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Writer Quentin de Pimodan and photographer Melchior de Tinguy have launched a series of books highlighting the lives of street artists, rappers, break dancers and beat-boxers around the Gulf, to promote local talent and bridge the cultural gap between their worlds.
The French friends, who both reside in Bahrain, have travelled across the Middle East including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and Qatar, documenting their artistic findings alongside those in the kingdom in six books titled The Khaleeji Voice: Artisans of the Arabian Street.
Quentin, 31, was approached by 29-year-old Melchior to promote the region they have both grown to love. Quentin said: “The idea was to have a look at it from a different angle, something away from finance, huge buildings, luxury cars or oil and gas that usually sums up the Gulf in Western media.
“Mel talked a lot about the artistic dynamism of the GCC and we wanted to focus on something that every youth could easily understand and that unites cultures. Urban Art including street art seemed to be the best angle, as it has been widely covered in the Levant countries but not in the GCC before.
“If it could contribute to offer a tiny bridge between our cultures back home and the ones of the region then that would be our greatest achievement.”
Both interested in art, the dynamic duo unveiled the easy-to-carry coffee book, designed by Jenine Sharabi, at Urban Culture Week in Malja, Amwaj Island’s creative hub, last week.
According to Melchior, who studied photography in Rome, the books which took a couple of years to complete were inspired by painters, musicians and photographers that he met during his solo exhibition in the kingdom in May 2013.
Wanting to share his amazing artistic emulsion, he would capture the high-flying dancers, graphic graffiti artists and musicians in action while his friend of 15 years, Quentin, would interview the talent.
Melchior, who founded the Centre of Photographic Arts with a team of Bahrain-based photographers in collaboration with the French embassy, the Alliance Française and the Shaikh Ebrahim Centre for Culture and Research, said: “Having a painter as a mother, I’ve been surrounded by art since my childhood. As a matter of fact, I started with painting at the age of six, then travelled into music and finally fell in love with photography at a later stage.
“I believe that any type of expression defines the importance of art at the centre of any society and so street art was one of the many forms of expression which I was interested in.”
Since then Melchior’s focus was to promote local and regional artists and thanks to various events such as talks, workshops, critic sessions, exhibitions and artist residencies, the duo aim to inspire communities of photographers and artists in Bahrain and in the region.
Quentin, who knew very little about graffiti aside from famous British artist Banksy, went into the project with an open mind and heart, which made his interview questions genuine, widening their audience.
He believes that the book series should not intimidate the neophytes but instead permit people to penetrate the fascinating art scene the way they did, from a naïve perspective, without particular knowledge but also without bias.
Quentin, who studied chemistry at university and first worked in the oil and gas industry before becoming a writer in a publishing house and a blogger, said: “We let the artists explain their own scenes in simple ways. It also allowed artists themselves to get free from technical talks and share more about their work and challenges.
“I believe they were more confident in the process because they knew that we weren’t here to judge but rather to spread their message, showing that despite geographical and cultural differences, the young have the same hopes and face similar challenges.”
The set of books is being sold at Words BookstoreCafé and at Jashanmal stores, priced BD25.
