A journey to ‘timeless destinations’

A group of creative secondary school students showed off their artistic talents and ideas at an exhibition held at the Art Centre, Manama.

Every year, visual arts students from Shaikha Hessa Girls’ School showcase the artworks they created in the course of their two-year International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma programme ... which are admired and appreciated by people across the country.

Titled Timeless Destination, this year’s event featured works by six artists – IB seniors Maryam Almoawdah, Munira Alkhalifa, Noor Jamali, Maryam Jaweed, Maryam Zaid and Jueriya Zaman – aged between 17 and 18.

Exploring a range of real-world issues – as personal as mental health and as broad as ‘the media’ – the exhibition’s themes were timely and relevant for teenagers and adults alike.

Held under the patronage of the school’s board of directors’ chairman Shaikh Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Khalifa, the event was open for three days from March 21 to 23.

One of the exhibition’s common themes was local identity and intersection of Bahraini heritage with Western culture and influences.

“The pieces submitted by this batch were conceptually strong and didn’t focus simply on aesthetics,” school art department head and renowned Bahraini artist Sarah Al Aradi told GulfWeekly.

IB visual arts coursework includes both ‘studio works’ which are final art pieces, along with a ‘process portfolio’ which are sketchbook pages demonstrating the development of the pieces and the thought process behind them.

Sarah - who recently became an IB examiner, assessing the works of IB visual arts students all over the world - feels she was able to help her pupils advance further with the new insights gained by grading other talents.

Right by the entrance of the Art Centre were the works of Maryam Zaid, each created in a different medium ranging from paint on canvas to a video taped on analogue film.

A sculpture titled Three Times Lucky was particularly eye-catching. A henna-decorated forearm, cast in plaster from Maryam’s left arm, was seen reaching towards a big brown bottle with a snake coming out of it, set on a broken mirror.

“The bottle and snake symbolise medication and its side-effects, and the hand reaching towards it is that of a patient,” Maryam explained.

“The Mare Chase is a tapestry painted and embroidered to depict a human and a horse,” she added.

“The creepy figure in the middle is meant to represent one’s ancestors and the feeling that you’re living in their shadow.

“The piece was meant to give a mythical take on tradition and culture. I stitched on pearls as a reference to Bahrain’s past, while the buttons which make up the figure’s eyes give it a Western twist.”

Maryam explained the journey that led her to create these pieces: “I found that I could express myself with drawings in ways that couldn’t be put into words.”

Meanwhile, Maryam Jaweed explored self-image and cultural alienation through a series of installations, among which is a distorted mirror and a structure made from clothes hangers.

Two Faced contains a dozen triangular and trapezoidal mirrors which come together to form a rectangle, placed on different layers of wood, yielding a ‘fractured’ image. According to her, the distortions in the piece can be compared to how people who lack self-confidence view themselves.

Another piece of hers explored the nuances of her identity as a third-generation Pakistani-Bahraini, explaining that although she was connected to both cultures, she still had to deal with other people’s preconceptions about her life.

However, she added that the overall message she aimed to convey with her works was that one should not be ashamed of where they come from.

“We should be proud of our ancestry,” she said.

On the other hand, Jueriya explored her struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder in a monochromatic piece titled My Happy Colour, in which she lined up all her purple belongings ‘in an orderly manner.’

“Buying and obtaining purple objects help reduce my anxiety,” read Jueriya’s sketchbook, which was kept open on a bookstand near the printed photograph.

“The purpose of this piece is to show how much the colour purple means to me,” she said, adding that her hands appear in the photo to symbolise her being in control in the presence of her favourite colour.

Meanwhile, Munira explored two main topics: the media landscape, and the relationship between tradition and age.

A film installation of hers narrated a coming-of-age story with just music and video clips. “It shows how as a kid, you’re more in touch with your roots,” she explained.

She added that she wanted to remind people and especially youth of the importance of being true to one’s heritage.

Noor showcased a series of photo installations. She made use of ‘found objects’ and physical installations, including sand, a plastic skeleton and more. Two of her pieces consist of a series of pictures of graffiti-covered abandoned houses around Bahrain that she hung on strings and tied to a branch.

Shaikh Mohamed said every student brought their own unique ideas to the show, and the variety of art forms and styles witnessed reflected their diversity of thoughts.

“Maybe one day, we’ll see one of these girls rise to prominence in Bahrain, as it is known for its rich visual arts scene,” he added.