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Graffiti gurus Mahmood ‘Huvil’ Alshargawi and Aref ‘Ayfu’ Guloom are calling out aspiring artists in the kingdom to sketch and spray murals this weekend in a colourful competition.
The Youth Mural contest, supported by the Youth Affairs Ministry, is being held on May 12 and 13 at the Muharraq Model Youth Centre, to encourage Bahraini youth to showcase their creative talents on a larger scale.
“The aim of this competition is to support the talents of Bahraini youth and to provide them the opportunity to showcase their abilities,” said Mohamed Janahi, the head of the centre, which is part of the ministry.
According to Mohamed, this is the ministry’s first graffiti contest, open to 10 participants, and themed ‘Bahraini Youth Day’, which is marked on March 25 every year, as well as ‘youth empowerment’.
The concept of the contest, which is open to those aged 18-35, came about after Huvil, a popular street artist and aircraft controller, and artist Ayfu decided to bring creatives together in a colourful atmosphere.
“We wanted to spice things up and push people to creatively ‘jam’ again since we haven’t had a group activity in such a long time,” said Huvil, 34, from Muharraq. “We also want to look for new faces and hopefully see new members in the graffiti and mural fields. Maybe we will even get to see some new work that hasn’t been done before.
“Graffiti in Bahrain is growing and if anyone is hesitant to try it, they are always welcome to come to my shop where there is a special wall to paint on.”
Graffiti was earlier seen as unsanctioned artwork executed outside traditional art venues. The urban art style can be spray-painted, stencilled or stuck on or even created as a street installation. It has flourished over the years and artists from all over the world began to gain recognition for their colourful and boisterous designs.
Ayfu and Huvil’s big and bold creations are captivating visitors at venues across the island.
The kingdom’s 49th National Day was marked with a celebratory mural design by Ayfu and other artists — Samar Bushehri, Salman Aljar, Hussam Ali Aradi, Isa Mansoor and Mustafa Hamad, Fatima Mirza, Faisal Mohammed, Çağla Akpınar and Sara Mohammed.
Huvil’s work can be spotted in Lebanon, Malaysia, the UK, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He painted more than six murals at the old Al Riwaq Art Space and has staged workshops at Red Bull’s former creative space, Malja in Amwaj Islands, as well as at Youth City 2030. He even collaborated on a Guinness World Record-winning project in Dubai alongside 180 artists from around the globe in painting the longest graffiti wall in the world.
Now the sprays are in the hands of the competitors, with Huvil, who is one of the three judges, making his rounds to help with any technical issues.
“We will focus on how clean the artwork is, how the colours are matching, proportions and the concept,” explained Huvil. “We will also be supervising the artists while painting. Maybe some of them haven’t tried spray cans before, so we will be moving around and supporting them, if needed.”
His tips to participants is to keep it clean, to be prepared before painting on a wall and to make sure the sketch is done correctly before starting to spray.
The winner will receive BD300, the first runner-up BD200 and the second runner-up will take home BD100.
For details, check out @mysbhr, @huvil and @ayfu.official on Instagram.
