(b Suhar, Oman, c1942). Omani musician. He was the son of a leading musician and servant of the ruling family in Suhar. As a child he learnt drumming, movement, singing and the rules of proper behaviour which govern any performance that is to be considered the enactment of an ‘art’ (fann). In 1956 he followed the route that took many Suharis to Kuwait in search of economic advancement in the oil boom and, sometimes, education; but he disliked being so far from home. After 1970 he worked as a driver on the road from Dubai to Suhar. In 1976 he moved back to Suhar and accepted a job as a driver for the Directorate of Education. A few years later he was placed in charge of transportation for the Directorate. This offered him the opportunity to serve the arts in Suhar as his father had before him, which Tālib considered his passion and his duty. In 1990 he became the de facto head of a group (firqah) of artists which performed the ‘true’ arts of Suhar town, the razhah and lāl al-‘ūd dances, and he participated in all the other arts which are traditionally the privilege of the male servants of African descent. His father, who was by this time completely blind, was still the nominal head of the group, and both he and Tālib remained loyal to the ideals and hierarchies which had largely been pushed aside by progressive modernization. In 1987 the central government had arbitrarily nominated a different set of arts, namely the wahhābīyah or ‘ayyālah, as the ‘official’ arts of Suhar, and as a result of the ensuing conflict, Tālib began to turn his back on performing in 1992, although he continued to join his group when invited to do so.
DIETER CHRISTENSEN