Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula

How did art evolve in the Arabian Peninsula? What was the journey like? Who were the architects of this evolving art world? What started the different movements and where has it reached? This exhibition is a treatise, a study of these queries.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Preview of Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula. Thanks to Arte & Lusso, the online magazine and Slava Noor, the Editor of the magazine. I must say that this is definitely a landmark exhibition with some rare and never before seen works of prominent artists from the West Asian region. It surveys the emergence of modern art in the Arabian Gulf featuring 57 artworks from the early and mid-20th century through 2007. The exhibition includes works from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, a region collectively known in Arabic as the “Khaleej.”

The Exhibition that opened on 6 September at the New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Art Gallery is definitely one of a kind in recent times that explores, examines and expands our horizons in relation to the visual arts of the Arabian Gulf. Dr. Aisha Stoby with Assistant curator, Tala Nassar from the NYUAD Art Gallery and the Chief Curator of NYUAD, Maya Allison have achieved formidable feet with this path-breaking exhibition. It is curated by Dr. Aisha Stoby, who helmed the inaugural Oman Pavilion at the Venice Biennale this year.

The exhibition is based on Dr.Aisha Stoby’s Ph.D. research that commenced in 2015 as she traces and maps the evolution as well as the history of art through prominent pioneers and collectives, their definitive movements in the region’s visual art history basically the emergence of the art scene in the Arabian Peninsula. It’s extremely interesting to note that this young researcher and curator has already spent some valuable years in the study and outlining the development of almost a century. She points out the influx of teachers travelling to the region and students studying abroad which brought in a novel perception and consideration. Some of the works are on view for the first time.

Installation view of Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula. “Early Pioneers” and “The Landscape” sections. Photo: John Varghese

Maya Allison- Chief Curator of NYUAD Art Gallery, Dr.Aisha Stoby and Tala Nassar - Asst.Curator

Khaleej Modern documents the shift and journey of new art theories, diverse media and curatorial framework. The backdrop of the practice was changing socio-political tendencies and contexts, extreme industrial growth and modernization. The term “modern” however takes a different affinity from European Modernism in the context of the Arabian Gulf.

The layout of the exhibition is in four segments – Early Pioneers, Landscapes, Self-Representation and Portraiture, and The Conceptual Turn. Each section is crisp yet flows gradually into the next. It starts with the artists using traditional methods from the 1940s to 2007. It’s an ongoing conversation of tradition and modernity. It involves making art as well as contextualizing it. Dr. Stoby clarifies that ‘Pioneers’ are not only artists but also include founders, gallerists, mentors, teachers and collectives where these pioneers practiced.

The Four Segments:

Early Pioneers

This section has one of the oldest paintings in the exhibition obviously. It is a portrait by Mojid Al Dosari, one of the pioneers from Kuwait who went on to study at Al Mubarakiya School. Artists in this era include Ibrahim Ismail whose work is the chosen poster image that is quite experimental and encapsulates tradition and modernity beautifully. Another work portrays an atelier where the artist presents himself painting a model and one can see the European influence and a cosmopolitan outlook present there. Mohammed Racim, one of the Turkish artists who held an exhibition in Jeddah was believed to be funded by a local Bank in the early 1950s. His illustrative works are again a mix of both tradition and modernity. Munira Al Kazi is another notable and outstanding artist of this period. They were founders and initiators of the day.

Building of Ships by Ibrahim Ismail, 1966

Oil on canvas board, 30 x 40 cm, courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah

Landscapes

The focus in this segment is not just on the practice of architecture and landscape painting but on evolving and developing landscapes, particularly with the discovery of oil as a prominent resource. It is also about documentation, preservation, heritage and watching the shifts around them. The key artists are Ahmed Qassim Al Sunni, one of the first to receive an art scholarship from the Bahraini Government to study art in London. Along with artists like Nasser Al-Yousif and Abdul Karem Al Orrayed, Ahmed Sunni formed the “Manama Group” which met every Friday to paint the landscapes. Their style had a European influence but they focused on Bahraini landscapes. Ahmed Sunni was also the first to develop a school curriculum that became the basis of the art schools in Bahrain. Mohammed Saleem found an exhibition space where many of the artists from the exhibition had exhibited back in the day. He also coined the term “Horizonism” – taking colours and textures to emulate landscapes. Yousef Ahmad was responsible for the beginnings of the Mathaf Collection of modern art, among many other things. The other notable collective of the period is the “Three Friends” in which Yousef Ahmad was a prominent part. Many collectives and fine art societies blossomed strengthening the local art ecosystem during this period.

