Visitors looking at the art works at the Currents exhibition.
Women are currently at the forefront of the burgeoning Middle Eastern arts and culture landscape, said organisers of “Currents”, an all-female exhibition which opened on Tuesday at W Doha’s Art 29.
In its Doha debut, Emergeast-a pioneering online art gallery exclusively for Middle Eastern artists and art collectors-presents 32 artworks by eight female artists.
“We have 75 artists, but we are exhibiting in Doha eight female artists for the first time. We brought them together to highlight the status quo of our art landscape right now - how women are at the forefront of the development of arts and culture scene,” Dima Abdul Kader, Emergeast co-founder, told The Peninsula at the opening night attended by dozens of Doha’s art enthusiasts.
From Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Sharjah and Doha, women have carved their own niche in the region’s art and culture scene, playing crucial role in its development and the exhibition is a gesture of support for them, added Dima.
Established in 2014 as the first online gallery to support emerging Middle Eastern artists and provide aspiring collectors art at an affordable price, Emergeast serves as an important platform to make the artists accessible internationally which is otherwise challenging in a traditional art market paradigm.
“There are many emerging artists in the region, that’s why there can never be enough entities or foundations to support them all. For this reason, we decided to launch an online gallery to be able to bring on artists and not be limited to the four walls of the gallery,” said co-founder Nikki Meftah.
The exhibition features works by Ghada Al Muhammedi, Lulu M, PegahLari, Rabee Baghshani, Roxana Manoucheri, Shadi Talaei, Perryhan El Ashmawi and Bouthayna Al Muftah in varying forms and mediums from traditional forms to new media, including silk screen, resin on canvas, digital collage and mixed media on paper.
The highlight of the show is a new series by Bouthayna Al Muftah-one of the fast rising Qatari artists.
Titled “Yeebhom” (Bring them back), the eight-piece never-before-seen collection derives inspiration from traditional Qatari song Toub Toub Ya Bahar! sung by women along the shore waiting for safe return of their loved ones from pearl diving.
“The series is about women and how they sing these songs as their husbands, sons and brothers used to go out for pearl diving, not knowing who will be coming back. They sing passionately to sea demanding it to keep its waters calm, to bring them home safely,” said Bouthayna. The exhibition is open to the public from 9am to 7pm every day until May 20 at the at Art 29 at W Doha Hotel and Residences.
