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Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa talks about the importance of art in our lives, the Bahraini art scene, the inspiration for his work, and the future for art in Bahrain.
Paul Laster: How has being an artist enriched your life?
Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa: It’s caused me to look at things in a better way. When you look at the development of anything in life, there is always a better solution for the problems that confront you. Whether it’s a design issue of an element of life, art gives you the solution to deal with things.
PL: What advice would you give people that are not involved with art and culture?
SR: I think they are missing many things. Appreciating art and culture causes you to look within yourself and, after all, that’s what life is all about. Without appreciating art and culture, your life’s standards will not be at the level where you can develop more.
PL: What opportunities are there for artists in Bahrain today?
SR: The opportunities have always been tremendous. We live in a region with an open market, where the only obstacles have been the managing of work. All that artist need to do is work hard, concentrate, and see what others have done. Many artists have the opportunity to be successful, and several have.
PL: How difficult is it for an artist from Bahrain to get recognized abroad?
SR: It’s quite difficult, because of what I previously mentioned, the managerial side of having an artistic career. Normally, artists have agents. They deal with specific galleries. Bahraini artists don’t have agents and most don’t have galleries, which is a mistake. Thus, a reputation abroad is very hard to achieve. That’s why we are trying to educate artists that it’s better to have a gallery and let them deal with sales.
PL: What role has the Bahrain Art Society, which you co-founded in 1983, played for artists?
SR: It’s given artist a big push by creating exhibition opportunities abroad and it continues to give Bahraini artists an equal opportunity to exhibit and to be appreciated.
PL: Do you collect work by artists from the Bahrain Art Society?
SR: Yes, I collect art by Bahraini artists in general, and I collect work by artists from other places. Of course, having the space to hang everything is always a problem.
PL: Traveling the world for work and pleasure, what cities have most inspired you?
SR: You can’t beat the vibration of New York, the beauty of Paris, or the activity of London. Every place has a different pulse.
PL: Do you try to maintain a balance between Western and Arab influences in your work?
SR: When I make art, I don’t think that I’m from here and I’m not supposed to do this or that. I just paint whatever inspires me, whether it’s a sunset, which was the subject of many of my landscape paintings, or whether it’s elements of color that I use in my latest abstract works. I’m intrigued by the cosmos, the skies, the stars…it’s quite a vast universe and some of the paintings are inspired by it. My most recent work has been inspired by veils; not the veil on the face of a woman, but by veiling in general. You see, but you don’t see-whether you are veiling the face of a woman, veiling the truth, or inner feelings. I’m going through a period of discovering what’s behind the veil.
PL: Do you have a favorite Western artist?
SR: I appreciate a lot of Western art, from the Renaissance period up to now there are a tremendous amount of artists that have influenced my work at the earliest stages. From the Impressionists, and Turner before them, there are a number of great artists. Currently, I appreciate the spirit of Anish Kapoor’s work a lot, but what I don’t like is the work of artists that’s meant to offend others. I think hurting other peoples feeling with art is a mistake. I prefer the spectator to be inspired, to be happy and appreciate what you do rather than being offended.
PL: So, you’re more interested in the sublime and the spiritual than you are in the ironic?
SR: Yes, let the viewers dream, let them be intrigued, let them fly away with dreams of colors that might give them ideas.
PL: Did you start ArtBahrain.org?
SR: Yes, it’s our baby.
PL: What role do you hope ArtBahrain will play in the development of art in Bahrain and the spreading of the word of it?
SR: The Internet is a fantastic tool to reach millions of people. In the next few years there are going to be a lot of good things happening here and we want to share them with the rest of the world.
PL: How do you forecast the future for art in Bahrain?
SR: I see that there will be more activities in terms of workshops and lectures and visiting artists and important people. We are gearing up for the modern and contemporary art museum, which is designed by Zaha Hadid. It’s an exciting time for us.
Paul Laster: How has being an artist enriched your life?
Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa: It’s caused me to look at things in a better way. When you look at the development of anything in life, there is always a better solution for the problems that confront you. Whether it’s a design issue of an element of life, art gives you the solution to deal with things.
PL: What advice would you give people that are not involved with art and culture?
SR: I think they are missing many things. Appreciating art and culture causes you to look within yourself and, after all, that’s what life is all about. Without appreciating art and culture, your life’s standards will not be at the level where you can develop more.
