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HOMEGROWN community photography project Photos à la Chair is set to stage its next session tomorrow at Bahrain National Museum, with the underlying message of ‘repurposing waste’ artistically.
For the uninitiated, Photos à la Chair brings together Bahrain’s creatives and enthusiasts, with artistic setups installed across the island. Co-founder and Lebanese-Canadian artist and photographer Camille Zakharia captures visitors against the backdrop, producing striking human portraits.
The upcoming session will be brought alive in the museum’s sculpture garden by Bahrain-based artists: architect Latifa Al Khayat, who has used reclaimed concrete and reinforced metal bars to design her artwork, and architect Lukasz Palczynski and designer and physicist Hamad Al Mannai who have repurposed limestone rocks as a bench for the subjects to sit on during the photoshoot. All material used is obtained by exploring various local sites.
“We have organised 23 sessions in Bahrain but this is our first with the Spring of Culture,” Bahraini co-founder Ali Karimi told GulfWeekly.
“Our session tomorrow has a nice touch to it, using salvaged materials. Baca (Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities) has helped with the artwork funding and material exploration,” said the Bahraini architect.
Spring of Culture is Bahrain’s much-awaited annual arts and culture festival, featuring Arab and international artists and acts held across the island, as well as lectures and traditional handicrafts workshops.
The seven-year-old community photography initiative has seen hundreds of collaborators and more than 1,000 attendees, not just in Bahrain but also other places, including Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and, last year, Cairo in Egypt.
While the idea of the project is the same for all countries, the art and public interaction varies, which, according to Ali, is interesting to note. There are plans for a possible launch in Kuwait come autumn this year.
Ali also highlighted that Photos à la Chair has led enthusiasts to visit Bahrain, shining a bright spotlight on the kingdom’s rich cultural and artistic offerings.
“Some people missed our session in Saudi Arabia last year, and they decided to attend the following one in Bahrain,” he said.
The session at Bahrain National Museum will run tomorrow from 2pm to 5pm.
