al-arabi exhibition } arab culture in the diaspora
as soon as i walked into the hall i saw my girls to the left. this does them so much more justice than being cooped up at home!
What an exhilarating afternoon. I was like a starstruck fan waddling through Al-Funoon Gallery taking photos of artists I knew and others I suspected were! To me personally, The Arab Culture in the Diaspora exhibition wasn’t just about these quite accomplished artists’ works being exhibited here in Kuwait, but that my work was among theirs. I wasn’t quite prepared for the sort of elation I would feel being in the same room (two rooms actually; the Ahmed Al-Adwany hall was also utilized) as all these great minds. And then there was the art. After the initial shell shock of taking in the rich crowd of artists, writers, musicians and lovers of all things cultural, my eyes fell on the works and I remembered that this was the reason why I was there. In this post, I’d like to share some my favorites with you. I do hope you take a visit to the gallery to see the show for yourself.
The exhibition will be up today and tomorrow.
dia al azzawi and me. i had my arm tight around him hoping that his artistic fairy dust rubs off on me
love the rubik's cube. and everything else. i'm so attracted to figurative paintings it's not even funny. and i love the cubist element to this particular painting, 'the ballerina' by iraqi artist afeefa al-aiby. especially in contrast to the gentler curves of the dancer's body as she ties her laces. so gentle and serene
you can see how excited i am here by this blurry photo of a group of visitors being photographed in front of helmi el-touni's paintings. i later met up with the artist, who i am particularly fond of both as a person and an inspiring force
the tapestries of sudanese-french artist hassan moussa hanging in the ahmed al-adwani hall
a close-up of moussa's work 'st. george slays the dragon'. i love the dainty cups, st. george's clown nose and the chinese references. although i'm very intimidated to speak to artists directly about specific works, i would have liked to ask moussa about the imagery in this particular tapestry, but i met him before i saw his work and couldn't find him after
fatima el-hajj's colorful garden. i was very happy to see her there because earlier yesterday i heard that she wasn't even in the country yet
ahmed al-hajjary's work is the type that when i look at it, i wish i could paint like it. his paintings possess an innocence we lose by growing up and only find again if/when we achieve genius status
Enjoyed going going through the images and reading the captions.
Dear Laura, thank you! I really do wish you were here here :)!
Congratulations, Ghadah! Your works look wonderful. The Moussa tapestry is sensational and the one by al-hajjary, very touching.
Thank you, Solidgold :) The works were certainly inspiring and I do hope to hold on to that inspiration when I start work on my upcoming projects.
Fabulous! Love your work Ghadah. Will follow you closely on FB in the hope that I don’t miss your next exhibit.
March 2013 for sure!