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Entwining a legacy for meditative creative rituals into her family tapestry, Bahraini artist Noor Alwan’s latest exhibition is an intimate dialogue between her grandfather’s art and her own pieces inspired by his work.
The Sacred Practices exhibition, now open at Al Riwaq Art Space, can best be described as the living memory of a family and its artists – not only does it immortalise Noor’s grandfather Mohamed Janahi’s art, it also tells the story of his descendants coming together to honour his creative rituals.
“Sacred Practices is a tribute to my grandfather, Mohamed Janahi, and his meditative artistic practice,” Noor, 32, told GulfWeekly.
“It has a selection of his work that I’ve collected from family members, including drawings he created for family and friends as a way of showing his affection, as well as personal items like his notebook where he would practice his art.
“One of his standout pieces on display is a huge design of a rug or carpet, done to scale, that he created with several pages stuck together, in 2009, when he was in his 80s.”
The highlight of the exhibition is ‘an intimate dialogue’ between the grandfather – a builder by profession and family lineage - and his granddaughter, an architect and artist – through their art.
Three of Noor’s art installations, inspired by her grandfather, were conceptualised by her, and collaboratively sewn by the entire family.
“I used sheer fabrics and then I sewed over them with cotton threads, in patterns mimicking the unique lines that my grandfather conceptualised when he was drawing with ball point pens in his notebook,” Noor added.
“Sewing his patterns was my way of honouring him and it was repetitive, so I could get into this meditative headspace he would get into when he was drawing them.
“After I began, it organically turned into a collaborative thing when my mum joined in, followed by my aunt and before long, I would bring my fabrics to my grandmother’s house every Friday and we would sit and sew together, as a ritual to appreciate my grandfather’s work.”
The first piece created through this practice was developed when Noor received the Misk Art Grant in 2021 and took nearly four months of collaborative effort to complete.
Tragically, her grandfather, in his 90s, passed away a few months after she exhibited this piece, but his legacy lives on through her craft, as well as the five children and nine grandchildren he left behind.
Noor also pays homage to her grandfather’s love for architecture with the piece, Sacred Resonance, that has been inspired by his drawings of minarets.
“Ever since I can remember, my grandfather would sit in his corner, on his chair, drawing,” Noor reminisced.
“He wasn’t very particular about the medium he used, if he could get his ideas across.
“If the paper couldn’t fit his idea, he would collage another paper and make the idea fit. He wasn’t fussy about any mistakes he made – there was something very raw about his process and I got to learn more about this and him through this project.
“With every project or installation I have taken on in this theme, I end up uncovering a new layer about him.”
Noor is a multidisciplinary artist and architect whose work explores the tangible and intangible constituents of spaces. She creates art installations that aim to transform physical spaces into emotional landscapes for connection and reflection.
Her practice is rooted in social engagement where she bridges her personal narratives with collective experiences to foster conversations amongst people around shared memories and sentiments.
Noor holds a master’s degree in architecture with a specialisation in inclusive design from the University at Buffalo, and the University of Manchester.
She won third place at the 45th Bahrain Annual Fine Arts exhibition in 2019 and has exhibited her work in group exhibitions across Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the UK.
She is also the cofounder of Theories of Imagination, better known as TOFI, a multidimensional art collaboration at the intersection of art and technology.
The Sacred Practices exhibition continues until October 19.
For more details, follow @noornalwan on Instagram.
