JEDDAH, 13 March 2006 — In an exhibition entitled “The Six” which opened on Wednesday at the Atelier in Jeddah, six Saudi artists are honoring Abdul Halim Radawi, a prominent Saudi artist who died recently.
The six artists — Taha Al-Sabban, Abdullah Hammas, Shalimar Sharbatly, Fahd Al-Hujailan, Hanan Ba-Hamdan, Raeda Ashour — and two guests of honor, Bakur Shaykhon and Adel Tharwat, honored Radawi by dedicating their paintings to him.
Fahd Al-Hujailan said he was actually painting when he received the news of Radawi’s death. He then attempted to recall the gracious spirit of Radawi in his work.
“For me painting is more of a way of living instead of merely practicing,” he said.
For Al-Hujailan art is an unpredictable and overwhelming experience that releases the subconscious.
The exhibition is rich with different pictures by each of the artists. Al-Sabban’s paintings skillfully depict the traditional Hijazi neighborhood, its unique buildings with wooden lattice windows and its narrow alleys where boys loiter and play.
The Egyptian artist, Adel Tharwat, brought to the exhibition the myths and folklore of Pharoanic life.
Though the varied styles were clearly interesting to both artists and visitors, a short film by Bakur Shaykhon could not be shown. Instead of the film, Shaykhon exhibited a painting done in the 1980s.
Shaykhon decided a number of years ago that painting did not satisfy him so he transformed his artistic approach. He made a film with three themes: The new world order, international law and human rights. In the background is the famous anthem that stirred the Arab masses in the late 1950s and 1960s.
At the exhibition, Shaykhon showed the painting but turned it upside down as a way of saying that he no longer believes in traditional methods of art.
