Words and pictures unite

Poignant poems and colourful art pieces has been captivating people at Harbour Gate as part of an expressive exhibition staged by The Bahrain Writers’ Circle’s.

The second edition of the ‘Confluence- Where Words and Images Meet’ spoke volumes to a crowd of 60 during the official launch on Saturday as 23 teams of writers and artists showcased around 33 works of art.

The BWC has two sub-groups, The Second Circle – a poetry group and the Creative Writers’ Workshops – which explores the craft of writing.

The event, which was the brainchild of Rohini Sunderam, a founding member of BWC, and named by member, Preeti Rana, was inaugurated by the exhibits patron Shaikha Lulwa Al Khalifa. It is open from 11am-8pm and will run until tomorrow.

Rohini, who teamed up with fellow member Shereen Abraham to create two artistic representations, said: “The Confluence is a great exhibition featuring collaborative work between writers and artists or visual representations by writers who are artists. Every piece of writing reflects the art that it is paired with or the art reflects the writing.

“I was absolutely thrilled with everything about this year’s event – from the planning to the execution and launch. It all went very smoothly thanks to the support we received from our patron Shaikha Lulwa, from the Harbour Gate management team and the technicians who helped us. Of course, I cannot forget to thank our team as well, but most importantly from our PR and communication consultant Claudia Hardt who helped with getting the word out and Shereen, who helped with all the coordinating and pretty much everything else.

“We were all very touched that Shaikha Lulwa spent time at each exhibit and talked with both artists and writers.”

Rohini and Shereen’s work included one piece boasting a series of sari borders and the other was an image of the Buddha. Rohini wrote a poem about the sari weavers and the magic of the spells they cast and another that reflected the attainment of nirvana by the Buddha.

Meanwhile, Claudia took on the role of artist and poet with a pretty pearl piece. “I participated with my poem called Dana and featured a vintage pearl brooch in a black shadow box,” she said.

“My poems are inspired by the rich culture, heritage and the natural island beauty of Bahrain, so I focus in my poetry on the tradition of pearl diving and its precious gem – the Pearl.

“Expressing my passion for this tradition and culture through words is a great way of showcasing the beauty and uniqueness of our island and contributing to the country.

“Also, I am absolutely amazed about the literature work and the creativity of the art pieces this year. Each single entry has an interesting story to tell.

“The second edition of this exhibition is a fantastic milestone for the Bahrain Writers’ Circle. We are hoping to organise more of such kind of events for the mutual benefits of our members and the community.”

Other art work that attracted onlookers was the interactive exhibit created by BWC member Sara Madan. It is on an easel alongside a flip chart and people are invited to experience the process by writing their reaction to the art.

Artist Madhu Sarda created an oil and acrylic painting paired with an excerpt written by BWC’s Glen Stansfied. Their collaboration is called Summer Days, Sleepless Nights. The prose written by Glen is from a novel he is working on called Summer Days, Sleepless Nights, where a pilot from World War II is haunted by the nightmare of an enemy pilot he saw die, the death caused  by his bullets. He’s engulfed and jailed in his own emotions and pain.

Madhu said: “All the work from the 23 teams is amazing and to be admired. I was happy, excited and privileged to also meet Shaikha Lulwa. She is a lovely lady and artist herself.

“Thanks also to my dearest friends and family for the support and especially my eldest daughter Sejal who’s studying at St Christopher’s School’s Year 10. She helped me a lot in this painting as art is one of her favourite subjects and passion as well.”

Another cool collaboration that created a buzz was between British author of the therapy dog Baloo books, Sarah Clarke with Murali, the head of governor and engine controls at a ship repair company, his wife Raji, a teacher and blogger, and their son, Sanjay, nine, to create poetry pieces, as highlighted in last week’s GulfWeekly. Egyptian art teacher Noha Mousa worked on the art for it too

“It was a fabulous turn out,” said Sarah. “It was an excellent opportunity for words and images to meet in an explosion of creativity. It’s fascinating to see how different people and cultures interpret word and or images. It was also lovely to meet Shaikha Lulwa who showed great interest in all the works.

“There was a lot of interest in our work – both the social and environmental message behind it and how we went about the collaboration – working across cultures, languages ages and backgrounds. One observer said it was the ‘epitome of collaboration’ on many levels.”

Sarah’s poem was called Out of Place and a collage was created from the rubbish that she, Raji and Sanjay collected during a beach clean-up with her German shepherd, Duba.

Murali, an award-winning Tamil poet, produced an entry in his native tongue inspired by the photographs Sarah took of the rubbish washing up on the beach called Out of Place... Pathless, Crazy in the Sea.

This work has also been translated into English with Sarah and his family’s help. They called on Noha to create the art piece. Sarah added: “We’re very proud of what we achieved and I look forward to many more collaborations of this type in the future. We hope to put our work on display either in a gallery or cafe so that the message can be shared further afield.

“It was also great to see so many young poets too and for them to have the opportunity to take the stage so to speak, plus some new artists have a platform to show their skills.”

To find out more about BWC, visit them on www.bahrainwriterscircle.net