Old Architecture of Manama by Ahmed Qassim Al Sunni, 1960,

Oil and jute on wood, courtesy of Bahrain National Museum

Self-Representation and Portraiture

This segment is an ongoing conversation between concepts of the individual and the society, and tradition and modernity. Socio-political impact on the artistic output is strikingly visible. Along with the presence of many themes, it looks at different artistic mediums and how they were processed. A time that reflected both private and public spaces. Along with Mounirah Mosly, Safeya Binzagr pioneered in painting and exhibition. They had their one of a kind first public art exhibition in Saudi Arabia in 1968. Safeya Binzagr was the first woman in Saudi Arabia to have had a solo exhibition. Later she opened her own museum, again a first, Darat Safeya Binzagr. Her works dwell on traditions, intimate space and portraiture almost as an act of preservation. Mosly’s environment captured a constant flux of development and modernization. She also incorporated a range of materials in her diverse practice that was novel at the time. Thuraya Al Baqsami studied art in Russia and when she moved back, found that figurative painting had disappeared from the Kuwaiti art scenario. She was part of the GCC Art Friends’ Group that went against this wave. Her focus was on the lives and roles of Kuwaiti women. The Gulf War had a profound impact on the artist. Her work “Return from the village” is one that drew me in and I would have prolonged my stay in that village and would have loved to explore the place.

Al Zaboun by Safeya Binzagr, 1969

Acrylic and print on canvas, private collection

The Conceptual Turn

The final segment is not just a progression from one to another but it coincides with other dates, something that ran parallel; a period of introduction of new and different materials globally.

This section highlights the collectives “The Five” (modern and contemporary Emirati artists) and “The Circle” (a group of artists from Oman). Hassan Sharif is a major figure and there are references to his notorious One Day Exhibition held at his Mreijah Atelier in Sharjah. He is also the co-founder of Emirates Fine Arts Society. “Silsilat al Ramad”, the artists’ book by the short-lived Aqwas (“Arches” named after Sharif’s Arch-shaped works) Group that includes Hassan Sharif, Nujoom Alghanem, Khalid Albudoor and Yousef Khalil is on display. “My Mother’s Letters” by Abdullah Al Saadi is a work I was drawn to for its emotional element. This is a series of objects that his mother who couldn’t write left at his studio door to let him know that she had visited while he was away. The artist was a part of the group known as “The Five.” “The Circle” from Oman was founded by Hassan Meer whose installation “Under the Water” can be seen here. The collective focused on how to interpret spirituality using forms that one normally wouldn’t expect. Mohammed Kazem, Mousa Omar, Anwar Sonya, Budoor Al Riyami are other notable artists in this section. The artists were not only responsible for introducing and championing new artistic practices in the local communities but were also founding avenues through which this art could be studied, viewed and understood.

My Mother's Letters by Abdullah Al Saadi, 1998-2013

mixed media, courtesy of the artist

Khaleej Modern is a learning curve and a long overdue path-breaking exhibition for it could be a starting point to learn and have a deeper understanding of the times bygone in the art ecosystem of the Arabian Peninsula. Dr. Stoby anticipates that the exhibition will be a point to take forward the conversation in understanding the art scene and help in the wider reach and awareness of the times, the context and the changes – a reassessment and study of sorts. The people, the places, the process and even the patterns are a road map, a study of the past is essential to travel and evolve in the future.

Installation view of Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula.“The Conceptual Turn” section. Photo: John Varghese

Exhibition Dates: Sep 6 to Dec 11, 2022

Venue: NYUAD Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi

Time: 12 to 8 pm (Mondays closed)

https://www.nyuad-artgallery.org/en_US/our-exhibitions/main-gallery/khaleej-modern/

photo: yours truly unless specified otherwise

Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Annual State Awards and Exhibition 2021 and The Covid Series

The Evening

On a warm and humid evening, like any other evening, I was in Kochi after a span of two and half years breathing a familiar air in one of my favourite places in Kochi where I had exhibited several times before. This time it was different in ways I couldn’t imagine as I was receiving my first ever State Award – Honourable Mention Award – in a grand ceremony from Sri Saji Cherian, Honourable Minister of Cultural Affairs, Kerala State and many other dignitaries, creatives, friends and family.

