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An exhibition showcasing the best works of 10 photographers who have been creating a visual record of Muharraq, a city once described as an archetypal Islamic town, will open to public view on Monday at the Bin Matar House in Muharraq.
Entitled Documenting Muharraq, the exhibition is curated by Melissa Enders-Bhatia, director of art and exhibitions at the Shaikh Ebrahim Centre. It was led by leading photographer Camille Zakharia.
Melissa said the aim of the workshop was to shed new light on the former capital of Bahrain and reflect on the transformation of the urban landscape and its impact on people’s lives.
Delighted with its final outcome, she said: “We have been able to encourage local talent and produce an extraordinary exhibition which fits into who and where we are located as a centre.
“Based in the city and dedicated to the preservation of traditional Bahrain architecture and heritage, this exhibition sheds light on the Muharraq we live in today as seen by 10 photographers living in Bahrain and the region.
“I think during this workshop we have been able to achieve an exceptionally high standard both in the teaching as well as the dedication and performance by individual participants.
“This workshop has been extremely rewarding as I was personally able to witness how the participants made tremendous strides in their artistic development during the workshop and also gained confidence in their abilities.
“The most rewarding part was to see the amazing final output of participants who were initially very shy and under-confident. Some photographers developed tremendously during the workshop and produced some of the strongest work in the final exhibition.”
Zakharia, a prolific documentary photographer who has exhibited all over the world and has won several international awards, added: “It was truly rewarding to see the development of all the participants who have challenged themselves to produce very thought-provoking projects.
“Each participant offered a unique vision about Muharraq. While the subject matter is very different, they do complement each other to present in a most objective way the true colour of Muharraq at the turn of the 21st Century.
“The images can be very valuable archives for future generations to reflect on the world we live in today.”
The 10 participants – Asma Jassim Murad, Deborah Allen, Eman Ali, Ghassan Chemali, Haya Isa Al Khalifa, Malek Nass, Mark Anthony Sarmiento, Marwa Rashid Al Khalifa, Rasha Yousif and GulfWeekly’s Anasuya Kesavan, come from different professional backgrounds. They include a civil engineer, architect, journalist, insurance advisor and investment portfolio manager who come from Bahrain, Lebanon, India, Philippines, Oman and the UK.
Many used unorthodox methods to capture the best images. Haya, for example, climbed on a crane to get 15-metres above the ground to get the best views of her subject and Marwa used her Polaroid Fuji instant film camera to become more intimate with her subject and ‘give a nostalgic feel of the past’.
Marwa said: “The excitement for me was capturing a part of Muharraq that not many people know about. I first visited the tiny islands of Halat Al Sletah and Halat Al Neaim in the 1980s and I was always mesmerised by the beauty of the place. Over the years the islands have grown in size due to the land reclamation and development of more government housing.
“For me the surprise factor was how pleasant and peaceful life is on these islands. Everyone knew each other and seeing kids playing in the neighbourhood in the afternoon and holding their snacks that they had just bought at the cold store, reminded me of growing up in Busaiteen.”
Asma, who was also born in the city, chose to capture images of the Muharraqi social solidarity through the Maqa’ed gatherings of women that took place early in the morning or sometime between the afternoon and evening prayers.
Rasha, a finance professional and a passionate part-time photographer, presented an interesting array of images that were captured at a very low angle. She said: “I tried to focus on the traditional side with a vintage touch to showcase the rich heritage of this island. Muharraq is getting modernised and the traditional life is sadly changing and there aren’t many well-preserved traditional places. I tried to present the authentic culture from a wider perspective.”
Eman, a professional photographer, who chose to focus on the young Arab males as her subject matter, said: “I am very pleased to be part of this project as it provided me with the push I needed to explore an idea that has been brewing in my head for some time now.
“I think the biggest challenge really was approaching groups of boys in their own territories in the first place! Mainly, because I am a woman, but also because they are not used to strangers approaching and wanting to photograph them on the streets. But I was surprised how friendly and willing most of the boys were in allowing me to capture them on camera.”
Malek, another professional photographer on the project, chose to experiment with a wide-angle panoramic technique. He said: “It not only broadened the area I could capture but also greatly enhanced the detail within the image itself.”
Deborah, a resident of Abu Dhabi, who made several trips to Bahrain for the workshop, said she was interested in documenting how the reclamation work was impacting on the area. Having had to discard initial ideas of flying in a micro-light or small plane to capture her images, she said: “I had no idea it was a no-fly zone. There were frustrating moments with taxi drivers but I finally hired a car, took off and got lost around the coast and it was truly the best way to experience the region, old and new and delight in the peculiar contrasts, vistas and jarring contexts that are evident of older residential areas against large swathes of development.”
Ghassan, who looked at the spontaneous use of public spaces, saw the workshop as an opportunity to test his capacities and romanticised the possibility of revealing a ‘hidden side of Muharraq’. He said: “The workshop gave me a chance to explore it more and interact with people of all communities, especially the children. Shooting ongoing sporting events in a public area suddenly gave it a whole new dimension as if it was a professional match.”
Mark explored and captured the new architecture of Muharraq at odd hours, including early mornings before dawn and late afternoons braving strange looks and sleepless nights.
The exhibition is free and open until December 24. The Documenting Muharraq mages can also be viewed on the social networking site Facebook.
