As soul singer Nina Simone once recorded: ‘It’s a new dawn, It’s a new day, It’s a new life for me. And I’m feeling good’ … and these sentiments echo through Albareh Art Gallery in Adliya.
The opening of Bahraini artist Fatema Aljameaa’s inaugural exhibition titled ‘Twilight’ was attended by art lovers and VIPs, including Bahrain’s National Council for Arts chairman and renowned artist Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
The 26 displayed artworks aim to document the first moments of the night transitioning into the morning, symbolising hope and new beginnings that come with the start of each new day.
“Through the exhibition, I’m trying to show that even if we are in pain, one day we will have hope, I’m showing through my artwork how the darkness slowly, slowly gets to the brightness,” Ms Aljameaa told the GDN.
“So this is how it’s a story of our life and how we go through our journey and get to succeed at the end, which also represents this moment of me having my very first exhibition. It is a milestone and the first light.”
The displayed artworks use colourful shreds of paper that portray the sky, with the main piece titled Morning Twilight using shades of red to artistically represent the sunlight illumination that occurs when the sun is below the horizon.
The exhibition also includes three artworks made with aluminium titled Waves at Night 1 & 2, and Dark Clouds, as well as two pieces made with fabric titled Morning Clouds and Raining Clouds, with the overall theme of the displayed works highlighting the different states and conditions of the sky and weather and their unique resemblance of future hope.
“Any paper that gets in my hands, it might turn to an artwork at the end!” Ms Aljameaa added. “I use recycled paper, old books and brochures. I cut the paper in such a way that doesn’t show where it was from, I do not paint or change the colour,” she explained.
Despite being involved in the art field for more than 35 years, the 53-year-old artist’s first solo exhibition is set to run until January 30, after focusing recent years on her work as a consultant and family. However, she previously participated in the Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition and collaborative showcases by the Bahrain Arts Society.
The creative talent from Manama hopes to organise more solo exhibitions in the near future to showcase her oil and acrylic paintings, as she has far more stories to tell and share through her work.
As famous author Stephen King once penned, ‘life always offers you a second chance, it’s called tomorrow’.
The exhibition serves as a part of Spring of Culture, which kick-started on January 6 and is set to run until February 28.
Since its establishment in 2006, the annual initiative by Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca) unites all admirers of culture by organising a series of activities, events and workshops that celebrate Bahrain’s cultural institutions and heritage sites and emphasising the importance of art and preserving cultural heritage and the value of community partnership.
- For more information, visit springofculture.org
rima@gdnmedia.bh
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