Upcoming Exhibitions at Athr

Athr Gallery will be showcasing three solo artists, Faisal Almalki, Sara Abdu and Ramy Alqthami in the beginning of November. Read on for details.

LONE CANYON Faisal Almalki Solo Show Opening: Sunday, 2nd of November, 2014 03 November, 2014 – 10 January, 2015 Space 01, 5th Floor, Athr Gallery Faisal Almalki’s upcoming show titled Lone Canyon explores that tiny space between a woman and her veil as the artist encourages the public to see things the way she does.

THE INTANGIBLE BONDS IN OUR EXISTENCE Sara Abdu Solo Show Opening: Sunday, 2nd of November, 2014 03 November, 2014 – 10 January, 2015 Space 03, RF Floor, Athr Gallery In her first solo show titled The Intangible Bonds In Our Existence, Sara realizes the bonds that exist between humans and their surroundings; bonds that link any human to their emotions, realities and dreams; bonds that play an integral role that shape and affect us. She realizes these bonds as a co-existent consciousness within our own existence.   AL BITRA Ramy Alqthami Video Screening Opening: Sunday, 2nd of November, 2014 03 November – 03 December, 2014 Space 05, 5th Floor, Athr Gallery Ramy Alqthami revisits ‘Al Bitra’- the concrete block which was given to his family at random by the leaders of his tribe in Taif that bordered his land; a numbered block that easily identified this land as his. In his simple video of its removal, he reexamines the ‘Bitra’ as a representation of an economical, sociopolitical phenomenon that has consumed the state of humans. He poses the removal of a tangible concrete object with the removal of a metaphorical notion of borders and identity.   PREVIEW OF ZIAD ANTAR’S EXPIRED SERIES  02 November – 03 December, 2014 Space 02, RF Floor, Athr Gallery Captions (top to bottom) – Faisal Almalki, Mirror, 2014 – Sara Abdu, A Sleepless Savior Within A Dream Part II, 2014 – Ramy Alqthami, Image still of Al Bitra, 2014 – Ziad Antar, Mecca I, 2012 Copyright © 2014 Athr Gallery.

The Language of Human Consciousness

An upcoming exhibition this month by the Athr Gallery in Jeddah will be delivering the largest exhibition in Saudi Arabia on arts inspired by the study of geometry.

Dates and Timings

Jul 10 – Oct 10, 2014

Saturday to Thursday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm (Ramadan Time: 12 – 5 pm / 9.30 pm – 12 am)

Location

Athr Gallery

5th & RF Floors, Serafi Mega Mall, Tahlia St, Jeddah,

For thousands of years, the question of whether the basics of geometry came naturally to all humans or if they had to be taught; has been explored. According to Plato’s writings, Socrates attempted to determine how well an uneducated slave in a Greek household understood geometry, and eventually concluded that the slave’s soul ‘must have always possessed this knowledge’.

In the midst of startling havoc; humans by this very instinct seek to find order in this chaos, to reason with it; translating it to a language that is perhaps visual and universal is a common field of exploration for scientists and artists alike.

Athr Gallery will deliver a groundbreaking exhibition titled The Language of Human Consciousness in July 2014 and will include work by over 40 artists from around the world. Most of these artists will be exhibiting work for the first time in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East at large. To inaugurate the opening on July 10, Director of TATE Modern London, Chris Dercon will moderate a discussion with pioneering artists in the field.

Athr Gallery has established itself as a leading cultural institution, in which providing a platform for local Saudi artists is at its core. Through this exhibition – in which both local and international artists will be showcased side-by-side – the intended impact and potential benefits are twofold: establish an association between local Saudi artists and leading international artists, and provide an opportunity for the public to experience international culture through a local exhibition.

The Language of Human Consciousness takes geometry as a starting point, accepting its heritage as a symbol of purity, intelligence and perfection and bringing it towards a more contemporary interpretation as a language for exploring the atypical, the imperfect and the alternative. Works are brought together that seek to dissect segments of times, contexts and places and open them up to universal interpretation. The works, in the potency of the contradiction between their infinite possibilities as geometric compositions and the range of their references – social, political, art historical or other – are reduced to a neutral ground: to a human and conceivable form.

The exhibition will examine geometry in a comprehensive exhibition that showcases a multitude of applications in geometry. The dynamic exhibition will include sacred geometry as well as work that unconventionally utilizes geometry, an example of the latter would be the work of Sama Mara, who will present a series titled A Hidden Order, a culmination of several years of collaboration between composer Lee Westwood and artist Sama Mara; where they attempted to interpret music into a visual geometric form. To realise this ambitious exhibition, Athr Gallery has collaborated with over 20 leading galleries around the world – From Lisson Gallery in London to Galleria Continua in San Gimignano and The Third Line in Dubai.