PL: What opportunities are there for artists in Bahrain today?
SR: The opportunities have always been tremendous. We live in a region with an open market, where the only obstacles have been the managing of work. All that artist need to do is work hard, concentrate, and see what others have done. Many artists have the opportunity to be successful, and several have.
PL: How difficult is it for an artist from Bahrain to get recognized abroad?
SR: It’s quite difficult, because of what I previously mentioned, the managerial side of having an artistic career. Normally, artists have agents. They deal with specific galleries. Bahraini artists don’t have agents and most don’t have galleries, which is a mistake. Thus, a reputation abroad is very hard to achieve. That’s why we are trying to educate artists that it’s better to have a gallery and let them deal with sales.
PL: What role has the Bahrain Art Society, which you co-founded in 1983, played for artists?
SR: It’s given artist a big push by creating exhibition opportunities abroad and it continues to give Bahraini artists an equal opportunity to exhibit and to be appreciated.
PL: Do you collect work by artists from the Bahrain Art Society?
SR: Yes, I collect art by Bahraini artists in general, and I collect work by artists from other places. Of course, having the space to hang everything is always a problem.
PL: Traveling the world for work and pleasure, what cities have most inspired you?
SR: You can’t beat the vibration of New York, the beauty of Paris, or the activity of London. Every place has a different pulse.
PL: Do you try to maintain a balance between Western and Arab influences in your work?
SR: When I make art, I don’t think that I’m from here and I’m not supposed to do this or that. I just paint whatever inspires me, whether it’s a sunset, which was the subject of many of my landscape paintings, or whether it’s elements of color that I use in my latest abstract works. I’m intrigued by the cosmos, the skies, the stars…it’s quite a vast universe and some of the paintings are inspired by it. My most recent work has been inspired by veils; not the veil on the face of a woman, but by veiling in general. You see, but you don’t see-whether you are veiling the face of a woman, veiling the truth, or inner feelings. I’m going through a period of discovering what’s behind the veil.
PL: Do you have a favorite Western artist?
SR: I appreciate a lot of Western art, from the Renaissance period up to now there are a tremendous amount of artists that have influenced my work at the earliest stages. From the Impressionists, and Turner before them, there are a number of great artists. Currently, I appreciate the spirit of Anish Kapoor’s work a lot, but what I don’t like is the work of artists that’s meant to offend others. I think hurting other peoples feeling with art is a mistake. I prefer the spectator to be inspired, to be happy and appreciate what you do rather than being offended.
PL: So, you’re more interested in the sublime and the spiritual than you are in the ironic?
SR: Yes, let the viewers dream, let them be intrigued, let them fly away with dreams of colors that might give them ideas.
PL: Did you start ArtBahrain.org?
SR: Yes, it’s our baby.
PL: What role do you hope ArtBahrain will play in the development of art in Bahrain and the spreading of the word of it?
SR: The Internet is a fantastic tool to reach millions of people. In the next few years there are going to be a lot of good things happening here and we want to share them with the rest of the world.
PL: How do you forecast the future for art in Bahrain?
SR: I see that there will be more activities in terms of workshops and lectures and visiting artists and important people. We are gearing up for the modern and contemporary art museum, which is designed by Zaha Hadid. It’s an exciting time for us.
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Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
Dia Al Azzawi
Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa
Al Khalifa
Convex: A New Perspective
Al Khalifa
Convex: A New Perspective
Click on image to zoom
WITH ART, architecture and design rapidly gaining new interest in parts of the Arab world, ArtBahrain believes that the time is now to hear from some of the creative voices that have helped shape this progress and continue to play vital roles in our ever-changing cultural environment.
We asked Artkrush editor Paul Laster to make back-to-back interviews with Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, one of Bahrain’s leading contemporary artists and the co-founder of the Bahrain Art Society and ArtBahrain, and Dia Al-Azzawi, a prominent Arab artist who’s hailed as the Godfather of the Iraqi Diaspora, about the ideas that inform their work, their support of contemporary art, and the exciting new cultural developments in the region.
