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CELEBRATED artist Azra Suljić has produced a stunning portrait of His Majesty King Hamad as part of a collection of her micro mosaic masterpieces.
The refugee who fled war-torn Bosnia has staged several exhibitions in Slovenia where she sought sanctuary with her family and her intricate work is now sought-after and on display.
“I am inspired by classical painters, but also humanists and outstanding leaders who contribute to changes for the better,” she told GulfWeekly. “I particularly admire great Muslim leaders with a genuine care for their people’s wellbeing. I cherish deeply Muslim art and want to give my humble contribution through my art to its greatness and the society.
“As a Muslim, I like to follow the happenings in other Muslim countries that might be far away from my home but close to my heart.
“In May 2016, my sister came back from a trip to Bahrain and spent hours telling me about your beautiful country. While looking at her pictures, I came across a picture of the King of Bahrain. A closer look at his warm eyes brought to light the idea of micro mosaic portrait of His Majesty.
“King Hamad has proved to be a humane leader supporting science, education and development and having a deep sense for art and beauty. People in Bahrain enjoy peace and welfare and no one has to fear for their survival.
“I do not know of any better way to express my admiration than through art. I started His Majesty’s portrait just before Ramadan in 2016. I was drawn towards the King’s noble and wise expression and his comforting light smile but most of all his compassionate eyes.
“I worked extremely carefully on every little detail to re-create the King’s royalty, energy and glow in his eyes.”
The 53-year-old mother-of-two usually uses leather as her prime material. She cuts it into tiny pieces, just about one millimetre in size. Using a micro-mosaic technique she carefully and precisely presses the small leather pieces onto the adhesive coated surface, using a needle.
The mosaics contain from 200,000 to more than 1,000,000 leather pieces and require a minimum of 400 to more than 1,300 hours of work for one mosaic.
The mosaics seem like an image from afar but a closer look reveals it is composed of numerous imperfect pieces, which makes each finished article completely unique.
“I don’t know why I was drawn towards mosaics. I have always been attracted to mosaics using fabric, paper, stones … maybe because the shredded pieces remind me of our fragile lives.
“Maybe I like putting the shreds back together to symbolically re-create our world, making it whole and beautiful again.
“I have always felt the urge to express on the outside what my soul carries on the inside. In 1999 some coincidences, which maybe were not coincidences, led me to this idea of creating mosaics using unusual materials and unusual techniques.
“Ever since I have spent all my free time creating my mosaics and try to inspire a glow and liveliness into them, enrich them with my creativity and emotions.
“I am sure that a detailed look at the mosaics makes a person understand how much energy and love the author must have put in their realisation. Creating is a kind of meditation to me. The working hours are passing by in quiet concentration. This is my source of comfort and relaxation and it soothes my soul after a tough life.”
Few people have more understanding about how fragile and tough life can be, than Azra.
She was born in Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina in a loving family of six. During the war in Bosnia in the 1990s her home was burned to the ground during a wave of ethnic tension, forcing the family to flee their country to escape the perils of war.
The Siege of Bihać was a three-year-long battle over the northwestern Bosnian town by the Army of the Republika Srpska, the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and Bosniak dissenters during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. The siege lasted for three years, from June 1992 until August 1995, when Operation Storm ended it after the Croatian Army overran the rebel Serbs in Croatia and northwest of the besieged town.
The Research and Documentation Centre in Sarajevo established that the communities that were under siege had 4,856 killed or missing persons from 1991 to 1995.
Azra’s family was traumatised by fear, suffering and a lack of decent living conditions. Slovenia was the closest safe country and there was a large Bosnian minority living there, including some relatives as well.
She fled as a refugee and found shelter in a relative’s home. She has never returned to Bosnia.
After a lot of hard work, effort and countless days of despair, Azra’s family managed to establish a normal life once again in their new surroundings.
She soon found employment but unfortunately, post-traumatic stress disorder forced her to retire from a successful sales career prematurely.
With lack of a decent income, plenty of time on her hands and painful sleepless nights, she started searching for a second escape in her life from the mental anguish and daily challenges.
She was also determined to create something exceptional and unique with the support of her family. She is married to construction worker, Semin, 53, who she fled the war with. They have a 25-year-old son and 22-year-old daughter.
Her micro-mosaic creations soon caused a sensation. Friend and art lover, Simona Simonovic, said: “Azra is known for somehow creating an inspiring glow with a special lighting, shading enhancement technique and iridescence - many people are amazed by her incredible technique, but mostly everyone is stunned by the liveliness of the images when they see the mosaics live.”
In 2002 she held an individual exhibition at the Municipality building of Piran under a ‘medieval towns’ theme, exhibiting her mosaics depicting the Slovenian littoral towns of Piran, Izola and Koper.
In 2003 she held another individual exhibition at the Municipality of Piran, highlighting Railway Parenzana. It was a symbol of unity of different nationalities and cultures and operated between 1902 to 1935 connecting Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
In 2005 she was part of a ‘trolley bus and carriages’ group exhibition at the Studio Gallery Gasspar in Piran and the following year she joined another successful group exhibition at Studio Gallery Gasspar with local artists.
She received rave reviews and her artwork was quickly snapped up by art-lovers. Some pieces were also bought by the Municipality of Piran and others by cultural organisations.
Azra’s on-going ill heath slowed her down but she never stopped creating, mostly developing her skills on abstract motifs at the time.
A 90cm x 70cm sized mosaic picture requires more than 700 hours of work, and an installment of more than 700,000 pieces of leather. The creation is time consuming and takes place slowly, as it requires constant attention and precision. Only two or three micro-mosaics are created per year.
Several popular celebrities from the Balkan region have shown interest in Azra’s mosaics, as well as other Slovenian authorities and organisations. Her mosaics, which now fetch between BD22,000 and BD30,000, are now decorating several office walls across the country.
Azra recently started applying her art onto usable items as well, mainly shoes and handbags, turning them into unique products of applied art, although her main activity remains creating micro-mosaic pictures.
She aims to make a special tribute to Muslim art and she has started work on portraying another regional leader, the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said Al Said.
Azra’s dreams are to create a big mural with micro-mosaic technique allowing her mosaics to decorate the walls of palaces and religious buildings and one day to create a micro-mosaic from precious stones and crystals, cutting them into tiny pieces and creating a ‘live image’ with their shine and glow for eternity.
Azra Suljić can be reached by e-mail simona.simonovic@gmail.com
Alternatively, through Instagram @azra.suljic.art