After Covid lockdown and everything going under as far as the public and social events was concerned, this was a revival of art. The celebration of art was two-fold as this was the 50^th year of the State Award and Exhibition and 60 years since the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi’s inception.

"We're Islands-Self Portraits" - IGNITE series-
Deepa Gopal-Watercolour-15x15cm each-2020

Sri Saji Cherian, Honourable Minister of Cultural Affairs, Kerala State 

Welcome address by Sri Murali Cheeroth, Chairman, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi

When I was beckoned to Light the lamp

The Stage

The ceremony was moved to a bigger space, unlike the previous years, in the presence of a larger crowd and a grander arrangement. The center stage of the Award ceremony was impressive in its scale with the white typography of this year’s title covering most of the backdrop on a grey palette. Minimal décor with some clustered flowers in the foreground that soothed the eye.

The Chairman, Sri Murali Cheeroth (Read interview Part 1 and Part 2), with a strong vision had put his best foot forward with the Secretary, Sri Balamuralikrishnan, and their steadfast team. The changes were impressive and gladly visible in each and every detail as well from the way the staff was dressed to the display of all the artworks that were in sync with the white and mounted frames. The noticeable one is the entry of New media into the esteemed gallery. The memento had undergone a makeover as well. We were presented with the title-printed tote bags, the stunning catalogue and a plant (yes, a plant. I think it’s a beautiful gesture – a symbol of growth, prosperity and going green and sustainable).

Having a different vantage point from the stage was unique and sharing it with esteemed guests par excellence was a cherished and memorable experience.

Receiving the Honourable Mention Award from Sri Saji Cherian, Honourable Minister of Cultural Affairs, Kerala State 

The music by violinist Sabaressh Prabhakar and folksy fusion by the music band ReSatrippin’ was an incredible treat and delight.

Violinist Sabareesh Prabhakar and ReSaTrippin' singer, Resmi Satheesh

The Jury

The jury was led by the internationally recognized artist Prabhavathi Meppayil and included renowned artists like Manisha Parekh, Atul Bhalla, Babu Eshwar Prasad and Aziz T M.

The Exhibits

I found some amazing works in this year’s exhibition as well, obviously. All the Award-winning works were a treat to the senses and so were many others exhibited there. I can only imagine the Jury’s plight! It definitely was an inspiration galore for me.

Each work is a journey – of not only the artist but also of the viewer and they correlate, coerce and collide at instances forming a bond and that is what each artist looks forward to. A path that perhaps leads on to other paths or at times a cul de sac (a dead end) and even the story remains.

The new media was a whole new category rightly included to suit the current times in the exhibition but unfortunately, I couldn't see that part of the exhibition and I had to travel back the next day.

My Work

I received the Honourable Mention Award for “We’re Islands – Self Portraits” (a series of 10 paintings), my mindscapes. They present distinct, dreamlike, introspective-emotional states or mindscapes - a term that I coined to call my paintings that portray the feminine psyche from a strong female presence and perspective. It deals with feminine states of being in one with the environment, contemplative and surrealistic along with their internal and external struggles. My works feature dreams, visions, myths, memories, people, their tales, emotions and unbridled feelings to form different layers. I suffer from fibromyalgia and the pain speaks in some layers.  In a society that is consumed by fake realities, we are prone to alienation and a feeling of otherness even among our own. Women being ‘emotional nomads’ we navigate adapting ourselves through various circumstances just to survive. My protagonists create parallel realms - a refuge and value detachment and solitude amid ‘an environment.’

"We're Islands - Self Portraits" was part of the IGNITE-from within the confines- that I curated during the pandemic in 2020. If you had been following my works, you may remember that.

