Oman's intangible cultural heritage has connected the people of Oman to their past, present, and future giving them a sense of identity, continuity, and community. For the Omanis, there are a lot of cultural traditions that are passed on to younger generations and these practices are usually performed on different occasions.
Under the umbrella of Omani art belongs Oman's rich heritage of traditional songs, games, and music which has been attracting and entertaining a lot of people from countries around the world.
Lemdima is an example of an amazing Omani art that traces back its origin to ancient games interspersed with traditional songs using several musical instruments. It is an art of entertainment for sailors, whether they are on board ships or by the coast. They show off their skill in playing according to the principles, traditions, and systems inherited from their ancestors. It is most popular in South Al Sharqiyah and North Al Batinah.
In this type of art, the sailors are organized in a circle led by the players of the Msindo drum, as well as the drummers of Al-Kaser and Al-Rahmani, and the drummer of the tank. Those are the most famous kinds of drums in Oman and they are originally and skillfully made by Omani Hands.
The game begins when the colonel points out to one of the sailors who come out of the row to perform a graceful jump after which he returns to his place in the row after pointing to another sailor to try to perform a better jump, and so on until the end of the game.
Dancing Lemdima requires great ingenuity in maintaining balance due to the difficulty of doing it while the ship is at the sea or over the sands of the coast in which the sailors' feet sink while they jump.
During the game, the colonel repeats a wonderful poetic text from one or two verses, and when he ends it, the rest of the participants repeat after him. The song is accompanied by playing traditional musical instruments, and the participants also clap and enter to dance in the middle of the circle that they formed one by one. The poetic texts repeated in this art are a mixture of the Arabic and Swahili languages which shows the long and deep connection between these two different cultures.
The rhythm of Lemdima art consists of three parts determined by the Rahmani drum, followed by sharp beats of Al Kaser drum and deep beats that fluctuate the tone by Al Msindo drum.
The sailors masterfully diversify the forms of claps they produce, especially when they are divided into two teams, each clapping at a time opposite to the time of the other side. This gives a wonderful sense of excitement and makes the sailors cheered up.
Lemdima art is one of the most enjoyable parts for sailors that shortens their very long and exhausting trips and keeps them entertained. As for now, this art has a distinguished place along with Oman’s Most famous intangible heritage forms. It represents the amazing culture of an amazing country that embraces a wide number of exciting arts.
Photos by Abdulrahman Al Kindi
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