Artistic remnants

 Passionate photographer Dr Hesham Al Ammal’s diligent documentation of antique boat repairs on Muharraq island’s coast has been featured in this year’s Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition.

The 55-year-old has been using his spare time to observe and capture the remnants of the northern island’s once booming trade.

Dr Hesham displayed 12 black-and-white photos of four ancient dhows and of men hard at work maintaining them, captured using a large format camera, a 1960s-era Rolleiflex f2.8 or a Nikon FM2n from the 1970s.

“This is part of a project to document the shipbuilding profession,” the Muharraq-born artist and university professor told GulfWeekly.

“Dhow-building is a long process with many intricate techniques and the dhows are constantly undergoing renovation.”

He began investigating the seafront when the Covid-19 pandemic began, for a project titled At The Edge exhibited in the Bin Matar House last year.

According to Dr Hesham, there are boat lovers along Muharraq’s shores who are constantly renovating the old ships and replacing parts that have rotted away or fallen into disrepair, motivated by a desire to preserve the past.

During his documenting journey, he discovered many relics of the kingdom’s storied past, and found unique ways to preserve some of it.

“This 450-year-old dhow is the oldest one I’ve ever seen,” Dr Hesham added, as an example, pointing to one of the photographs. “It was owned by the famous Matar merchant family which once commanded a large fleet of trading ships.”

Wood from another age-old ship - 95-year-young Rabha - has been immortalised in an experimental mixed-media work.

Encased in epoxy resin, along with a set of special curved nails used in ships no longer being manufactured in Bahrain, the piece is an homage to the kingdom’s history and those that built its heritage. 

“One of the people I met during the project is the only master shipbuilder left in Muharraq, named Abdulla Salman, and he is in this seventies,” he added. “He has trained five expatriate workers under him, but there is no Bahraini to inherit his trade.” Dr Hesham hopes that culture authorities will preserve this dying craft.

More than 100 paintings, photographs, sculptures, installations and mixed-media works are being showcased during the exhibition, which was organised by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities.

It will run until July 10 at the Bahrain National Museum and is open every day from 8am to 8pm except on Tuesdays.