Latifa’s colourful heritage

AWARD-WINNING teenage artist Latifa Khalil Al Khayat aims to help inspire her generation to imbibe the history of the kingdom in the hope that they will appreciate their heritage, writes May Al Mousawi.

The British School of Bahrain pupil took part in a prestigious art competition and walked away with the BD1,500 first place prize in the 14-to-17 age category.

Latifa, 16, from Muharraq, said: “I decided to go for a painting that would show Bahrain’s heritage and how it is changing right now. I want to show how modernisation is happening and how some young people are forgetting about the past.

“In my painting I am showing a representation of the old Bahrain that has been left behind.”

The Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Award by The Supreme Council for Youth & Sport covers scientific and artistic fields and has been designed to promote and inspire youth creativity through innovative programmes to benefit Bahrain’s community.

The painting was slightly abstract and structural, representing the walls of old buildings in the kingdom. The foreground was filled with rural buildings and as the viewer puts it into perspective, the background image becomes simplified into lines and blocks to reinforce the transformation that is occurring in Bahrain.

Latifa decided to take a trip to the Manama Souq to take photographs to use in the project. Her artwork used mixed media including plaster, tissue paper, ink, paint and string. She wanted to use a medium that created a certain texture.

She has been influenced by many artists, in particular John Piper, whose work is based on the Second World War and the monuments that surrounded him. By interpreting his style and use of colours, Latifa says his ‘influence proved a major inspiration’.

Latifa says her love of art was put on temporary hold when she moved to Thailand with her family after her father, Khalil, was positioned as the Bahraini consul. They lived there for three years from 2008 and she attended a school more focused on academia than creative talent.

She said: “I moved back to Bahrain and joined BSB in 2011. I was extremely glad I was once again a part of a school that accepted art and encouraged it.

“My mum, Entesar Al Khaja, has always been very supportive of my artistic side, so I never really forgot it was there. She never had the chance to become an artist so she has really been pushing me to do what I love.”

The Year 12 student still remains academically focused and is currently studying for her A-levels and aims to one day become an architect, a career where her eye for art and design will be essential when combined with her talent as a promising mathematician. She sat her A’level maths a year early and will find out her results in August.

Art teacher Poonam Ridgway believes Latifa shows immense promise. She said: “She was obviously a very talented artist from day one when she walked into the class. She just flourished during the GCSE course with very little guidance. She thought very creatively about every project she was given and displayed such confidence in the way she worked with materials.

“She has such a great ability to think outside of the box and I think that is her true strength. It really sets her apart from her peers. She thinks about things in different ways in order to push her work even further every time. She is a natural artist in every sense of the word. The prize was definitely well-deserved.”

Latifa will be BSB Head Girl from September. She has applied for the coveted Crown Prince’s International Scholarship Programme (CPISP), is one of 60 students chosen for the leadership programme this week, and will undergo selection tests to be one of the lucky 10 offered a scholarship.