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Six Bahraini creatives are pushing the envelope beyond their comfort zone as part of an art residency programme during the ongoing Youth City 2030.
Mahdi Alqassap, 26, Zainab Almahdi, 25, Mithaq Sharaf, 22, Malak Faisal Alqudah, 22, Zahra Abdulaziz Alshaikh, 19, and Mariam Sayed Jaffer, 16, are the cohort picked for the Youth City Residency programme being held at the Exhibition World Bahrain until the end of August.
The six creatives will be bringing together creative expression in different realms for an exhibition expected to be staged before the end of the month.
“The Youth Affairs Ministry, in collaboration with Al Riwaq Art Space, put out an open call and received more than 50 applications,” Youth Affairs Ministry youth activities specialist and Youth City 2030 art centre co-ordinator Ahmed Alasad told GulfWeekly.
“The goal of this ‘mini’ residency is to bring together emerging artists from different disciplines and give them a platform to showcase their work.”
While some have yet to exhibit their work, others have a few accomplishments under their belt already.
Saar Secondary Girls School student Mariam, who studies in Grade 11, is the youngest and got into sketching during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Having started with colour pencils, she has since branched into charcoal.
“I have been working on finding my signature style, and I experimented with different mediums,” Mariam explained.
“Currently much of my work revolves around portraits. When starting these pieces, the first and most important thing that stands out to me about a person is their eyes.”
Meanwhile, Zahra, who studies art and design at the University of Bahrain (UOB), is transforming her crocheting with an eye on sustainability, as she plans on using plastic bags instead of the t-shirt yarn material that she has used for the last seven years.
“I picked up crocheting from my aunts,” Zahra explained. “I am also experimenting with crocheting plastic bags, both from home and from the Youth City, to introduce an element of upcycling into my work.
“I have started a brand of crocheted handbags called Blüte, where I have been using t-shirt yarn. I am not sure what I will make with these upcycled plastic bags, but that’s what I hope to discover during this residency.”
The final works of the six artists will be showcased from August 27 to 31 in their workspace. By then, Malak is hoping to build a ceramic birdhouse adorned with clay butterflies.
While she is used to working with clay on the traditional or electric pottery wheel, she is challenging herself by “constructing” the birdhouse, using flattened and cut pieces of clay.
“This requires a fair amount of engineering knowledge and I have to put it together one piece at a time, which is very different from using the pottery wheel,” the recent University of Bahrain statistics graduate added.
“I got into ceramics during my summer breaks, through some courses, and while I love working with the pottery wheel to create cups and mugs, I decided to try something different for this project.”
Mahdi has an even more ambitious target, as he hopes to put together an experimental film or at least create the concept for it by the time the exhibition opens.
The freelance Bahraini filmmaker who graduated in filmmaking from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Kuwait, has long been mulling an idea centred around a child getting stuck on a school bus.
“I have previously done a lot of commercial and ad work, primarily in Kuwait, but here, this would be my first time doing my own idea,” he added.
“I have been back in Bahrain for one month and I am looking forward to bringing this idea to life. The advice I have gotten from one of the programme mentors Mariam Al Noaimi is to not doubt my own filmmaking and creative instincts as I get into the project.”
In addition to Mariam Alnoaimi, renowned local artist Ali Hussain Mirza and international art curator William Wells have also been helping artists develop their ideas beyond their comfort zone.
For Mithaq, expanding the mediums and styles she works with is part of her creative and brainstorming practice, as she conveys the human condition in her art pieces.
“As a curious self-taught artist, I got to experience various art tools, mediums and styles,” the UOB English Literature graduate added.
“I have been interested in art since childhood, inspired by many artists in my family. My artwork aims to let you experience unique and beautiful feelings as each painting puts you inside a moment of delight and tranquillity.
“I work in charcoal, watercolour, gouache and acrylic paints or mixed media to convey the idea and emotions of each painting.”
Meanwhile, Zainab, who also works as a news reporter with GDN Media covering local news stories, hopes to bring Bahrain’s lore to life within the panels of her comics.
As previously featured in GulfWeekly, she has previously published Um Hmaar Returns!, a story about a group of local jinn (spirits) from local mythology taking place alongside Gergaoun - a core part of the holy month of Ramadan every year.
“My works are mainly written in Bahraini Arabic and narrate stories about my home country,” the artist from Muharraq explained.
According to Zainab, her latest story What Belongs to the Sea... is set in Bahrain of the 1960s and 1970s and centres around the sea creature, ‘Swaichen’ - a mythical figure in Gulf folklore, used by parents and adults to scare children from wandering off alone near the sea or doing anything that could threaten their safety.
“It’s based on a real story of me going to the sea with my nieces and picking up a scary sea sponge which turned the water in the glass I put it in nearly black,” she added.
The six artists will be exhibiting their works later this month during the final week of Youth City 2030 taking place at Exhibition World Bahrain.
For more details, follow @mysbhr and @alriwaq on Instagram.
