Month: January 2018

Reach Art–a pop up art show

Reach Art, (potentially bad) wordplay on reaching out, was a literal attempt by me to reach out to expat artists in Jeddah. Look, the way I see it, you don’t learn anything until you step out of your comfort zone. You may be completely blind, feeling about in the dark to find footing, and you definitely could fall flat on your face. But you may also end up finding that light shining at the end of the tunnel. Eureka! Reach Art turned out to be a bit of both: falling flat + shining light. By falling flat I mean that …

The Other Story Project–collaboration

The Other Story Project is a fascinating community project initiated by Fatima Al Banawi in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  Here’s a bit more about Fatima Banawi herself: I find her and her work very inspirational. The focus of my own past community projects in Karachi has been to provide a platform for the stories and voices of women and children. And now, with my MA project I hope to reach a greater understanding of contemporary forms of narrative art, not to mention the interchangeability of mediums such as writing, painting, sculpting, performing etc. The Other Story Project also has another arm …

Visual Journal, page 1

Ayla is 2 months old. Rayyan and Manahil are 4 and 5. My online art classes are picking up. My regular calligraphy painting orders are still flowing in. I’m discovering more and more about art in Jeddah and loving it. And most important of all, I am in the midst of MA fine art digital online through Camberwell College of Art. And even though I am relishing every minute of it and I feel soooo inspired by my colleagues and professors, not to mention the OODLES I end up learning every single time I speak with them, I’ve gotta say, …

Visiting the Luminarium

A few days ago I heard that the Luminarium had arrived in Jeddah. Isn’t the name itself so awe-inspiring and mysterious? Reminded me instantly of the book ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern. Anyway, I took out some time on the weekend to go see the Luminarium and the first word I can think of to describe the experience is: mesmerizing. It was mesmerizing, fascinating, calming, stimulating all in one. It was a giant inflatable, handmade organism that glowed gently from within with flickering lights in different hues and colors and a gentle soothing rumble of music resonated within it. …