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A traditional Bahraini house demolished in 1963 has been given a new life by a Yemeni architect who has created a miniature model of the historic dwelling.
The artistic recreation of the house was commissioned by its owner’s granddaughter Faten Al Ashgar, and beautifully executed by popular miniaturist and multimedia artist Ali Moeladawilah.
The house was located in Fareej Al Fadhel (Al Fadhel neighbourhood) in Manama before it was razed.
Ali has crafted the model using a watercolour painting of the building as reference, while drawing from his experience as an architect for the structural details.
“Faten approached me requesting a custom piece for her grandfather’s house, but the only memory they had left was an old watercolour painting, which lacked details,” the 29-year-old who currently resides in Melbourne, Australia, told GulfWeekly.
“I have never visited Bahrain and so I had to research old photos of Bahraini houses to get a proper understanding of the architectural styles present at the time.”
This is the creative’s third collaboration with Saudi-based Faten who has previously bought two pieces – ‘Maktabah’ or miniature bookshelves – from Ali and is keen to buy more of his works.
Faten was born in Saudi but her maternal grandfather, who is originally Saudi Arabian, moved to Bahrain in the 1920s where he lived for many years.
“I never saw my grandfather’s house, but my mother, uncles and aunts talked about it a lot and so I pictured it in my mind. I had an old painting of the house and thought of bringing it alive with a miniature creation,” Faten said.
“Having bought other artworks from Ali last year, I thought he would be the right person to commission this project. I like his attention to detail and his structural accuracy.
“When I saw the finished product, I found the architectural elements and colours were replicated closely. He even took the damaged and missing balcony planks into consideration,” she added.
Faten’s family still lives in Bahrain and she hopes to visit the kingdom this month.
Though Ali has always been a creative with an ‘obsession’ with architecture, he dabbled in miniature art back in high school, when he built a 3D model of a library. Eventually, he enrolled in RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, to study architecture but quickly became ‘disenfranchised by the profession’s lack of creativity’.
“I was always working on somebody else’s same old boring designs, never my own,” Ali said.
“I felt like my creative spark was dying and so I began exploring alternative fields, which led me to start a business as a full-time artist.
“I came across several creatives pursuing miniature art while scrolling on Instagram and knew right away that I needed to give this a shot – it was the perfect outlet to express my passion for architecture and building.
“I use a variety of mediums, from clay, foam, wood, resins, acrylic paints, plaster, texture paste, and whatever gets the job done. I’m always exploring new materials and tools to push my craft,” Ali revealed.
More recently, he has been exploring the world of 3D printing.
Like traditional artists would sell prints of their paintings, Ali wanted to make his designs more accessible and began 3D printing designs that he created digitally, including DIY (do-it-yourself) kits that let you assemble your own pieces using 3D printed parts.
“The first of these kits that I released performed better than expected and so I’m planning to design more. The bulk of my work, however, will remain handmade, from wood and clay carvings to hand painting and moulding,” he added.