We asked Artkrush editor Paul Laster to make back-to-back interviews with Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, one of Bahrain’s leading contemporary artists and the co-founder of the Bahrain Art Society and ArtBahrain, and Dia Al-Azzawi, a prominent Arab artist who’s hailed as the Godfather of the Iraqi Diaspora, about the ideas that inform their work, their support of contemporary art, and the exciting new cultural developments in the region.
Dia Al-Azzawi discusses his artistic roots, the difficulties he first faced in exhibiting his art, his pan-Arabic point of view, the variety of ways he makes art, and his belief in young artists and new opportunities for Islamic artists.
Paul Laster: What motivated you to become an artist?
Dia Al-Azzawi: I started out making crafts and then studied archeology, which included learning about the art history of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and various parts of that region. With all of the knowledge that I gained, there was also an eagerness to learn how to draw and paint, so I went to the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad to study art. In a way, my previous studies pushed me toward a professional career as an artist.
PL: How do you see your work contributing to the language of modern and contemporary art?
DA: Since leaving school, I’ve tried to do something that’s related to my culture and to our history. For example, the pioneering artists in Iraq were trying to create Iraqi art. I thought that was too limited. I preferred to be an Arab artist. When I came to London in 1976, I felt that I wanted to make something that celebrated Arab culture in a modern way.
PL: You started out showing your work with groups of like-minded artists, such as the New Vision group and the One Dimension group. How did that help advance your art and bring your message forward?
DA: To work as a group definitely creates a dialogue between the other members and a challenge to make a work that is different from them. For example, in Iraq or other Arab countries, the scope of work is very limited. You don’t have a proper museum of contemporary art and what most young artists see is the work of their teachers, so they are more limited within the art movement. When I started working, I was one of the few artists that managed to go abroad. I went to Lebanon; I went to Morocco; I went to Kuwait. I tried to find a way to go beyond what I was involved with in Iraq. My target was to become an artist who could further a kind of universal creativity rather than keeping myself bound by limited, local ideas.
PL: Was it difficult to get your work shown on the international stage?
DA: Yes, definitely. It’s not an easy thing to just go into a gallery and have them accept your work. I remember going to a very prominent gallery in London in the late-‘70s and the gallery owner said that he thought my work was fantastic, but when he saw my biography he said that he was sorry because he didn’t have any collectors from the Middle East. I can understand that it was more difficult to sell my work back then than it was to sell a British artist, but it was contrary to his opinion of the work. Now it’s getting easier to promote my work and the work of younger Arab artists.
PL: Has your work developed differently since moving to London?
DA: It’s changed a lot. I began by doing research of Iraqi, Sumerian, and Syrian history, and then I went to an Islamic sort of work, which involved calligraphy. I later decided that using calligraphy was very limiting, that it was a sign of commercialism. I felt it was what we already know from Arab countries, which is completely different from what we know about painting. Painting is something we got from Europe. We don’t have this kind of history in Islamic art. What we have is a sort of illustration, like you find in a book. When it came to painting, we had to use ways that were European, but then we had to develop a style that went to back different stages of our own history. For me, calligraphy became a kind of cage, which you put yourself in and someone says, “This is Arab art.” But most of this kind of art is actually more European than Arabic.
PL: Archeology seems to have played an important part in your development of the shapes you use in your work and the objects that you depict. How do you try to abstract those historical forms in your work?
DA: I’m looking at a portrait by Miro right now and behind it is a Sumerian life sculpture. This is our human heritage. It has nothing to do with Spain or Iraq. This is why I try to work with ideas from Egyptian art rather than Iraqi art. I want to do what Picasso and other artists did when they went back to history and studied African art in order to create something universal, something that belongs to us all.
PL: How did you get involved in making the Dafatir work in book form?
DA: I had made a few books early in my career, but then in the beginning of the ‘90s I became more involved with this kind of work. I was doing some research of Islamic manuscripts in Dublin and saw such beautiful illustrated books-some of them were literature and others were about science and agriculture-that I thought I have to see what I can do with this medium. At first, I liked making an illustration that was parallel to the text, but then I became more abstract, where the imagery had nothing to do with the text. Next, I collaborated with a Syrian poet, where I did some work and sent it to him and he wrote what inspired him from my imagery. We continued the dialogue by sending the work back and forth. It developed in various ways. I did color and shapes and he wrote words in response to them rather than my illustrating what he wrote.
