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Bahrain’s first art gallery highlighting street art is set to open this weekend, bringing together one of the island’s most prolific creative collectives.
The Art Attack Krew, more commonly known by the moniker ATK, is opening its art gallery and studio in Juffair.
And they hope to provide a space for creatives of all skill levels to learn more about graffiti, stencil, wildstyle and other street art, in addition to classic mediums like acrylic and oil.
“We are 28 artists who have come together over the last year and a half and we had this dream of opening a space for us to learn more, share what we have created and grow together,” ATK founder Aref Guloom, better known by his street tag ‘Ayfu’, told GulfWeekly.
In 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, GulfWeekly had interviewed Ayfu, and he had mentioned a dream of bringing together a ‘rag-tag group of graffiti artists.’
He had just finished a collaboration with Samar Bushehri, the island’s first female graffiti artist and one of the earliest members of the crew.
Now, the 27-year-old is bringing the collective together to host workshops and classes at the art gallery’s teaching centre, conduct virtual lessons in its Live Corner and provide a relaxed environment for creatives to interact within its exhibition space.
“Our first exhibition will showcase nearly 30 pieces, and our first workshop will focus on graffiti, acrylic and oil, but we have much bigger dreams,” Ayfu added.
“We are working out the details of having our crew and students even work on panels outside, so they can learn how to create at that scale and take their skills to the streets, in a safe and, of course, legal way.”
The first exhibition at the space will kick off this Saturday at 5pm and will showcase the multi-talented group’s many facets - from acrylic paintings by Kaenaat Mahmood to street-style creations by Salman Aljar.
What stands out as soon as one meets the group is the cohesion between the group - no small feat - where creative visions work together, instead of against each other.
“ATK is not just an art collective - we are a family,” Fatima Alnaser added.
“We make all our decisions together, and find ways for us to work together wherever possible.
“During my time in the group, I was genuinely surprised by how quickly I learned so much about art.”
While learning new techniques and experimenting with palettes and perspective is part of the shared experience for the group, some members have found that the collective is more about motivation.
Isa Mansoor, for example, finds it energising to be part of a group, where each member is on their own journey, meeting along intersections and causeways to help each other reach their collective and personal milestones.
When asked what he has learned since the group started, Ayfu is pensive for a few seconds before saying, “Patience, and how to translate dreams into a vision.”
For more details, follow @art.attack.krew on Instagram.