With "We're Islands - Self Portraits"
my Award-winning work

With my parents - Visalakshi and Gopalakrishnan, and my brother, Dileep Gopal

Sri Murali Cheeroth, Chairman, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi

With my parents and Sri Balamuralikrishnan, Secretary, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi

Stirring Interest

The works that stayed with me are Jayesh Barsati’s Soliloquy in Covid Time, watercolours of the husband and wife duo – Shajith and Smitha Babu, Untitled pen and ink works of Sudayadas, Rahul Balakrishnan’s Daily Life Circus – all State Award Winners, Biji Bhaskar’s Love Lives in the Village (V Sankaramenon Endowment Gold Medal), Akhil Mohan’s Rice Series 27, Abdulla P A’s Rusting Memories (both Honourable Mention), K S Anandapadmanabhan’s sculpture (Special Mention) and all the Award and Special mention works. The other works that piqued my interest were that of Sara Hussain, Tito Stanley, Blesson Bernard, G Unnikrishnan, Helna Merin Joseph, Anu Rajan, Sabitha Kadannappally, Aswathi Prakas, Anupama Alias, Sruthi S Kumar, Bijimol, Babitha Rajiv, Varghese Kalathil, Ameen Khalil, Rejani, Asokan Adipuredath, Meethu Mohan, Rajendran Pullur, Sarath K S, Sarundas Cherukattil, Shasna Majeed, Shilpa T K, P G Sreenivasan, Sreevalsan and Vishnu C S.

I did hear and see some reels on Instagram of the interesting new media works. I have to mention the increased participation of the students and the energy they exhibit is incredible. Kudos to the new and the young!

There are many more you can find once you visit Durbar Hall Art Gallery. Take your time and do visit.

Award winners and Dignitaries

The Travel

I had been to Kochi just for the ceremony held on 25 April. The stay was arranged by the Akademi in a nearby hotel and delicious food was served behind the gallery itself in a makeshift serving area. I was back in Dubai on 26^th by afternoon. So the whole process of travelling, staying, attending the ceremony, walking through the exhibition, meeting family and friends, getting to know new people and rushing back to Dubai all seemed like a dream. After reaching back, I did wonder whether it really did take place or was it something I conjured up.

 

The State Exhibition is on until 12 May 2022 at Durbar Hall Art Gallery, Kochi. Please do visit and leave your feedback through comments. Click a selfie with the artworks and post it on Instagram tagging the artist and the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi.

'I'm Not A Robot' An Inaugural Exhibition Exploring And Integrating The Physical And Digital Art

In the pleasant urban neighbourhood at the City Walk, Dubai, the inaugural exhibition <I'm not a Robot> explores the nuances of the in-between where the digital and the traditional meet. Edward Gallagher, the Director and Curator of Galloire Art Gallery, presents six renowned artists from across the globe who are ingenious in their chosen field. The exhibition that opened on 8 Feb 2022 has works by Daniel Canogar, Jonas Lund, Addie Wagenknecht, Xavier Sole Mora, Jonathan Monaghan and Anne Spalter. The works displayed range from real paintings to AI (Artificial Intelligence) programmed and collaborated works, from virtual reality to Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

Almost all the artists have developed a unique algorithm for their works that have helped their insignia. They also have an interdisciplinary approach. All of the artists point towards a technology-driven future and the many facets of consumerism that affect our day-to-day lives.

Galloire Art Gallery

The Artists and The Works

Daniel Canogar

Canogar’s works seek audience participation and multiple perspectives. The two works – Loom and Amalgama are fine examples of how our day-to-day engagement with technology is used in creative ways of art-making. The screens are placed like sculptures. The colourful stripes passing through Loom remind us of the warp and weft of the textile as if weaving is in progress while we catch some phrases in between. They happen to be the day’s top five Google searches and it is those searches their order which gives colour to the moving stripes. In Amalgama, the best 500 artworks that start from Renaissance to Contemporary art are morphed into fluid forms or organic abstractions where search data is used for artistic reinterpretations of electronic information. Canogar embraces technology and draws inspiration from them to satisfy his creative outpour. He also mentions that our lives are interlaced with technology and a future without its existence is unthinkable.

