Filed under: Eventful, The Kuwait Scene | Tags: Exhibition, monira al qadiri, The Sultan Gallery
I am so happy that I made it to Monira Al Qadiri’s solo exhibition The Tragedy of Self, at the Sultan Gallery last night. However, I could just kick myself in the bum for not taking my camera with me (I’m disappointed in myself for allowing this dust to keep me from going back this morning, but my kids are at home and they need their mom here. Otherwise I’d have lugged them along with me). So I went last night and Monira, my anointed Queen of all things androgenic, surprisingly looked a little skewed towards femininity in her black, gold-embroidered punjabi. I’m so glad I took two of my children to an exhibition like this because I enjoyed watching them take the works in and hearing their comments. (more…)
Filed under: Eventful, The Kuwait Scene | Tags: ahmed al-adwany, al funoon, Exhibition, hall, Paintings, retrospective, thuraya al-baqsami
- sergei, 1977, pastels on paper: it is a common (and quite ignorant) misperception in this part of the world that artists who take any path other than the realist one, can’t draw. these are the laypeople. i don’t think they understand that shifting away from realism is a choice the artist makes and not just an easy way out. for these people, none of which will ever look at this blog, so this comment is totally futile: look, thuraya al-baqsami can indeed draw!
Way back in 1991, I borrowed a book from a friend. The title was roughly Contemporary Art in the Islamic World. I remember going through it and systematically writing down the names of the artists whose works I liked; one of the names I wrote down was Thuraya Al-Baqsami’s. I remember her painting in the book of Muscovite rooftops. I thought, how cool-as a Kuwaiti artist-that her work was in a book of such caliber, and wondered if it would ever be me (still working on it. Still working on it.) I never, ever thought that I’d see her work in real life, let alone meet her (and even travel with her! If you want to have a crazy fun time, you travel with Thuraya Al-Baqsami!).
Congratulations to you, Thuraya. I throw you kisses! (more…)
Filed under: Eventful, Stories of Eves | Tags: alkandari, eve, Exhibition, gallery, ghadah, stories, tilal
Ten days left. Or is it nine? I’m starting to feel a bit of the buzz I usually get a few weeks before any exhibition. The butterflies I usually reserve for opening day. That’s when I can’t sit still and it’s best to avoid me. Cross the bridge for a map to Gallery Tilal. (more…)
Filed under: Eventful, Kuwait Charity Run | Tags: Half, Kuwait, Marathon, Sketchbook
you and me. you run and i help
Seeing as I’m as fit as a loaf of bread, I won’t be running the half-marathon this month but will volunteer on Saturday, March 19th. Follow the jerboa and she’ll take you to the Kuwait Charity Run website. You go, girls!
Filed under: Eventful, Kuwait 50/20 Exhibition | Tags: 50/20, abdalla alawadi, aseel alyaqoub, Exhibition, gallery, george lewis, sultan, thomas modeen, william andersen
the gallery and farida's ubiquitous water bottles
I know I said the last time that I finally made it to the first installment of The Sultan Gallery’s 50/20 Exhibition. But this time I finally, finally made it. It’s been a week since the show opened. I like the whole idea of having two parts of a show, version one and version two. It appeals to my sense of applying different elements to a single diagram or model. Not a sequel but a segment which completes another.
*If you scroll down, you will see that there is an asterisk after Thomas Modeen’s work. I’m doing the asterisk thing kind of backwards. Please click here for better photos (and a thorough explanation) of his work.
Filed under: Eventful, Exhibitions, Kuwait 50/20 Exhibition, Sometimes I think I'm a photographer | Tags: 50/20, bassem mansour, Exhibition, farah behbehani, fatima al qadiri, Kuwait, monira al qadiri, Sultan Gallery
the gallery, a tree of life and the water which feeds it
I finally managed to make it to The Sultan Gallery this morning for a much-anticipated group show Exhibition 50/20. Most of the artists exhibiting here, when you put them in a room together, you’re going to get something like this: the ugly beautiful, the beautiful ugly, gender mish-mashes, political hodgepodge, religious under-, over- and in-between-tones, and in this instance a tantric tree of life. (more…)
Filed under: Eventful, PrettyGreenBullet|The Exhibition | Tags: Exhibition, ghadah alkandari, Kuwait, pretty green bullet, The Sultan Gallery
For all the hardships endured in getting this exhibition up and ready, I would say that the opening went quite smoothly. And I think I might have even enjoyed it a little too much for a girl whose legs were about to collapse into a fleshy pile around her feet. But enough of my wobbly anatomy. The night was fun, and hopefully a wee bit insightful, funny and enlightening. That’s all I can ever hope for. And a spare set of legs, medium size, ecru.
Thanks to photographer Khaled Al-Saleh for these photos. I’ll be posting some more when the exhibition is over (tomorrow 10am-2pm is the last showing).
Oh, and finally, if you were one of the creatives who worked on the drawing, please send me your name. I know most of you but there were some I didn’t get! I’ll be making a stop motion film of the drawing in progress and would like to credit all the artists who participated. Thanks!
