Yemen

Whenever Kamal Makrami drives into the mountains from the sea, he still sometimes feels a little as though he is travelling to a different country. “The North and South were separated for so long that two different peoples came into being.” Some tribal traditions, the role of religion and the position of women in the north are still alien to a man from Aden today. Yet the artist often embarks on the trip to Sanaa.

“If I want to buy paint or canvas, I have to come to Sanaa. If I want to put on an exhibition, I have to apply for it in Sanaa. I grew up in an Aden that was the capital of the south. Today it feels like a small town.”

The socialists didn’t have better politics back then, says the 48 year-old. “But women didn’t have to go round shrouded like tents. Women and men were the same. A lot of things have changed for us – for the worse.” So much so that in the south now some people want to reverse the unification. While Sanaa celebrated the national holiday this year with a military parade, fireworks and a chorus of horns, people died in Aden when the security forces broke up a demonstration.

Will Yemen succeed in perfecting its unity? “There is only one way out”, Makrami is convinced. “The rulers must think about their country. They simply have to consider: What we’re doing – is it good for our country or just good for us? Then we’ll find the solution, I’m quite sure.”