Memory and loss are constant reminders in Canogar’s works. They involve in the stimulation of our senses by actively participating in his works by touch, by google searches and generated data, by movement, or by mere presence of our body temperature. They react in real-time to different data sets. Our movements are choreographed in a way that adds life to his works as in Dynamo, a site-specific audio-visual installation in the Atrium of the Spanish Pavillion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Anyone who has visited the Spanish Pavillion wouldn’t miss it. Peoples’ movement – physical and virtual, is a crucial component of his works.

Daniel Canogar's works - 'Loom' and 'Amalgama'

Jonas Lund

Lund is a Swedish conceptual artist who critically engages in the networked systems, the power structure and commercial culture. Presenting a set of parameters, his works usually need viewer involvement. Lund investigates issues related to the increasing digitisation of contemporary society through the means of intellectual property, participation, and authority. He explores the complicated relationship between art and commerce. There is a game-like structure, a playfulness to his style. Lund is at once criticizing and taking advantage of the technological evolution as his works are redesigned and rearranged as a commentary on the current system and practices. 

The gallery has displayed two abstract works of Lund. They are mosaics of his successful artworks that had performed well in auctions. Each work records the performance metrics and is with inbuilt near field communicators that give meta-narrative about the painting’s life to the viewer who places the phone near the canvas. It also takes you to a special portal as a collector where you can have chat and interconnectivity with other collectors of Lund’s works. Technology and art connect a community. One of his works is the only NFT in this exhibition. Since we mention NFT, Jonas Lund has his own cryptocurrency, the Jonas Lund Token (JLT) that has a worldwide community of its own.

Jonas Lund's Untitled

Addie Wagenknecht

Wagenknecht’s Alone Together series and Ghost series uphold female presence while being absent. These works are strong reminders of where we as women were and are. Wagenknecht’s take on Yves Klein’s “human paintbrushes” in his *Anthropometry paintings is absolutely stunning and noteworthy. She in turn avoided the display and made a negative space of her reclined nude, a deviation perhaps from the classic odalisque. The painting is technically assisted by a Roomba with a custom algorithm that helps it to navigate around her body until the whole canvas is mapped with Klein’s Blue. The result even when it’s a void “serves to evoke the duality of being invisible while simultaneously claiming presence.”

Ghost series refers to the modern-day slang where a person disappears without explanation in the dating environment after a short stint leading to confusion and disappointment. The hope, the temporary highs, the leading negotiations, and the final vanish are documented through still life-like images of flowers veiled in tulle and organza showing different stages of progress from hope to disappointment and to renewal.

The female lens through which the subjects and situations are examined is what adds to its beauty.

Victoria admiring Addie Wagenknecht's 'Self Portrait - Snow on Cedar'

Xavier Sole Mora

Intensely influenced by Goya, Xavier’s works explore the playfulness and viciousness side by side. A satire on the violent, grotesque and dark world with a fresh impishly nasty perspective, Sole Mora engages the audience verging on the absurd. The theme of good and evil, power-play bordering on cruelty making it tempting and voyeuristic through seemingly naive setups are his insignia. As an artist, Sole Mora’s practice explores the possibilities of technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence to create narratives around social commentary.

The work in the experience room of Galloire, the Golden Feast is a revisit on Goya’s Fool’s Folly from his series Disparates. The etched bulls are here replaced by floating golden hippos that keep bobbing in the air like balloons. A dangerous animal, the deadliest land mammal, is made playful and borders on the comic as virtual reality take us to a farcical land.

In virtual reality and video work, Sole Mora examines our guilty pleasures and our ability to indulge in them. The artist has glamorized the hippos by displaying them in an all-golden hue. As we put on the VR, we are transported to a world surrounded and threatened by the golden hippo presenting a dream-like state. Sole Mora plays with the sense of threat and the beauty assigned to the hippos; the stark contrast of things provoking us to “enjoy” what actually is unenjoyable.

Slava Noor, Founder and Editor of Arte & Lusso experiencing Xavier Sole Mora's virtual reality 'Golden Feast'

Jonathan Monaghan

Drawing inspiration from a wide range of areas from art history to video games to contemporary materialistic culture, Monaghan produces fantastical, candy-colored and otherworldly realms. They provide critical reflection as it examines and uncovers unsettling anxieties associated with technology and consumerism perhaps indicating a bionic future. He creates new mythology for a contemporary society based on technology and materialism.

