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AN art exhibition organised by local community-based platform Amana Creative Collective to support the Palestinian cause has been an overwhelming success, writes Melissa Nazareth.
The team collected $20,927 from sales of artwork displayed at the exhibition and from ‘Amana shop’, a dedicated space at the showcase with smaller artworks inspired by Palestine.
A major part of the proceeds was donated to The Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, the foundation that provides medical attention to children in war-torn Gaza.
“It was an amazing experience to have this exhibition and we would like to thank all those who supported us in making the event a success,” the collective’s co-founder Fatima Al Saad told GulfWeekly.
“We witnessed a positive response from visitors and patrons. At least half of the artworks were sold on the opening night,” she added.
River Two Seas exhibition, the collective’s first major art showcase, brought together 60 Bahraini and international artists last month.
One of the exhibits, a collaboration between Gazan photojournalist Saher Al Ghorrah, Bahraini photographer Mustafa Abdul Hadi, and interior design consultant and Amana co-founder Maryam Abdulla - featuring seaside images from Gaza merged with similar images from Bahrain - sold for $2,231. The amount will be sent to Saher.
Gazan illustrator Nada Khatib’s artistic creations printed on stickers and bookmarks sold for $1,267, which will also be sent to her.
A private workshop with Saudi creative Hafsa Alkhudairi saw a selected group of artists design postcards inspired by Palestinian themes while having an open discussion on ‘the role of art in preserving history’.
Amana hopes to make this a progressive initiative with other art societies and to display the organically growing collection in Bahrain and beyond.
Amana Creative Collective was co-founded by Bahrainis Maryam Abdulla, Fatima Al Saad, Maha Al Sahhaf and Tamadher Al Fahal and Palestinian-Saudi Ramah Al Husseini earlier this year. They hope to host workshops and small events supporting the Palestinian cause in the coming months.
For more details, follow @we.are.amana on Instagram.
