The story of Suakin has in the past been told in numerous
ways and styles, each
narration explicating one of the many facets of this
enigmatic island. Suakin has
been analysed from military, economic, political and social
perspectives that looked
as far back as 641 AD when the town first came into contact
with the outside world.
But all stories told about Suakin have been about its
inhabitants, its visitors and
invaders, friends and enemies. This is the first story about
the actual island; the
physical mass.
The Coral Buildings of Suakin is the post-mortem of the
anatomy of Suakin
it is a book that analyses the history of the island from its
remains; the ex post facto
examination of a once vibrant centre of international trade.
Indeed it is the first true biography of the port that was
personified by Dr. Wilhelm Junkers in 1875 as the 'daughter of
the sea', and bewailed one hundred years later by the spirited
Sudanese film-maker Hussein Sharif in his documentary
Dislocation of Amber.
All those who have written on Suakin admitted to the
complexity of the town as a subject. So intriguing is Suakin
that not even the origin of its name is agreed upon.
Its history is one of famine and opulence, devastation and
progress, rich trade and
wretched depredation, involving ortuguese, Arabs, Romans,
Egyptians, Turks and
many others.
Suakin was a town so unpredictable that even now after it has
gone through its numerous cycles, one is still unable to
completely understand it.
What possibly makes Suakin so abidingly memorable today is
its resilience. Built
through war and conquests, the town is a product of
determination, competitiveness,
and fortitude. Its pioneers were possessed of so much faith
in the island that the town
seemed to acquire a life of its own. It withstood all the
tribulations that had been
thought to be its end and survived to a time well beyond its
life expectancy. And
after the people left, the town remained alone, standing
unprotected against the natural elements that fought to flatten
it to the ground.
In this book, the late Jean-Pierre Greenlaw takes us on a
guided tour through the
streets of Suakin, explaining to us the history of the sites
we see. He explains to us the domestic lifestyle of its
inhabitants, their personal tastes and preferences, their
with its visual effect, gives to every reader a personal
island town which many will
visit and explore at leisure for many more years than the
structures can stand.
It is not by a stroke of luck that Greenlaw has achieved this
marvellous effect; he is
both an author and artist whose talents have taken root in
Suakin. He worked for
many years in the Sudan where he established the Khartoum
School of Design.
Under his apprenticeship, many of Sudan's talented artists
have come to learn their
artistry. Greenlaw's instruction has considerably contributed
to the prominence of such names as Shafig Shawgi, Osman Abdalla
Wagie Alla, Bastawi Baghdadi and
Ibrahim El Salahi.
Possibly the best tribute to Greenlaw's effort is to
consider, as we read his work, the need to preserve this
heritage. Successive Sudanese governments have made no attempt
to preserve what remains of Suakin. The town has suffered not
only because of the immutable forces of nature. Consequently,
whatever is left of Suakin is now slowly falling apart as a
result of benign, and not so benign, neglect. For this reason it
cannot be left to the Government alone to undertake the
preservation of this
'daughter of the sea'; the initiative must also come from
UNESCO which has so
successfully preserved other historical monuments in Sudan
such as the Nubian
Christian Church. If this book should convince someone or
some body to undertake this conservation, it may be the greatest
achievement of the book and its author.
Mansour Khalid
Chairman
Africa Centre for Resources
and Environment
Nairobi, August 1994.