Image and text courtesy of Athr Gallery

Ramadan Nights at Athr Gallery

Athr Gallery presents a live calligraphy performance, a calligraphy workshop and a group exhibition this Ramadan.

Strokes In Dialogue
Two master calligraphers
Wang Dongling & Samir Sayegh
In a live calligraphy performance
Tuesday, 23rd of July, 2013 at 10.00 PM

Summer Clubs for Children 2013

The summer is upon us, and although the first few days of the summer vacation will surely bring welcome relief to children and parents alike, for many youngsters, boredom will begin to set in. Kids will fall into an all too relaxed routine, sleeping late and waking late. If parents are not worrying about how to prise their sons away from Minecraft and daughters away from the Disney Channel, they are fretting over the lack of use of grey cells for a whole three months. Summer clubs can be an excellent way to stimulate little people and get them using their minds and bodies constructively. The following are some of the summer clubs we have come to know about in Jeddah that are still open to registeration. We urge you to visit and do your research before taking a final decision.

If you would like your summer club activity to be listed here, drop us an email with all the details.

Barbie Chefs Jeddah

Get your young girls involved in their food by giving them the chance to make their own delicious baked goodies, pasta, drinks, and special ramazan food in Barbie Chefs Jeddah.  The club includes a special cake decorating session by RIFCREATIONS (specialists in baking and cake decoration). Each girl will learn how to bake a cake, brownies and numerous other delicious stuff which they get to take home, and will enjoy a great time making a mess that you don’t have to clean up!!! What a better excuse for moms to sit back and enjoy the food made by their princesses.Age: 9 -16 and above ( only girls)
Dates: 11th – 20th june 2013
Timings: 5 – 7 pm (2 hours daily)
location: rehab dist 5
Charges: SR 500 (all the equipment and supplies included)

Art Attack and Baby Chef

Kids art and craft activities and baby chef sessions is starting from 22nd June – 3rd July ( Thursday and Friday not included). It’s 10 days of activities full of fun.

Age : 4 -10 yrs
Date : 22 June -3rd July
Charges: SR 375 (including all the supplies)
Timings : 5- 7 pm
Location: rehab distt 5
Contact: huescollections@gmail.com

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Islamic Summer classes for Boys (Age 8 to 14)

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Summer Fun with The Light House Project

Kids summer camp for baking and decoration

Course includes:
How to make vanilla cupcakes
How to make chocolate cupcakes
How to make frosting
Decorating cupcakes
Making fondant cutouts

Thursday, 13 June 2013

11:00 until 14:00

Fee : SR 200
Age : 6 & above
Moms may accompany their kids in a workshop with payment

Kids Zone Summer Camp

Kids Zone is organizing Summer Camp for kids’ age of 4 yrs to 11 yrs which will be from 15 June to 3 July.We have Morning & Evening Sessions.
Morning Timings 09:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Evening Timings 05:00 PM to 08:00 PM
Registration closes on 14 June.
Fees Structure
Junior Age 4-8 yrs 400 SR
Senior Age 9-12 yrs 500 SRLocation: Al Aziziyah near Danube Amir Mitab Street.
Contact: Mrs. Rafiq (0563760513) from 08:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Dorothy Boyer Fine Art Open House

The Dorothy Boyer Fine Art Open House will be held in Jeddah on Wednesday, 29 May 2013 from 11:00 am and Thursday, 30 May 2013 from 12 noon. All are welcome.

For venue details please e mail: arabianaccents@yahoo.com. Featuring new works from the Islamic Spain Series. To view the entire DBFA Collection please visit the Dorothy Boyer Site.

 

Prayer Rooms

Ammar Al Attar Solo Exhibition
Opening: Tuesday, 14th May 2013
7.30 PM – 9.30 PM
Athr Gallery

Exhibition Dates: 14th May – 13th June, 2013

Ammar Al Attar surveys prayer rooms across Jeddah. Mandated in public buildings by national legislation, these informal worship areas are ubiquitous, providing the faithful a place for their five prayers a day regardless of their location.

The viewer experiences the artist’s perspective of these rooms as they are. Nothing is altered or staged, not even the lighting. The authenticity of the depictions allows the series to collectively describe an engagement with a space. This uncontrived honesty towards a subject is characteristic of Al Attar’s oeuvre.

The interiors are often humble, in line with Islamic tenets and in contrast to the region’s exterior architectural opulence. Serenity and stillness are prevalent in these makeshift rooms, elevating their spatial reality as industrial caravans or rooms in malls and business centers, to that of egalitarian spiritual sanctuaries. The prayer rooms mark the passage of time directly through the ever-present, often multiple occurrence of clocks, and more imperceptibly through the awareness of the movement of the sun.

