Presents Bahrain Art Week in Singapore A Southeast Asia Debut

(by Jamal A. Rahim)  

SINGAPORE, 22 October 2018 – For the very first time in Southeast Asia, Art Bahrain Across Borders, an initiative launched in 2015 to bring the contemporary art of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the world, presents Bahrain Art Week Singapore. This inaugural exhibition – which will showcase 18 artists – marks a significant milestone for the Kingdom as it seeks to build strong diplomatic bridges with Singapore, through a shared love of the arts and culture. 

by Ahmed Anan

Held under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa  Wife of the King of Bahrain, Art Bahrain Across Borders is also supported by strategic partner, Tamkeen, the country’s agency that promotes the private sector and focuses on human resource capital. 

Since it was first set up, Art Bahrain Across Borders has taken artists to different world art centres. Since 2015, it has exhibited in prestigious venues like the V&A Musem and Saatchi Art Gallery in London; Bikaner House in New Delhi; Gostiny Divor in Moscow and just last month, at the Grand Palais in Paris. 

More than 200 specially invited guests from the art sector, including art collectors and enthusiasts, artists, gallerists, curators, art institutions and the diplomatic community attended a VIP Preview this evening, with Guest of Honour, Mr Ho Meng Kit, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Business Federation. Shaikha Maram Bint Isa Al Khalifa, Director of the Office of Her Royal Highness Wife of the King of Bahrain represented the Royal Patron at the Preview. 

Bahrain Art Week Singapore will be open to the public at the Museum of Contemporary Arts at Loewen Road from Tuesday 23 October through to Saturday 27 October, from 10.30 am to 7.30 pm daily. Admission is free. 

(Conversation with a Bird, Linda Matter)

More than 70 pieces of artwork that offer diverse and cutting edge expressions work in oil, pastels, acrylic, water-colour, resin, fabric and photography will be showcased at Bahrain Art Week Singapore.   

Curated around the theme ‘Legacy’, these diverse works represent the Kingdom’s well-established and lively contemporary art tradition in a country steeped in culture, art and heritage that goes back 5,000 years to the Dilmunic era. 

Co-curator of this Singapore edition, Ms Kaneka Subberwal, who conceived and created Art Bahrain Across Borders says: “The 18 artists participating in Bahrain Art Week Singapore draw from an inheritance acquired over the generations, even as they express themselves with new forms, ideas and experiments. In this specially curated edition, you will find visual narratives shaped by their values, beliefs, as well as advocacy for different causes – from youth to women’s rights and connecting to a fast moving, tech-driven world. We believe that the works will resonate with the Singapore art-loving public as many of these are based on shared values, beliefs and causes, regardless of geographical borders or culture. 

BLESSING by Seema Baqi

“Art Bahrain Across Borders chose Singapore as the country of its debut showcase in Southeast Asia. Singapore’s reputation as a regional arts hub precedes itself.  Singapore’s growth in the arts and cultural sector has been phenomenal over the past few years, with more international art galleries being set up here, as well as international art exhibitions and auctions. It is our hope therefore – that this inaugural edition of Bahrain Art Week Singapore marks just the first of many more arts and cultural exchanges to come, as we seek to add value and greater diversity to the thriving arts sector in Singapore.” 

Bahrain Art Week Singapore is organised by art consultancy firm, Art Select and curated by art consultant, Amrita Kilachand and Kaneka Subberwal, founder of Art Select.