PL: Are you also a collector and supporter of younger artists?
DA: Yes, I began buying art during the time of sanctions in Iraq. Collectors started selling work because it was the easiest way to get money. Afterward, I started collecting the work of young artists that needed the support in order to survive. I ended up with a group of five or six artists that I helped to get their work exhibited and continued to buy.
PL: Are the most interesting young Iraqi artists now living outside of the country? Are they living and working in Berlin, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and other places in the world?
DA: Yes, and maybe this is a bigger problem for Iraqi art than for the art of the other Arab countries. Young artists started leaving Iraq in the ‘70s. The easiest way to get out was to go to Italy and Rome was accepting of Iraqi artists. From there they went to Germany, to France, and some of them came to England, Canada, and the United States. That was the beginning of the Diaspora.
PL: What do you think about artwork that expresses identity?
DA: I think to have our artists living in different parts of the world strengthens the Arab art movement. Work created by an Arab artist living in New York is different from the work made by one living in Paris or Berlin. Most of them have the same challenge to create something related to their way of thinking about modern life, but they are rooted to a different background than the society that they inhabit. It opens many doors, many windows.
PL: In the past five years there’s been a tremendous development of cultural support in Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. What’s the challenge for the Arab art world today?
DA: The development in the region is fantastic. They are countries that have a lot of money and they are very ambitious to do something new. In Qatar, for example, we find for the first time in 600 years someone wanting to put up the money to open a museum of Islamic art. And, in the same country, you have someone that has collected contemporary Arab art since the mid-‘90s and now wants to create a museum for the collection. This is something that we would have expected to be in Cairo or Beirut rather than Doha. And, to have the Guggenheim Museum opening in Abu Dhabi in a few years, it’s incredible!
Paul Laster: What motivated you to become an artist?
Dia Al-Azzawi: I started out making crafts and then studied archeology, which included learning about the art history of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and various parts of that region. With all of the knowledge that I gained, there was also an eagerness to learn how to draw and paint, so I went to the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad to study art. In a way, my previous studies pushed me toward a professional career as an artist.
PL: How do you see your work contributing to the language of modern and contemporary art?
DA: Since leaving school, I’ve tried to do something that’s related to my culture and to our history. For example, the pioneering artists in Iraq were trying to create Iraqi art. I thought that was too limited. I preferred to be an Arab artist. When I came to London in 1976, I felt that I wanted to make something that celebrated Arab culture in a modern way.
PL: You started out showing your work with groups of like-minded artists, such as the New Vision group and the One Dimension group. How did that help advance your art and bring your message forward?
DA: To work as a group definitely creates a dialogue between the other members and a challenge to make a work that is different from them. For example, in Iraq or other Arab countries, the scope of work is very limited. You don’t have a proper museum of contemporary art and what most young artists see is the work of their teachers, so they are more limited within the art movement. When I started working, I was one of the few artists that managed to go abroad. I went to Lebanon; I went to Morocco; I went to Kuwait. I tried to find a way to go beyond what I was involved with in Iraq. My target was to become an artist who could further a kind of universal creativity rather than keeping myself bound by limited, local ideas.
PL: Was it difficult to get your work shown on the international stage?
DA: Yes, definitely. It’s not an easy thing to just go into a gallery and have them accept your work. I remember going to a very prominent gallery in London in the late-‘70s and the gallery owner said that he thought my work was fantastic, but when he saw my biography he said that he was sorry because he didn’t have any collectors from the Middle East. I can understand that it was more difficult to sell my work back then than it was to sell a British artist, but it was contrary to his opinion of the work. Now it’s getting easier to promote my work and the work of younger Arab artists.
PL: Has your work developed differently since moving to London?
DA: It’s changed a lot. I began by doing research of Iraqi, Sumerian, and Syrian history, and then I went to an Islamic sort of work, which involved calligraphy. I later decided that using calligraphy was very limiting, that it was a sign of commercialism. I felt it was what we already know from Arab countries, which is completely different from what we know about painting. Painting is something we got from Europe. We don’t have this kind of history in Islamic art. What we have is a sort of illustration, like you find in a book. When it came to painting, we had to use ways that were European, but then we had to develop a style that went to back different stages of our own history. For me, calligraphy became a kind of cage, which you put yourself in and someone says, “This is Arab art.” But most of this kind of art is actually more European than Arabic.
