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PRESS RELEASE
November 2009
CUTTING
THE RIBBON FOR A NEW ERA AT BAIT MUZNA
Bait Muzna Gallery first opened its doors in Old Muscat at a time that could not be more auspicious - the start of the new millennium. This event, a milestone in the cultural life of the country, would turn out to be more significant than envisaged at the time, for it marked the beginning of a remarkable efflorescence of art.
In the year 2000, the only major venue for art exhibitions was the Omani Society for Fine Arts. Bait Al Zubair consisted only of the main museum; and Bait Baranda was not yet on the horizon. A few years after the opening of Bait Muzna, more local galleries began to appear. Bait Muzna Gallery had already set a trend of promoting local artists, both Omani and expatriate; and of holding major international exhibitions.
Picking up on Muscat's emerging art scene, several of the European and Asian Embassies in Oman began to sponsor exhibitions of world-class, as well as up-and-coming young artists from their home countries, often paired with Muscat artists. Along with the Omani Society for Fine Arts, Bait Muzna Gallery was a major player in this exciting development.
This fertile arts environment gave rise to The Circle, a group of Muscat and Gulf artists who promoted avant guard art, including exciting installations in the galleries and on the street. Again, Bait Muzna Gallery was a key force behind the movement.
Next, Bait Muzna Gallery helped place Oman on the International art map by exhibiting annually at Art Paris Abu Dhabi, starting in 2006; and by entering the pages of the prestigious Dubai publication, Canvas, where important exhibitions in the major capitals of the world are announced.
With all this under their belts, along with huge successes over the past two years and large-scale contemporary exhibitions on the horizon, the owners of the Gallery, HH Sayyida Muzna Kais and Sayyida Susan Al Said, and Art Director, Ellen Molliet, realised that Bait Muzna had outgrown its space. With characteristic ingenuity, Ellen Molliet devised a plan to double the wall space of the Gallery within the existing structure of the old house.
When the new face of the Gallery is unveiled on November 15 2009, visitors will enjoy a decidedly contemporary space that at same time maintains the essence of Bait Muzna's traditional architecture. The interior courtyard is roofed in glass and the balcony terraces have been extended to create a 380 degree gallery overlooking the garden galleries below. Interior spaces are opened up and stairways broadened according to a vision that is expansive and future-oriented.
Leading Arab Artists at the Inaugural Exhibition,
New Territories
To mark the re-opening of the Gallery as the momentous occasion that it is, not only for Bait Muzna, but also for the accelerating development of the arts in Oman, three leading artists in the world of Contemporary Arab Art will be featured - Yousef Amad from Qatar; Mounirah A Mosly from Saudi Arabia and Ahmad Al Bahraini from Iraq.
YOUSEF AHMAD
is one of the pioneers of modern art in the Gulf. Educated in Cairo and
California, Yousef Ahmad produces abstract pieces works that have won
the praise of connoisseurs over the past three decades. This prolific
artist is inspired by refracted light on the forms and changing hues of
the desert landscape, as well as by calligraphy. In Ahmad's mixed-media
works colors and textures are often derived from natural elements. Lines
are elongated across canvas or wood, and letters and patterns are layered
in architectural arrangements. Recognized by the prestigious Christie's
Dubai Committee as among the best abstract artists working in this genre,
Ahmad has exhibited throughout the United States, Europe, and the Arab
world. He is Art Consultant to the New Arab Art Museum in Doha.
For the past three decades, versatile Saudi artist, MOUNIRAH
A MOSLY has been creating and publishing a unique collection of
artistic and literary works as a private artist and in her capacity as
a publications design specialist for the Saudi Arabian Oil Company. Mounirah
Mosly exhibits continuously in Saudi Arabia and abroad. Educated in Egypt
and the USA, Mounirah is widely recognized in the region and abroad for
her innovative art work. In 1994, Mosly was selected as a contributing
Artistic Specialist by the Arab Gulf Program in support of the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) to work with their artistic and media
programs. Mosly is also the recipient of numerous awards from a range
of Arab and international artistic organizations. Mounirah A Mosly's latest
exhibition, Ghaza Children, was held in Riyadh earlier this year.
Iraqi sculptor, AHMAD AL BAHRANI, graduated
from the Baghdad Academy of Fine Arts in 1988, where he later taught Sculpture.
Moving to Qatar in 1998, Al Bahrani founded the Mimar Gallery with Architect
Hazem Abu Naba'a. This exceptional Arab artist has executed works for
high profile public works, such as the 2006 GCC Soccer Tournament Trophy
rendered in white gold, and the seventeen-meter-high 2006 Olympic Rings
installation in iron, commissioned for the 16th Asian Games in Doha. Ahmad
Al Bahran's works have been acquired by museums and private collectors
in cities around the globe. Al Bahraini envisions metal as fluid, with
latent movement and emotion. He expresses this in the elegant architectonics
of his striking, large-scale works. Ahmad Al Bahrani's exhibitions span
the Arab world.
-by Patricia Groves-
The exhibition, sponsored by NBO, The National Bank of Oman, runs from 15th November to December 6th 2009 at Bait Muzna Gallery.