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Two Bahraini artists want to bring street art to the masses with their larger-than-life murals painted in various settings across the kingdom.
On December 19, Maryam AlSindi painted one of her iconic ‘square people’ pieces on the side of a building in Al Jasra village, near the Al Jasra Handicrafts Centre.
Last Saturday, Mohammed Al Mahdi painted a piece showing the hallmarks of a happy life in his ‘child-like’ style of illustration in Umm Al Hassam, near the Youth Innovation Centre.
“The goal of this initiative is to highlight spots around Bahrain – both busy and not-so-busy, which would be the right platform to showcase Bahrain’s artists,” Farah Mattar, director at Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca) told GulfWeekly.
“We wanted to showcase a different kind of love for the country. As opposed to the traditional images of the flag, we wanted artists to show what being Bahraini and what life here looks like, so it resonates more with people.”
The December Murals project is in its second year, after being launched last December with four murals, painted in Nabih Saleh, Budaiya village, Bab Al Bahrain and on the A’Ali Walkway.
Maryam’s The Land of Peace and Love is her largest scale mural to date and aims to add a stroke of contemporary culture to a village renowned for its traditions.
According to Shouq AlAlawi, head of the visual arts unit at Baca and curator for December Murals, the project highlights mid-career artists – “those who have found their signature style but are still looking for a large platform to highlight their work.”
“The Land of Peace and Love is my homage to Bahrain and I love that it is in Al Jasra because it shows tourists coming to Al Jasra Handicrafts Centre a more modern side of our culture,” Maryam said while adding the finishing touches to her piece.
“I chose to make it interactive by adding the Bahraini flag, so that people can pose with it and look like they are holding the flag.”
Mohammed took a different route with his painting depicting the hallmarks of a happy life in Bahrain. He chose motifs like a wedding, dhows, SUVs and cats because of their presence in his childhood.
He also continued his child-like style of illustration to make art more accessible and integrated features of the wall like vents into the piece.
“I grew up around cats and somehow they bring up this feeling that everything is normal,” the 44-year-old artist added.
Mohammed is known for highlighting cheeks with pink blush dots on his subjects, both human and animals. When asked about it, he blushed a bit as he said: “it reflects my shyness.”
Last year’s December Murals were a hit on Instagram as people experimented with different creative poses around them and Baca hopes to see more of that this year as well.
For more information about the artists, follow @by_mariam_alsindi and @almahdiartgallery on Instagram.
