‘Moonlight’ creative art shines at Jaber Al-Ali
Amidst the nerve-wracking tension ruling the world today, the endless flow of news stories about wars, terrorism, killing, displacement and proxy wars tearing the region apart, and the prevalence of the culture of hate and blame, it was an absolutely mind-soothing experience to find a spot for enjoying tranquillity and peace of mind and appreciate some of the aesthetic aspects in this life. This was my experience at the ‘Moonlight’ art exhibition held at Jaber Al-Ali Secondary School in Mubarak Al-Kabeer educational area.
Held under auspices of the area’s director Mansour Al-Daihani, and with the presence of the school director Khaled Al-Sager, the area’s senior art education supervisor Fahad Al-Essa and art education supervisor Waleed Al-Taqi, the ‘Moonlight’ art exhibition initially opened for two days, but was extended for a week in view of the unprecedented number of visitors it attracted from various public and private schools and art-lovers around Kuwait.
In an exclusive statement to Kuwait Times, the head of the organizing committee and the school’s art education’s head of department Fahad Al-Najjar explained why the name ‘Moonlight’ was chosen. He said that all the paintings displayed at the exhibition had been painted using special phosphoric colours mixed with regular acrylic ones to glow under ultraviolet light (dark light).
“This is the same idea of moonlight, as the moon does not shine by itself but its light is only a reflection of sunlight,” Najjar said, adding that the exhibition presented ‘interactive art’, where viewers feel united with the pieces on display.
“The exhibition is actually a combination of several art forms - painting, installation art, interactive art, design, special effects, a mime performance and live background music played by the creative music teacher Nizar Abdul Samee, who enchanted all visitors to the extent that a female visitor told me she could not control her tears in such a magical atmosphere,” he said.
Najjar noted that some visitors initially thought the masked performers were actually a painting, before they started miming and shook hands with some of them. Najjar expressed special thanks to his colleagues Ahmed Abdul Mo’ez, Wael Mohammed and Hassan Ghadanfar for their relentless innovative efforts.
Also speaking to Kuwait Times, school director Khaled AlSager expressed deep appreciation for the efforts exerted by the art education department and its supervision and the cooperation of all school staff to make this unique exhibition one of the most successful ones.
“This exhibition managed to attract students and teaching staff members from all the area’s schools, as well as from various schools in other areas and non-educational facilities such as PAAET and some private schools,” he underscored, noting that he decided to extend the exhibition’s duration to meet the growing number of visitors. He also said he was considering having the works displayed at a permanent section within the school.
“If you wish to be creative and distinctive, make the decision, select team members, plan, listen, take part and go for it,” said Mubarak Al-Kabeer’s senior art education supervisor Fahd Al-Essa, noting that the exhibition was an integrated, creative and educational process involving learners, teachers, HoDs, school administration and supervision to achieve ultimate success.
Finally, art supervisor Waleed Al-Taqi said several sessions were held with Najjar in the few months’ preparation phase to come up with a genuine idea of holding an exhibition displaying all art techniques taught to learners, and at the same time create fascinating art teaching aids that would highly appeal to learners.
“We finally decided using phosphoric colours, which are usually used in parties,” he said, expressing his amazement at the cooperation shown by various school departments in achieving the success of the Moonlight art exhibition.