The Arab island that inspired Jules Verne
In times of pandemic, like the present, travelling abroad to discover exotic places is complicated. Many will spend this summer close to home to recharge their batteries and put off exploring the world. To make the summer more bearable, Casa Árabe has organized a virtual session this Thursday with the writer Jordi Esteva to talk about the travel book 'Socotra, the land of geniuses', published in 2011 and reissued this year. Esteve has travelled to this small island in front of the Horn of Africa to document the life of the inhabitants of this corner of the planet. This strange enclave has developed its own endemic fauna and vegetation, as it has remained isolated for centuries. The famous Jules Verne was inspired by the Socotrian landscapes to write the novel 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth'.
Esteva has turned to Socotra, a place that has fascinated him, and has also prepared a photographic exhibition about the island that will be presented next autumn at Casa Árabe. He has also made an audiovisual work in which the Socotrí language appears, at risk of disappearing due to the strength of Arabic on the island. "I have made three trips to Socotra to document myself and I spoke to the elders to learn about the myths and legends of the place," explained Esteva during the virtual session.
Socotra has been built from a melting pot of cultures and many civilizations have passed through this island. It was occupied by the Indians and also by Greeks, although a study by Oxford University concluded that the origin of the current inhabitants is of sub-Arabic origin. Winning the trust of the Socotris was not easy at first. "It's a very closed society because they've been isolated for many years and I had a hard time winning their attention. But it's essential to make friends in order to enter this society," the writer said. During his travels, Esteva established a relationship with the son and grandson of the last Sultan of Socotra.
Apart from nature, this island has remained on the fringes of the world for geopolitical reasons. The Arabs of the sea, in ancient times, used this place as an enclave for supplies and wanted it to be a hidden place. Later, in contemporary times, it was occupied by the English and after being abandoned, it was left in the hands of the communist dictatorship of South Yemen. "At that time access was prohibited, you couldn't go to the island," Esteve said. After that came the Yemeni civil war of the 1960s and it was even more complicated to get there.
During the conversation, Esteva took the floor to read a fragment of his work and recall the dreamy landscapes of Socotra. "It seems incredible that to get to this island you have to pass through Dubai. You stop off in the 21st century, almost the 20th, to go to Socotra and go back in time", the author recalled. "Everything is different on this island, that's why they call it the Indian Ocean Galapagos. When I was living with the Socotris, I forgot what time we were living in. In the book I wanted to reflect how I was climbing the mountain with the shepherds, I was making an introspection of myself", said Esteva.
Discovering the Arab territory and its countries has been a real vocation for this writer. "I've let myself be imbued by the adolescent sensation of travelling through geography books and that's why I've taken an interest in these places", he said. The passage of time is inevitable and it seems that the time of travel for this writer has already come to an end. "Now I am travelling inside myself. I've grown up and demanding journeys, like those of Socotra, are complicated for me", Esteva concluded.
