An inside view into hard work of creation
The exhibition – Process – presents works of five artists at Katara Art Center
An artist’s studio is the central nervous system for creativity. The process of art creation is often a cacophony of ideas, passion, research and experimentation, all of which are necessary in order to develop and craft a powerful work of art.
The studio is home to the process, a place where beauty and frustration co-exist simultaneously. Art is not magic. It requires hard work, perseverance, a lot of contemplation and the courage to face multiple dead ends, which eventually culminate – through figure, composition, colour, light, and texture – into a final work of art that touches the soul and satisfies the senses.
The exhibition – Process – gives audiences an inside view to what this hard work of creation is all about. Commenced recently at Building 5 in Katara, the group exhibition includes five artists of diverse backgrounds sharing their creative process and the final pieces of art.
A good number of people, observing the Covid-19 guidelines, visited the exhibition that was originally planned to be started on March 17 but the pandemic delayed it for six months. The participating artists, who got dejected when the exhibition was postponed, are happy now that they have been able to add new creative works to their earlier plans. The exhibition will run every day from 10am to 7pm for almost two months till November 7.
The work of Bachir Mohamed, a Doha-based Syrian artist, explores and presents coinage of Qatar’s rulers from 1851 to the present day. “The exhibition – Process – signifies the process how to create art. For every artist, it [process] is very different. It depends on the inspiration and situation of the artist,” said Bachir.
Speaking about his work included in the exhibition, the artist said: “My inspiration has been the coinage of the Islamic world and of Qatar. I studied history, art and archaeology as well. I have been working on this project for almost two years.
“I took time to create designs, to read the history and to make sure that everything is specific. My works started with the first ruler of Qatar and comes to the present day. Each coin displayed at the exhibition has lots of details. I have to spend at least one month working on each coin.”
When asked about how he spent his time during the lockdown, the artist said: “Having lot of free time sometime does not help as an artist. It can be very frustrating. I was really active for the first two months of the pandemic. I was creating more designs and other stuff. It turned out be really frustrating after some time. Some time you need to get out of the box to be really inspired. I had more time to actually organise myself. The pandemic has taught us one lesson that life should not be taken for granted.”
Soudani Jawher aka Vajo is a Tunisian street and visual artist. He studied image design. He started doing street art in 2000. He remained busy doing street art during the recent revolution in his country. Vajo has been in Qatar for about three years now. “For this exhibition, I have worked on something related to my roots in Gabes, south of Tunisia – also called the Gulf of Gabes.
The area used to be 100 percent pure nature. There used to be lots of fish in the rivers. Then big industry came to the city and people started doing work with the industry. Later, the industry caused lot of chemical pollution in the area.”
The artist is worried that what has happened to his area can happen anywhere in the world. “The work I have exhibited here portrays universal thing. The problem [pollution] is everywhere and universal.”
Talking about his experience of staying at home, Vejo said: “I am still working from home. I think I have learnt from the lockdown how to be patient. I have got connected to myself more. Humanity needs to think more to save the nature. This is what my work here talks about.”
Abdulaziz Yousef is a Qatari digital artist and cartoonist. In the exhibition, he has acrylicbased art works. He has an art installation and a video talking about his experiences. “My work shows the process of mediation, how to clear out the mind, soul, how to separate the ego and return to the true self. It also shows how to reflect the process artistically.”
About his experience of the lockdown, Abdulaziz said: “2020 was a big shift for me. I have evolved a lot. I have been rethinking about what I have been doing.”
Maryam al-Semait and Nawar al-Mutlaq, both Qatari artists, presented beautiful art and sculpture work at the exhibition. They have done a deconstruction of five riyal bank note. Maryam has studied traditional art from Prince’s School of Traditional Art in England. “I have obtained master’s degree in service design. Out of my interest I got diploma in traditional art. I love traditional Islamic art.”
Speaking about her work in the exhibition, Maryam said: “My work focuses both on contemporary and traditional arts. We have six pieces including sculptures and mix media. The lockdown has helped me create something new. Only challenge has been adaptation of the change.”