Sunday 20 April 2008

An artist today. Maybe a legend tomorrow!

He was a young boy when he made his first portrait. It just came naturally to him.. With tiny fingers wrapped around a brush which seemed just too big for a hand that small, he had it, the world!!

He was barely 17 when one of his scribbles was called a master-piece and people from all over the country came to see it. And the ones that didn't, surely wished they could..He was given a crown, a throne to sit on. They waited anxiously for anything he would create..

As he grew older, he had many shoulders to help him lift the world.. Friends, family, loved ones, and even strangers who loved him for being him.. They were all there..

As time passed everyone by, he decided to face time. He did not want to be passed by. He challenged time and decided to live in different times at once, to have his own world where he could create many worlds. He needed to stand out!

Bit by bit, the shoulders began to fall.. They could not carry his burdens anymore, they needed more space for their own weights.. The human being is only as kind as he can get.. Here comes humanity!!

He told me once that in order for him to absorb reality, he needed to make some space within him.. At first, he dropped playing cards with his friends.. When there was still much more to take in, he dropped even seeing his friends.. Gradually, he dropped running, he dropped reading, he dropped laughter until one day, he dropped painting!

At first, his subjects still had hope, they clung to whatever they could find of him.. But none of them was strong enough to knock on his door and lend him a shoulder..

He was empty inside, trying to absorb life.. His lack of being him made his world go still.. The dust was settling, he did not care to push it off.. What was the point? He thought.. The people have left me to my solitude and no one would be there to see what lies under the dust.. I am still here, he said.. But no one listened..


A funny creature, the human being is..




Don’t let the dust cover beauty.. Why do we need to wait for ages until we are appreciated?!! The painter will have his day! He will become a legend! There will be people who would have wished to see him.. Tomorrow, that is.. Today, people will just let time pass them by..

Tuesday 1 April 2008

Edge of Arabia

Hello people

I just got back from a great weekend in Paris. It was a business trip but it was very very interesting.. I am volunteering at an educational company called The Offscreen Education Programme (http://offscreened.com/). It is based in London and it basically offers a new kind of arts education for kids in school. basically what they do is educate through real life experiences rather than studying the arts solely from books and trips to museums. They fly kids out from the West to the East and vice versa in order for the kids to experience their counter-parts education first hand. It is a great way to create lasting ties between the cultures and broaden the younger generation's horizon.

At the moment, we are organising an exhibition for contemporary Saudi artists to be held in the UK in October 2008. The exhibition is called 'Edge of Arabia: Art and Identity in The Land of The Prophet'. To all the people out there who don't really know much about Saudi Arabia other than the stereotypes of oppressed women and terrorism; you will be amazed with the talent we have found in the different corners of this massive country. And for the Saudis who are going to see this, you will be very very proud!

The artists include both male and female ones. We have sculptists, painters, photographers and everything you could imagine. From the different parts of Saudi, not restricted to one social class, gender, religious, or even professional back ground; we have come to create a ground breaking exhibition which is the first of its kind in London!!

These artists include regular people like you and me. We have a Police-man from Khamees Mushait who is really into the environment and works with that to create his art. There is also a doctor from Abha who uses X-Rays as art. Also, we have a female photographer who is the creative director at ARAMCO. As you can see, these are samples of the diversity within the artists we have chosen for this exhibition.

The exhibition will also include a book which is unlike any other exhibition book. It will not only look at the work of these artists but it will go further in looking into the lives of these people who created the art. What inspired them? Where they are most inspired? and their day to day routines. It is nothing like you have ever seen before coming from Saudi Arabia and i hope you will all be able to visit when the exhibition is on between October and December 2008.

I will leave you with some pictures of the art