Filed under: Eventful, Notes & Doodles | Tags: doodles, film festival, green caravan, notes
I’m patting myself on the back for volunteering to do some booth work at the Green Caravan Film Festival starting tomorrow. Of course what I will be doing there is nothing compared to the organizational efforts put forth by the festival’s founders Sandra Al-Saleh and Reham Al-Samerai. The event is free of charge. And of course I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t take notes at our volunteer’s meeting this morning and post them on my blog. Support our earth, educate (and entertain) yourself. Cross the bridge for the film schedule.
Filed under: Eventful, PrettyGreenBullet|The Exhibition, The Sultan Gallery | Tags: Exhibition, november, pretty green bullet, Sultan Gallery
I have started the official countdown to my upcoming exhibition, PrettyGreenBullet|The Exhibition. Just typing this has aroused the dormant butterflies in my stomach. I’m not going to go into details of the exhibition because, although I have a general feel of what I want, I know my ideas and thoughts will shift, expand and possibly contract from today until the night of Tuesday, November 9 at the Sultan Gallery. So from now til then, it’s work, work, work. Hope to see you at the show.
Filed under: Eventful, Teddy Bee, The Sultan Gallery | Tags: Exhibition, Kuwait, Sultan Gallery, teddy b
there's my painting to the left, to be auctioned off for charity. and in the center is teddy b in full kuwaiti kit
I went to the highly anticipated (well, I was excited!) Teddy B exhibition last night at the Sultan Gallery. As expected, the gallery was swarming with Kuwait’s haves, have-nots, and would-probably-like-to-have-a-little-bit-mores. I’m not going to go into the noble little stories of Teddy, you can find those here. But I will talk about the exhibition and his mom/companion/alter-ego/creator Aseel AlYagoub’s admirable attention to detail. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the Sultan Gallery but it’s basically a rectangular hall (a converted warehouse is more accurate). On either side of the gallery, Aseel had stuck up a photo of every single day of the life of Teddy. In the center of the gallery is a table displaying Teddy media reports, Teddy merchandise, and a massive Teddy B. coffee table book. I recommend the book because you can’t see the photos all in one go. And even if you do, you’re going to want to see them again, chew on them and mull them over in your head. The pictures are poignant and funny. And when you think you’ve seen Teddy in every single location a stuffed bear can visit, and that you can think of no other possible way to relate with him, you’re hit with a photo that takes you to that special ice-cream place in Salmiya where you shared a home-made caramel scoop with a special friend. I have to say, I fell in love with Teddy B…I mean Aseel…I mean Teddy.
The exhibition is open for just one more night. (more…)
Filed under: Contemporary Art Auction 2010, Eventful | Tags: aileen agopian, auction, contemporary art, khaled al-sayed, Kuwait, new york, ph7, photographer
i loved the paddles. here is a hand that knows good art
the auctioneer aileen agopian, director of contemporary art, new york
I didn’t attend the auction last night so asked PH7 photographer Khaled Al-Saleh to send me some photos. It was fun going through them and seeing who was there from the comfort of my own room!
Filed under: Contemporary Art Auction 2010, Eventful | Tags: art, auction, charity, contemporary, culture, event, farideh lashai, k's path, Kuwait, Paintings, rokni haerizadeh, shurooq amin
this is one of my favorite works at the auction and I'm happy to announce that it was sold for $37,000
I am very happy to announce that the auction last night raked in over half a million dollars! 30% of the proceeds will benefit K’s Path, which aims to bridge the gap between the humans and animals who call this country their home. And because things happen or tend to be clumped in threes, I’m going to post the top three earners (one of which happens to be Kuwaiti!) (more…)
Filed under: Contemporary Art Auction 2010, Eventful, Jana & Iber, Rants & Raves | Tags: ahmed alsoudani, ali talib, art, auction, collective, contemporary, farideh lashai, group, jamal abdul rahim, jamm, Kuwait, lamya gargash, mohammad rawas, nabil nahas, reza derakshani, roya farassat, shirin ghandtchi
the question i was asked most was, 'ghadah, where's YOUR work?' it's right here. in the window.
So last night was the big viewing I was looking very forward to. I didn’t want this to be a rant, but. It’s going to be a rant. It started with physical tears upon seeing my beloved painting behind a tinted-blue display window, and mental ones before falling asleep at night. (more…)
Filed under: Eventful, Jana & Iber | Tags: auction, corniche club, Exhibition, giant schnauzer, Iber, invitation, jamm, k's path, lulu al-sabah, painting, viewing
the girl & her giant schnauzer iber, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 100cm x 120cm
“The Girl & Her Giant Schnauzer Iber is a painting I did especially for this auction. I was asked to participate at a time when I was seriously contemplating adopting a cat, so I had animals on my mind. Now, after weeks of both failed and successful photo sessions involving a humongous dog, a few days of painting and adopting my own cat Duncan from the Animal Friends League of Kuwait, I feel that somehow the painting, since conception, has come full circle. It started off instantly with an idea to paint one of my favorite people with her ‘son’, Iber. That idea percolated in my head for weeks before I finally put brush to canvas. As I started painting, my idea changed to perhaps including Duncan in the painting, to possibly keeping it just about the dog, then it became about the dress, and finally back to Iber and his ‘mommy’. I’m lucky to have been given the opportunity to do this, if only to paint such a magnificent animal and his equally magnificent mother.”
The painting is lot #3. I am SO EXCITED about the viewing and a little terrified about the auction. But I think it will be a lot of fun.
