Al-Madrasa for Art holds annual expo

Manama : Al-Madrasa for Art organised its eighth annual student exhibition at  the school in Al Hamala.  

Among the 17 exhibitors were 11 Bahrainis, two Saudis, two Indians, a Chinese, and a Pole. Among the student body, four AS-level enrollees participated in this year’s exhibition. 

Maryam Hasan chose the theme “containment”, and she sought to artistically portray one body within the radius of another. Her departure point was a mandarin, where the peel encases and encircles its segments. 

Chinese Lihan Wang selected the theme “falling leaves”, and she depicted that moment in a plant’s life. Wang used soft pastels in producing her final piece.

Samaa Ismaeel drew vegetables placed on the surface of a table, and her work was distinguished by a broader use of lino-cut printing. Polish student Caroline Janine Stankiewicz contributed a visual depiction of the self and its varied ways of thinking. 

Nine students from the IGCSE level contributed their final works for this year. Among them, Nahla Abulfateh engaged the theme of “play on words” by exploring textualization as an artistic technique.

Fatima Al-Binali opted for a more direct approach by depicting the moments of preparing a pie for the family, by focusing on the visualization of baking ingredients and utensils.

Saudi student Halema Al-Faihani addressed an age-old dilemma that arises when there is an object before us: should I take it, or leave it? Five students chose to study the theme “flowers in a large outdoor garden”. 

Indian student Geetu Kalani used the technique of transferring printed pictures to the work’s surface via chemicals and glue.

Among the rest was Zain Ali, Aishwarya Madduri, Fatima Mahmood, and Haya Mahmood. The biggest source of inspiration in their preparatory studies was the work of Parisian draughtsmen from the 1870s, a period that heralded the emergence of impressionists. 

Jehan Hussain drew a decaying wooden log lying next to an old rope. 

Budoor Al-Marzogi, Haya Mahmood, Fatima Al-Binali, Samaa Ismaeel, Asma Abbas, and Hadiya Al-Jamea all demonstrated how they used a workshop to draw inspiration from French impressionist Claude Monet.

Nisrin Furooghi and Hadiya Al-Jamea participated in a programme of free artistic work for Al-Madrasa alumni, wherein this year they focused their efforts on portraiture.

The exhibition confirmed the rising importance of academic teaching of art, and the pressing need for an organization—such as Al-Madrasa for Art—that offers the facilities and logistic support necessary for this kind of teaching.