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A silky scarf exhibition featuring a collection of colourful cloths inspired by Bahrain’s rich history and culture has been staged by art lover Hana Kanoo.
The economist wanted to share her love of the kingdom and her devotion to her artistic aunt Christine Khonjie, who works mainly with embroidery, through fabric form.
Hana said: “Bahrain is full of beauty from its Tree of Life and glistening city lights to its cute Dilmun cats and speedy Salukis.
“My auntie also loves Salukis and she designed a beautiful embroidery of a desert dog carrying the key of life in its mouth.
“I love my auntie’s designs and her work is so lovely that I simply had to share it with everybody.
“I didn’t want to organise a regular exhibition and thought the best way forward was to create something that could be worn or used as a decoration. I wanted to bring colour to people’s lives and I believe that is possible through scarves.”
Eight elegant limited edition scarves, entitled The City, were showcased at the Yateem House on Sunday in old Manama.
Visitors weaved around the room admiring the designs by Hana and other artists including Bahraini Jasim Redha, Christine and Nepalese Durga Bahadur Bhandari who drew murals from the wraps onto the walls of the venue.
Hana had commissioned the artists to paint her Bahraini-themed ideas and contacted Mai Visti, a luxury fashion accessory brand based in UK, founded by friends Davide Di Curzio and Juliano Matos, pictured with her top left, to add their creative prowess to the project.
Hana said: “I felt that scarf-makers Davide and Juliano would be perfect to create a collection for Bahrain. They used digital enhancements to scan the stitching, for example, and then printed it onto the scarves as well as other embellishments.”
Mai Visti, which means ‘never seen before’ in Italian, focuses on creating accessories for the ‘modern individual in today’s urban culture’.
Juliano, who has worked with the likes of British fashion designer and couturier Alexander McQueen, said: “We have been designing for six years and we love it. This is our first time in Bahrain and our first collaboration with Bahraini artists.
“When Hana told us about her idea we were excited to help her put it in motion and to create shiny, soft and light scarves that would be ideal for Bahrain’s weather.
“A scarf is an accessory that every woman should have as it shows off her personality. For example, each person is drawn to a different design and also wears a scarf differently. You can wrap it around your neck, shoulders, hair, or use it as a belt across your waist or as a bag strap. The scarf is like a work-of-art and we wanted to give people something special.
“The event was amazing and it was our pleasure to be here. We are grateful for Hana for giving us this platform to showcase our work as well as to create something special for the kingdom. We also would love to work in the future with other artists in Bahrain as it truly is a beautiful place full of art.”
A scarf, also known as a Kremer, muffler or neck-wrap, is a piece of fabric worn around the neck, near the head or around the waist for warmth, cleanliness, fashion and religious reasons.
They can come in a variety of different colours, patterns and textures and are particularly popular in the Gulf region for all those reasons and more. They are perfect accessories to keep warm on a visit to a cinema or hotel restaurant with the air-conditioning on full blast and to protect from burns on treks outside during the summer months.
Historically, the wearing of scarfs dates back to ancient Roman times although back then they were used mainly to keep clean more than stay warm.
They were also called a sudarium, which translates from Latin to English as ‘sweat cloth’ and was used to wipe the sweat from the neck and face during hot weather. They were originally worn by men around their neck and then women started using them as fashion statements.
The scarf became a real fashion accessory by the early 19th Century for both men and women and by the middle of the 20th Century, the wraps became one of the most essential and multipurpose clothing accessories. They weren’t just bold colour statements, they also made great gifts.
Printed scarves, worn by celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Sarah Jessica Parker, are offered internationally through high-end fashion design houses. Among the latter are Burberry, Missoni, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Lanvin, Hermès, Emilio Pucci, Dior, Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Prada.
There are three basic scarf shapes: square, triangular and rectangular. However, all the scarves displayed in Bahrain measured 140cmsx140cms in size.
Each scarf was designed as ‘fine art’, fabricated in high-quality light-weight cashmere yarns and silk and printed using a special process to maintain softness and longevity of designs and colours for years. They were versatile in various colour palettes of yellow, green, purple, blue, red and white.
One scarf that captured the attention of many visitors was entitled The Flag. Hana commissioned Durga to paint pearls and rose petals as symbols of Bahraini patriotism. She said: “The pearls are an innate part of the island’s heritage and the roses symbolised the rich, red colour of the flag.”
The Sunset was another crowd favourite painted by Jasim. He said: “I imagined in my mind’s eye what a typical Bahrain town would have looked like years ago with electricity lines floating through a little masjid, mosque, palm trees, wooden doors and colourful windows.
“I’m truly happy to be a part of this exhibition and having experienced it. I’m a classical artist who is used to painting with acrylics on canvas. It’s wonderful to see my work transferred on to a garment that can be used all year-round.”
Jasim also painted Dilmun Cat. Another crowd pleaser was Christine’s Saluki.
Some guests even considered having them framed for display rather than wearing them.
Visitor Laura Smith, a speech pathologist now living in Mahooz, said: “I loved the Pearls of Bahrain pashmina scarf. It’s vibrant and I’ve never seen anything like it. I really did enjoy this exhibition. Scarves are one of the best accessories you can get.”
The limited-edition scarves were priced at BD80. There were only 25 pieces of each scarf design made.
Twenty per cent of the proceeds from The Sunset, The Key of Life and Dilmun Cat scarves will be donated to Tony the Dogfather’s Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre. The remaining scarfs are available by visiting www.maivisti.co.uk
