BAHRAIN’S top art exhibition is drawing crowds with more than 100 paintings, photographs, sculptures, installations and multi-media works showcased in a vibrant atmosphere.
The 49th Annual Fine Arts Exhibition, organised by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca), has opened at the Bahrain National Museum. It is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammed bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Highlighting veteran artists as well as new faces, the exhibition has dedicated a section to honouring the life and works of renowned Bahraini sculptor Khalil Al Hashimi, who died last December.
Artist Mayasa AlSowaidi has won the coveted Al Dana Prize, the exhibition’s top award, for her detailed and colourful twin paintings titled Puzzle. Nada Al Muqahwi came second with her Shadowy Figure, a collection of 21 small paintings about childhood. The third place went to Salman Alnajem’s AXΩ - Alpha, Chi, Omega (When the heart thinks and the brain feels the river of wisdom flows).
Mr Alnajem told the GDN that his spiritually-heavy triptych explores ‘a marriage’ between two sides of the human experience – reason, action, and strength on one hand; emotions, intuition and the arts on the other.
Intuition
“The painting calls on the viewer to rely not only on logic, but also make space for intuition to listen to our inner voice,” Mr Alnajem said.
A pantheon of mythological deities appears prominently on the large-scale piece made of corrugated aluminium and a combination of drawing, graffiti art and various art materials.
Artist Mariam Alnoaimi, who won the Al Dana Prize 2021 has returned once again to shed light on environmental issues in the country and her work focuses on locals’ relationship with fish – both as a tradition and as a food source. Her digitally-manipulated photographs call attention to the vanishing of these sea creatures from our surroundings, contrasted with their previous abundance.
“My piece is about food sources in Bahrain and the difference between food production on a human scale versus an industrialised one,” Ms Alnoaimi said, adding that this simple relationship has been replaced with a complex one today. “We used to know the fisherman who brought us our food, we could easily walk to the hadhra (traditional fish trap) where the fish are caught.”
The artwork’s name, ‘It’s in the waters, it’s everywhere,’ is based on a local expression highlights the cultural importance of fish. “Sometimes we take things around us for granted, not noticing that they exist,” she said.
Another natural feature of Bahrain that is threatened and could disappear has been examined in a multi-media piece by artist Zainab Abdulmohsen. The installation is made up of three collaged photos of a natural spring in Buri, with a mound of soil laying on the floor partially burying a laser-cut calligraphic rendition of the Arabic word for spring.
According to Ms Abdulmohsen, the freshwater spring Ain Huwais is currently used to host treated wastewater.
“Standing between the mound of soil and the photos, you can imagine how this place could be used as a space for communities to come together,” she said. “The calligraphy represents the history and nostalgic memory of these water springs, which are the vibrant aspects that remain,” she added.
Meanwhile, photographer Enas Sistani told the GDN that her award-winning, abstract picture – which she spontaneously clicked outside the Qal’at Al-Bahrain Site Museum during the Covid-19 pandemic – expressed the feelings of isolation experienced during the time. “The photo ‘Disconnected’ is a candid shot and was not orchestrated in any way,” she said.
The exhibition’s opening was attended by ministers, Baca president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and notable Bahraini artists.
A panel discussion titled ‘Through the Lens’ will be held on Monday at 7 pm in the museum’s library. The panel will feature photographers, Ms Sistani, Ali Alshehabi and Ishaq Madan and will be moderated by Bader Al Saad.
Running until July 10, the expo is open every day except Tuesday between 8am and 8pm.
preprocess