PL: Archeology seems to have played an important part in your development of the shapes you use in your work and the objects that you depict. How do you try to abstract those historical forms in your work?
DA: I’m looking at a portrait by Miro right now and behind it is a Sumerian life sculpture. This is our human heritage. It has nothing to do with Spain or Iraq. This is why I try to work with ideas from Egyptian art rather than Iraqi art. I want to do what Picasso and other artists did when they went back to history and studied African art in order to create something universal, something that belongs to us all.
PL: How did you get involved in making the Dafatir work in book form?
DA: I had made a few books early in my career, but then in the beginning of the ‘90s I became more involved with this kind of work. I was doing some research of Islamic manuscripts in Dublin and saw such beautiful illustrated books-some of them were literature and others were about science and agriculture-that I thought I have to see what I can do with this medium. At first, I liked making an illustration that was parallel to the text, but then I became more abstract, where the imagery had nothing to do with the text. Next, I collaborated with a Syrian poet, where I did some work and sent it to him and he wrote what inspired him from my imagery. We continued the dialogue by sending the work back and forth. It developed in various ways. I did color and shapes and he wrote words in response to them rather than my illustrating what he wrote.
PL: Are you also a collector and supporter of younger artists?
DA: Yes, I began buying art during the time of sanctions in Iraq. Collectors started selling work because it was the easiest way to get money. Afterward, I started collecting the work of young artists that needed the support in order to survive. I ended up with a group of five or six artists that I helped to get their work exhibited and continued to buy.
PL: Are the most interesting young Iraqi artists now living outside of the country? Are they living and working in Berlin, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and other places in the world?
DA: Yes, and maybe this is a bigger problem for Iraqi art than for the art of the other Arab countries. Young artists started leaving Iraq in the ‘70s. The easiest way to get out was to go to Italy and Rome was accepting of Iraqi artists. From there they went to Germany, to France, and some of them came to England, Canada, and the United States. That was the beginning of the Diaspora.
PL: What do you think about artwork that expresses identity?
DA: I think to have our artists living in different parts of the world strengthens the Arab art movement. Work created by an Arab artist living in New York is different from the work made by one living in Paris or Berlin. Most of them have the same challenge to create something related to their way of thinking about modern life, but they are rooted to a different background than the society that they inhabit. It opens many doors, many windows.
PL: In the past five years there’s been a tremendous development of cultural support in Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. What’s the challenge for the Arab art world today?
DA: The development in the region is fantastic. They are countries that have a lot of money and they are very ambitious to do something new. In Qatar, for example, we find for the first time in 600 years someone wanting to put up the money to open a museum of Islamic art. And, in the same country, you have someone that has collected contemporary Arab art since the mid-‘90s and now wants to create a museum for the collection. This is something that we would have expected to be in Cairo or Beirut rather than Doha. And, to have the Guggenheim Museum opening in Abu Dhabi in a few years, it’s incredible!
About the interviewer:
Paul Laster is an editor, writer, and independent curator. He is editor of Artkrush.com, and a contributing editor at Flavorpill.com and ArtAsiaPacific magazine. He was the founding editor of bkyn, an online journal of the arts, first art editor of Flavorpill.com, and last art editor of Russell Simmons' OneWorld magazine. He has been a frequent contributor to Time Out New York, Art in America, New York Observer, Modern Painters, Tema Celeste, amNew York, TheDailyBeast.com, and Artnet.com.
Paul Laster is an editor, writer, and independent curator. He is editor of Artkrush.com, and a contributing editor at Flavorpill.com and ArtAsiaPacific magazine. He was the founding editor of bkyn, an online journal of the arts, first art editor of Flavorpill.com, and last art editor of Russell Simmons' OneWorld magazine. He has been a frequent contributor to Time Out New York, Art in America, New York Observer, Modern Painters, Tema Celeste, amNew York, TheDailyBeast.com, and Artnet.com.
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.jpg "Poerty Book (Adonis)1999, Photo: Sara-Jayne Parsons")
.jpg "Poetry Book (Sadi Youssef)1995, Photo: Dia Al-Azzawi")
Dia Al Azzawi
Recent Work
Recent Work
Click on image to zoom