"The Goal is Extending Bridges of Communication and Cooperation Between Gulf Artists"

Translation

The Goal is to Extend Bridges of Communication and Cooperation Between Gulf Artists

Bahrain - By Khalil Yousuf

Art lovers in Abu Dhabi have a near appointment with the first exhibition of Bahraini fine artists.

The exhibition will be held at the Cultural Complex Hall from the tenth of this April until the seventeenth, and includes 140 artworks by thirty-eight male and female artists who are members of the Bahrain Association for Contemporary Art. Their works represent various artistic trends and styles prevalent in Bahrain.

The well-known artist Nasser Al-Yousif, president of the aforementioned association, told "Al-Ittihad" that the exhibition of Bahrain artists in Abu Dhabi represents an important step aimed at creating the desired communication between fine artists in the region, and also aims to introduce the level reached by the fine arts movement in Bahrain.

Nasser Al-Yousif added that it is regrettable that relations between fine artists in the Gulf region are not as desired, and that the process of communication between artists is still within the narrowest limits. He confirmed that intensifying efforts toward exchanging individual, joint, and collective exhibitions and organizing other activities and events at all levels collectively constitute an important pillar for creating communication between artists in the region and at a level that supports all serious orientations for advancing the level of our fine arts.

Artist Nasser Al-Yousif believes that the active commercial movement in the Gulf states has, for many years, begun to occupy a wide space of many individuals' interests to the degree that made the process of artistic and intellectual communication generally marginalized, exactly as is the case with other serious interests, where marginality and consumerist tendencies have dominated our lives. Artist Nasser Al-Yousif confirms that our societies need what brings activity and vitality to them, and this is represented in art and thought.

The president of the Bahrain Association for Contemporary Art, which was established on April 2, 1970, believes that there are new responsibilities awaiting artists and intellectuals in the GCC countries, especially in light of the new developments represented by the Gulf Cooperation Council and serious orientations to connect and unite the peoples of the region. There is no doubt that art has a role that supports those goals and helps achieve them in one way or another. What is required from artists and intellectuals at this stage is to rush to formulate an approach that targets everything that achieves the desired rapprochement between the people of the region. Nasser Al-Yousif says that holding joint activities such as art exhibitions, seminars, artistic, cultural, and intellectual forums, and other activities helps achieve those goals.

The president of the Bahrain Association for Contemporary Art explains that holding an exhibition for Bahrain artists in the UAE, and before it a similar exhibition in the Sultanate of Oman, represent steps that will lead, over time, to intellectual integration.

Artist Nasser Al-Yousif comments on the idea of a union for Gulf fine artists saying: "The idea is good but it needs 'crystallization' through the existing artistic gatherings currently, while emphasizing the necessity of finding close ties between these associations at the local level first by eliminating the artificial sensitivities and difficulties that do not serve the fine arts movement, and thus one can think about establishing a union for Gulf artists." Artist Yousuf concludes by saying that the clarity of the general atmosphere is the basic driver for forming the union, and in this context one can refer to the Arab Fine Artists Union - Nasser Al-Yousif says - this union has become ineffective due to Arab problems and disputes that were reflected on it and affected its progress.

In evaluating the fine arts movement in Bahrain, the president of the Bahrain Association for Contemporary Art, who is one of the pioneer fine artists, says that the artistic movement in Bahrain has not reached advanced stages, but compared to some Arab countries like Iraq, Egypt, and Syria, it is still at the beginning of the road. He says that history is not measured by the number of years but by the depth of experience, and therefore I say that our experience is still at the beginning, and there are many fine artists who are still practicing experimentation in various directions, trying to know the international artistic trends and schools. No doubt there are a number of artists who have digested the experience and begun to forge their path and presented special and distinguished experiences, but the number of these is still very small, and therefore, these cannot be taken as examples of the progress of the fine arts movement. This does not mean that our artistic movement in Bahrain is stagnant, but it is in development and continuous movement. We hope, God willing, that it will crystallize and emerge in the coming years.

Finally, Nasser Al-Yousif says that he does not have extensive knowledge of the experiences of fine artists in the United Arab Emirates, and says that this results, unfortunately, from the absence of artistic communication between artists in the region. He said: "I might know about artists from outside the Arab world more than I know about Arab artists inside the Arab world... and this is a result of the strong media for those non-Arab artists inside the Arab world, and this confirms that the necessity has become more urgent than ever to create rapprochement and communication between artists and creative intellectuals in the region."

Artistic Participation

Participating in the opening ceremony of the Bahrain Association for Contemporary Art exhibition held at the Cultural Complex in Abu Dhabi are the following artists: • Nasser Al-Yousif... President of the Association • Abdul Karim Al-Areed... Director of the Association • Nabil Abdullah Hassan... Member of the Association • Hassan Al-Haiki... Member of the Board of Directors • Ismail Al-Abbasi... Member of the Association