Monaghan’s two works, Soft Power I and II, replicate aristocratic and royal portraiture and are embellished to the point of being dramatic – portraits of ominous figures. One can observe the signs of the corporate logos and consumer electronics of modern-day also reminding us of pop art, in a blend of his own. It may very well signify our current pandemic state with the face covered in velvet masks evoking us of a Baroque aesthetic with its pomp and grandeur. The portraits are a study of power in the digital age. In the Alien Sofa I (series- A Trace Left by the Future), the real and the artificial seem to fade in ambiguity. The compositions are so textured that it plays with the sense of touch but the reality is otherwise. Again, the real and the artificial worlds collide; Monaghan seems to love to toy with that idea and offer a dystopian (or is it utopian?) glimpse.

Jonathan Monaghan's works Soft Power I, Soft Power II and Alien Sofa I

Anne Spalter

Anne Spalter is an academic pioneer and a digital mixed media artist. In her artistic process, Spalter synthesizes a consistent set of personal symbols with traditional mark-making methods and innovative digital tools further combining AI algorithms with oil paints and pastels to create her unique and incredible works.

Spalter presents a surrealistic landscape in Lost Signals, a video loop and two of her pastel on paper works that abound in personal symbols even while striking a chord with the collective unconscious. The works are AI-generated and combined with traditional media integrating art and technology. One can see the use of light and lighthouses, an interest in signaling as a form of communication, as a warning and the connection that ensues through portals. There’s a sense of spiritual lacing with lighthouses as anchors that guide the wayward travelers, cautioning and communicating to them to be careful, all the while shedding the light and Spalter exploring that base. Again, this work is quite meditative to an observant viewer and deals with subconscious layers. Lighthouses and water are common themes and symbols in Spalter’s works.

Anne Spalter's work 'Electric Pathway to the Lighthouse'
In the background, Addie Wagenknecht's 'Ghost' series

You can also find an incredible code poem by Kenny R Brown.

Code poem by Kenny R Brown

Edward Galleghar, the Director of Galloire Art Gallery, giving a tour of the exhibition

At a time like the present when we are badly hit by the pandemic and when physical communication has been curbed, where our life is lived through digital screens, reminding us of the impact of technology and the reliance on it 24x7, this exhibition raises pertinent questions and becomes more prominent. Technology is advancing at such a pace that there’s no discerning as to where it will take us. It is not only forecasting but also generating and establishing a future.

<I am not a Robot> will run until 28 Feb 2022 at Galloire Art Gallery, London Street, City Walk, Dubai. You can also view the works via the gallery’s website https://www.galloire.com/

It is always better to see such exhibitions in person. Do visit the gallery and experience the show. Addie Wagenknecht and Daniel Canogar happen to be my personal favourites. Who are yours?

Thanks to Slava Noor and Edward Gallagher for the invite. 

*Anthropometry paintings are paintings where Yves Klein dipped nude women in his patented International Klein Blue paint in front of an invited audience along while the musicians played Klein’s Monotone Symphony – a single note played for twenty minutes followed by twenty minutes of silence.

"Vetera Novis Augere" - Latif al-Ani - Father of Iraqi Photography

The talk was just beginning after the salutations as I entered into a full house at the Folio – Majlis Talks at Alserkal on a cold evening last December. The seating itself was quite informal and audience-friendly, making us shed our inhibitions (if any!). I took an empty seat behind in between two seated, made myself comfortable and slid into the conversation. For the convenience of the audience who didn’t understand Arabic (it’s a shame that I don’t know the language and I really long to understand it), there was a translator as well. The conversation was directed by Beirut-based Iraqi photographer, Tamara Abdul Hadi and was translated by Iraqi writer and researcher Maryam Wissam Al Dabbagh. The 87-year old Latif al-Ani had the smile and gesture of an innocent child, particularly with his mischievous laugh. I loved listening to the familiar string of sounds and cherished what they said even though I couldn’t discern the complete meaning of it. I patiently waited for the English translation each time.

“I was documenting for the sake of archiving. I never thought Iraq would arrive at what it has today.”

