EIGHTEEN Bahraini artists are set to showcase their work at a major exhibition in Singapore later this month.
The milestone expo organised by Art Bahrain Across Borders (ArtBAB) is its first in an ASEAN country and will be held under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of His Majesty King Hamad and Supreme Council for Women president, in collaboration with Tamkeen.
Preview
It will open with a private VIP preview on October 22 and will run until October 27 at the prestigious Museum of Contemporary Arts, Loewen Road, Singapore.
Curated by ArtBAB fair and programme director Kaneka Subberwal, the group show is titled ‘Legacy’ – a theme chosen for all ArtBAB exhibitions around the world this year.
The chosen artists, who will each display four pieces, are both established as well as emerging, whose works across varying media explore their cerebral resilience and maturity and the way Bahraini contemporary art catches the spirit of the kingdom’s 5,000-year-old cultural heritage and transforms it with a millennial gaze.
“Our Singapore show is the third one this year which represents the very busy period that our Artists Across Borders programme has been witnessing,” said Shaikha Maram bint Isa Al Khalifa, director of the Office of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka.
“We are looking forward to taking our Bahraini artists to a country that shares so much commonality with Bahrain: both are island-nations committed to a progressive future and both countries have artists who draw from a rich fount of historical detail and a seam of art heritage.”
The 18 participating artists are Ayman Jaffar, Ahmed Al Asad, Ahmed Anan, Amina Al Abbasi, Balqees Ahmed Fakhro, Faika Al Hassan, Hesham Abdulrahim Sharif, Hanan Hassan Al Khalifa, Jamal A. Rahim, Linda Mattar, Lobna Al Amin, Lulwa Al Khalifa, Mariam Ali Fakhro, Nabeela Al Khayer, Noof Al Refaie, Omar Al Rashid, Seema Baqi and Taiba Faraj.
A number of them attended a Press conference at Art Select in Arcapita, Bahrain Bay yesterday to interact with a group of four visiting Singapore-based journalists especially invited to meet the artists.
“A couple of months back we had issued an open call and received 98 applications,” Ms Subberwal told the GDN on the sidelines of yesterday’s event.
“The folder was then sent to Paris, Singapore and London simultaneously.
“Three separate curators made their selections and got back to us and the curators communicated with the artists directly.”
One artist who will be exhibiting his work in Singapore is Hesham Sharif who has been painting since he was just four years old.
“I’m someone who doesn’t stick with themes,” said the 25-year-old who was taught by his father who is also an artist.
“I am probably very influenced by late 19th century, early 20th century art and I do drawing and painting.
“I usually do monochromes, but this will be the first time I will be showing two-coloured work.”
Maryam Ali Fakhro will be showcasing pieces that depict old houses of Bahrain, while Bahraini architect and contemporary artist Linda Mattar will also be taking part in the expo.
“I’ve been painting for a number of years,” Ms Mattar told the GDN.
“For this show I am displaying a collection called ‘Conversation with a Bird’.
Inspiring
“I find birds to be so inspiring, they fly by without a care in the world and they are so happy and sometimes as humans we feel sad and worried about day-to-day life.
“So birds inspired me to create a series of paintings where there is a person and a bird and they are having a conversation and each painting is a question and answer.”
The Singapore show is part of a widening circle of overseas engagements for Bahraini artists through the Artists Across Borders programme which has previously taken them to prestigious venues such as the V&A, the Saatchi Gallery and Lancaster House in London, Bikaner House, the India Art Fair in New Delhi and a successful show in Mumbai and Cosmoscow in Russia.
Ms Subberwal said she hoped to do a two-day conversation in December about the fourth edition of ArtBAB in Bahrain which will take place in March 2019.
steph@gdn.com.bh
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