in the dry grass and the garbage.. We throwed water from his roof containers, and he was lucky that a waterpibe of plastic melted because of the fire and stopped the fire itself... No serious damage happend, but it was a funny way to start the first conversation...
The building had been a school from 1962 up to the early 90's. Nearly two decades of neglect had left it a shelter for the homeless and a dumping ground for garbage.
The name Mohtaraf Remal was chosen because mohtaraf means expertise, while remal means sand, which, Abu Ghazaleh says, is the basis of everything: colours, stones, ceramics. Sand is part of Jordan's heritage, which has inspired poets and writers.