Rituals that take place before entering the rooms are inferred – ablutions and perhaps even a call to prayer. One cannot help but wonder about the individuals in these very different spaces, performing the same rites. This sense of order and togetherness offers a reprieve from the bustling chaos of urban development. Even the demarcated rows in the carpeting are a comfort.

Al Attar chronicles his surroundings and contemporary landscape, going beyond mere documentation, and engaging with issues impacting the social fabric. These empty constructs where people meet are widely scattered evidence of faith, embodying the crossover between public and private space. The locales appear obscure, but upon closer inspection provide a visual history of the artist’s rapidly developing country by presenting a cultural continuity which is rarely visible amidst overwhelming change.

About The Artist
Ammar Al Attar (1981) was born in Dubai and lives and works in Ajman. He carries a Masters in International Business from Dubai’s University of Wollongong, and a Bachelors in Business Information Technology from Dubai’s Higher Colleges of Technology. He has taken part in photography courses, both locally and internationally.

Al Attar’s series of UAE Prayer Rooms was exhibited at the 2013 Sharjah Biennial, entitled “Re:Emerge: Towards A New Cultural Cartography.” He was selected for the 2013 Artist in Residence (A.i.R.) program, a partnership between Art Dubai, London’s Delfina Foundation, the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Tashkeel. His work has been shown throughout the UAE, and in the Thessaloniki Museum in Greece. The artist was shortlisted for the International Emerging Artist Award.

Ammar Al Attar is represented by Cuadro Fine Art Gallery in Dubai.

Video (works)

Ahmed Mater, Pelt Him!, 2012, Ed. 5 + 1 AP

Group Exhibition
Opening: Tuesday, 14th May 2013
7.30 PM – 9.30 PM
Athr Gallery

Exhibition Dates:
14th May – 13th July, 2013

Participating Artists:
Adel Abidin
Ziad Antar
Hans Op De Beeck
Ayman Yossri Daydban
Hazem Harb
Ahmed Mater
Motaz Nasr
Sami Al Turki
David Zink Yi

Since the 1960s and advancement of technology, video art has taken a prominent route to becoming a fundamental contemporary art medium. With a growing number of international and Arab artists expressing their views, Athr Gallery is proud to present Video(works), a distinctive exhibition in that it celebrates the medium of video art rather than a specific theme or topic.

This exhibition is in collaboration with Hauser & Wirth Gallery, Galleria Continua and Selma Feriani Gallery.

Image courtesy of Athr Gallery and the artist

Silk Painting Workshop

Self-growth and self-improvement are important parts of life. For many of us, this slows down or even worse, comes to a halt once we leave formal education. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are many unexplored avenues to seek out, and many new skills to acquire. Silk painting classes are catching on, and there are now instructors teaching this art to those who wish to expand their skill base.

Silk painting is the application of paints or dyes directly onto silk fabric using an exciting array of watercolour techniques.

Uzma Sabahat is one such lady who has been instructing in the art of silk painting  for the past eighteen years in her home country Pakistan. Now that she resides in Jeddah, she has begun giving workshops here.

Uzma’s silk painting.

Her next workshop is a 3-day event to be held on the 12th, 13th and 14th of May, 2013 from 9-11am. The cost is SR 350 for the entire 3-day course, including all materials and equipment.

Visit Uzma’s Facebook page to register.

3rd Silk Painting Basics Workshop

Following the success of previous workshops, Qurratulain Sikander will be conducting the 3rd session of Silk Painting, teaching the basics of the art. Read on for details.

Topics to be Covered

• Material Concept
• Painting techniques
• Guta usage
• Tools
• Basic technique for drawing and coloring
• How to fill the background

Fabric, paint and brushes will be provided.

Course time and location will be announced soon. Duration 3 hours. Hop, skip and jump to the Facebook event page to register and for further details.

Price 230 SR (Including all tools )

Workshop on Silk Painting

A workshop is being organized for beginners to orient them in the art of Silk Painting. This is the first batch, which aims to generate interest in this Asian art form.

The workshop will include an introduction to the following:

• Material Concept
• Painting techniques
• Guta usage
• Tools
• Basic technique for drawing and colouring
• How to fill the background

Fabric, paint and brushes will be provided.

Date: 23rd March, 2013

Time: 9:30am-11:30am

Venue: Al Zahraa District (a map will be sent to confirmed attendees)

Register your interest by visiting the Facebook event page or emailing q.sikander@gmail.com