Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
More than 200 artists from 20 countries are reflecting on their vision for the future in a special art exhibition highlighting the unity in diversity and the need for stronger preservation of nature.
Artists from 20 countries are participating in the three legs of the 11th Annual ‘Future Rise’ art exhibition, currently on display at the Seef Mall, near Gate 1.
“These are projects that have come together over the past year during our many initiatives as well as submissions from across the globe,” artist, architect and Colours of the East director Mahdi Al Jallawi told GulfWeekly during a tour of the exhibition.
“This is the 11th year that this exhibition has been running, and I remember when we had started, I would have to beg artists to be a part of it. The art scene in Bahrain has grown since then and this year, we were astounded by the response, and artists from around the globe, including countries like Morocco, Russia, Egypt, Iraq and India, were eager to show their artwork here.
“We call it Future Rise because these pieces paint a vision for the years to come, while also reflecting on the years that have past, becoming a bridge between the two.
“Whenever our founder Abbas Al Mosawi is involved, the environment is bound to come up. And the future is entwined with the environment – it needs to be clean and safe, while going hand-in-hand with the advent of technology.”
The Future Rise exhibition’s first leg was inaugurated on June 2, under the patronage of Capital Governor Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa.
The second leg, Future Rise From Nature, was unveiled on June 10, under the patronage of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf, and focused on the output from live art workshops conducted in Karzakkan.
Set to be unveiled tomorrow under the patronage of Shaikh Rashid, the Stories and Camera Tales exhibition will focus on the work of photographers in capturing slices of life across the kingdom. It is being organised in collaboration with the Bahrain Photographic Society.
“Our initiatives have not been deterred by the Covid-19 pandemic, and to have grown from 20 artists in 2011 to more than 200 this year is amazing,” Mahdi added.
Notable international artists at this year’s exhibition include Mohammed Naffati from France, Abdul Fattah Bellali from Morocco, Dr Osama AlSarwy from Egypt and Mohamed Alnori from Iraq.
