The first edition of Bahrain Art Week, showcasing the work of 17 Bahraini artists will be held in the Grand Palais, Paris from September 13 to 22. Themed, ‘Legacies and the Contemporary Memory,’ the event is the brainchild of Kaneka Subberwal, founder of Art Bahrain Across Borders (ArtBAB) who partnered with Corinne Timsit, co-founder of Corinne Timsit Art Advisory (CT2A) and ArtPremium magazine to make it a reality.
ArtBAB, is Bahrain’s foremost international art fair which aims to attract leading international galleries to the Kingdom, with a view to expanding the art market whilst facilitating the development of local Bahraini artists. The Paris event featuring 17 established and emerging Bahraini artists will be held under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of His Majesty the King and President of the Supreme Council for Women. While the Grand Palais will host the main exhibition, one artwork from each artist will also be displayed at a public exhibition in Galerie Rabouan Moussion in Le Marais district, the leading art and cultural hub of Paris.
Shaikha Maram bint Isa Al Khalifa, Director of the Office of HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa wife of the King of Bahrain, expressed pride in ArtBAB’s progress and said it had “had grown from strength to strength to achieve this momentum.” She further expressed confidence that ArtBAB will continue to be a platform for Bahrain to converse with the world over matters of art and creativity.
Featuring bold impressionistic abstracts, the collection is an amalgamation of the past and present, and symbolises how Bahraini artists envision their 5,000-year-old heritage of art and culture whilst utilising contemporary techniques to transform it into a 21st-century narrative. The 17 participating artists are Aysha Almoayyed, Dr Ahmed Ahmed, Balqees Fakhro, Faiqa Al Hasan, Hala Kaiksow, Jamal Abdulrahim, Mayasa Alsowaidi, Mohammed Al Mahdi, Nabeela Al Khayar, Omar Al Rashid, Othman Khunji, Rawan Al Hosani, Salman Najem, Shaikha Lulwa Al Khalifa, Shaikha Marwa Al Khalifa, Somaya Abdulghani and Sayed Hasan Al Asari.
Since its creation in 2016, ArtBAB has promoted contemporary Bahraini art to an international community of collectors. While the Russian and Indian editions recorded substantial success, the London event was particularly noteworthy as a selection of fifteen Bahraini artists was shown on a world stage at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2016 and at Saatchi Gallery in 2017.
