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ART lovers from across the kingdom are flocking to the Last Oil Well Gallery to enjoy and seek inspiration from artworks of the island’s talented creatives.
The gallery, at Al A’ali Shopping Complex, is hosting the exhibition Solo Ensemble 1.0. It features a series of multiple ‘mini-solo’ shows in one space - giving each artist, or collective, the opportunity to highlight their eclectic designs including jewellery, paintings, embroidery and more.
“We wanted to create a new concept where we could give artists as much opportunity as possible to exhibit all of their best work,” said Tamadher Alfahal, one of the gallery’s owners and an assistant professor in the Department of Architecture and Interior Design at University of Bahrain. She is also one of the exhibition’s curators and, being a designer herself, has her work displayed at the colourful event.
In 2012, Tamadher co-founded Ulafa’a Initiative, a reconciliation-through-the-arts project which aims to bring local communities together and promote freedom of expression through art.
Her fellow co-owner and exhibition curator, Nada Alaradi, was delighted by the number of attendees at the official opening on January 26 and applauded the artists for their creativity and use of space.
“We wanted to give artists the freedom to play with space,” said Nada. “Their exhibits are overwhelming.”
Artists featuring their works include Ali AlShaikh, Bashayer AlMahdi, Bayan Mazen, Lina Kreida, Mai AlKaabi, Maryam Moniri, Mona Alaradi, Noora Al Hashimi, Sara Fadawi, Zahra AlMahdi, Zainab Fekri and Bahraini interior designer Ali Alnajjar, who has shared his love for embroidery for all to see.
“The event was amazing,” said 31-year-old Ali, who has been in love with art since he was a child. He has been drawing cartoons and anime, which is then expanded into illustration, fashion, graphic design, interior, and more recently, embroidery.
The former Ahlia University lecturer, who works in the retail side of interior design, initially started to embroider things for himself on his own clothes before friends, family and social media followers were hooked with his looks.
“It has been so long since we had this space where we get to cultivate Bahraini and local talent and showcase what this island has to offer,” added Ali. He has a few bags on display that he painted on with dark humorous phrases such as ‘Fake, like your life’.
These bags were in addition to his embroidery items on show, ranging from T-shirts, sweaters and shoes as well as a large framed canvas.
“I think one of the more fun pieces I enjoyed doing was embroidering the Converse shoe,” he said. “Mainly because it was something new and I got to step outside the box of the normal fabrics. “I am pleased to share my quirky, humorous and aesthetically pleasing art with others.”
Meanwhile, creative Ali AlShaikh, 34, featured nine analogue-paper collages.
“I am featuring pieces that I created over the past year,” said Ali who has experience in consulting and operations management and has only been working in art since the summer of 2020.
“I like to create a lot of surreal pieces that showcase the absurdity and charm that diverse images can bring to a piece,” he added. “At times I make pieces that are abstract but that is still a new area to be explored.”
All his analogue-collages rely on images extracted from a variety of publications. The main centrepieces of his exhibit are two artworks inspired by Greco-Roman mythology in addition to a few surreal space-and-time images.
Beautiful brooches are also on display, designed by 31-year-old Maryam Moniri.
“I have always been passionate about art and I enjoy exploring new designs and techniques,” said the founder of brooch business Broco.
“Art is the best way to express your creativity and turn it to reality. My brooches have been made with different materials such as acrylic and stone. My favourite are the abstract women brooch and the eye piece. This exhibit is a great way to show my art and products to all.”
The event runs until February 26 and the follow-up of the series, which will feature another set of artists, will be held in March.
For details, follow @lastoilwell on Instagram.