Latif al-Ani

Latif al-Ani is an Iraqi photographer par excellence, also known as “the Father of Iraqi Photography.” I actually went in there without knowing the magnificence of this humungous personality only to be delightfully enlightened. Born in 1932 in Karbala, he has witnessed the glory and the fall of Iraq, alike. His photographs are both ancient and modern in nature with the changing times. What started as an assignment in the Iraqi Petroleum Company he worked for took him to new heights. His job was to document the modernization and industrialization of Iraq during the socio-economic boom of the time. His love to capture moments that he found beautiful and uncanny at the same time took him on a journey across the region by foot, by car and even by plane. Al-Ani was the first photographer who took the aerial shots of Baghdad. His experimental nature along with the right opportunities at the right time gave him the impetus to produce excellent works. His intention was to capture those moments for the future generations not knowing the plight of what was to come. His extensive and invaluable archives of the radically shifting socio-political and economic climate and the cultural landscape have scaled to history photographs for they are documents of an era that the country has long lost amid revolutions, coups and wars. He remembers his camera weighing 16 kgs with only 12 films to capture and what with the kind of technology that everyone is a photographer these days and al-Ani chuckled.

“I wanted to ensure each image was beautiful, in addition to being beautiful. I was always preoccupied with beauty.”

Al Ani was gifted a camera at the age of 13 or 14 by his brother if I remember right. Probably, that was the turning point in his life. Black and white photographs are what he prefers and his unique gaze documents the late 50s until the 70s with utmost flair. He shows women at work, girls in gym classes, mechanical engineering students, high-speed urbanization, modern architecture, tall office towers, and even Western tourists strolling through archaeological remnants. It’s a social documentary, one replete with information and education. Architecture, landscape, portraiture, cosmopolitanism, daily life are all seamlessly presented in his oeuvre. Until the restrictions were imposed, photography was a mode of life that was curbed with the turbulent times. He lost a good number of archives as the aftermath of the war, he mentioned. 

“I was repulsed by the fact that holding a camera became a dangerous act, and I didn’t want to be a photographer anymore. I left Iraq briefly, but came back because it is my home.”

The Talks were part of Latif Al Ani’s solo exhibition Vetera Novis Augere - ‘augment the old with the new’ that happened at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde at Alserkal Avenue, in collaboration with the Arab Image Foundation, Beirut. The exhibition was from 18 Nov to 28 Dec 2019.

That day I got back home with different images of Iraq that we have never seen anytime recently; happy beaming faces of men, women and children alike, robust and well-managed cities, well-clad, urban-fashion women, confident and formidable young girls and much more. Even I could feel the sense of loss of a wonderful heritage and what the place has become now. It’s a terrible plight to lose everything to war. It just slaps on the face of how transitory everything can be. In 1979, al-Ani stopped capturing images when photographing in public was prohibited during the Iran-Iraq war. Later in 2003, most of his works were destroyed by the U.S led invasion of Iraq. What remains of his photographs thus become quasi-miraculous, salvaging an era from oblivion.

“I think viewers are surprised or shocked when they see them in contrast to what they see of Iraq today. I hope that they make people think and feel the pain we feel, and get inspired to help Iraq have another “golden age”. I’m happy that my work has had the interest it has had, this late in my life.”

P.S: This happened in December last year and am sorry for such a delay but I wanted to share the experience and let my readers know about this legendary personality.

Hope you liked this post. Do leave your comments and feedback, also do like, share and subscribe. Thanks.

Courtesy: Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde, National – Arts and Culture, Art Forum, Studio International

Gandhi- Beyond Borders

My recent blog post on Artist K M Madhusudhanan’s (one of the eminent members of The Radical Movement, an avant-garde movement of the 80s) first Solo exhibition “Gandhi – Beyond Borders” happening at 1X1Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai was published in Nalini Malaviya's blog, Art Scene India. The exhibition is closing on 31 Dec 2019. It unmistakably explores the traces of melancholy, a sense of foreboding and inherent-volcanic-violence in today’s times. In case you are in Dubai and you haven't checked it out yet, do hurry.

It's been a great honour and pleasure to talk to this eminent artist about this particular exhibition and his earlier art phase as well. Thanks to Madhusudhanan Sir for his time.

You can follow this LINK to read about this exhibition.