ART IN KTOWN

A short video interviewing Abdullah AlThukair, who is an ambitious photographer based in AlKhobar. We asked him a series of questions surrounding himself, his work, and art in general.

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Describe yourself and your work. 
My name is Nouf AlSubaie, I give my best in creating beauty in everything I see, my work in selling art helps a person in need with each sold work a donation goes to the (Saudi Charitable Association of Diabetes).

When did you start doing art and why? 
I had it since i was a child but I never gave it that much of attention till two years ago when i had to let my brain storm as much as I want, it turned out to be that I never was drawing I was making art.

What's your main inspiration?
It comes from the simplest beauty of life, anything that captures my attention in a way that I find it beautiful, whether its the night sky or rain drops on a window, everything that makes me feel alive is my inspiration. 

What difficulties do you face being an artist in Khobar? 
Coming across people that are not well educated about the beauty of art is a difficult matter to handle, trying to change an art work is not helping art, its destroying it.

What changes would you like to see happen for the art world in Khobar?
Creating a place where artists can increase their knowledge in art and in the history of art, a place where each artist find the right education to help them bring out the best in them.

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Behance11 is an incredible moving and innovative event, in which a variety of artwork came together to form a unified paragon of different perspectives and outlooks. Each piece of art that resided within the gallery was unique and imperative to the overall ambience within it; without each and every one of these glorious displays of artistry, the gallery would not have its distinct feel.

Behance was a two day event held at Algosaibi Village pop-up store. The first day, the 30th of March, (Thursday) was the artist display, and the second (31st, Friday) was the artists talk where a couple of speakers talked about their experiences within the art world.

We strongly encourage for all art enthusiasts to further promote the great deal of talented, new, and undiscovered talent that were featured within the gallery. They truly are amazing artists and are capable of bringing about tremendous amount of change amongst our society. The artists featured also delivered strong, moving speeches pertaining to the different aspects of art and the struggles they have gone through for it to be received in the world. 

Describe yourself and your work. 
My name is Abdullah Alansari, my main focus is creating timelapse videos that I personally enjoy (especially ones with long exposure effects).

When did you start doing art and why? 
At first (10th grade) I started taking random pictures and got bored so I tried out a timelapse video and failed miserably. I tried again and got positive reactions so I got encouraged to create more until I reached a point where I'm satisfied with my videos.

What's your main inspiration?
When I was studying in Long beach CA, I went to Joshua Tree National Park for the first time. At night, I looked up to the sky and saw the night sky. Every single spec of light was so visible. It was an amazing experience (watch the attached video as an example).

What difficulties do you face being an artist in Khobar? 
I will be honest, I haven't tried making a video in Khobar due to the fact that there's nothing interesting here to capture. I might find something in the near future but for now I'm taking a long break. I mostly enjoy creating videos when I travel outside of the city.

What changes would you like to see happen for the art world in Khobar?   
I think educating people about different kinds of artworks and not focusing on paintings only. Giving classical art a chance too (I'm noticing a lot of people on the "modern art" bandwagon which pisses me off). I also noticed a lot of people hype up people's artwork not based on how good the art is but based on how much they like the person or how popular they are. This really undermines a lot of amazing artists and boasts shitty narcissistic nobodies (excuse the language). 


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With the warm breeze that emerged with Spring, came Mathaq; the event that proved itself to be like no other. It was held at Algosaibi village from the 22nd of March until the 25th, and was extended until the 26th due to its overwhelming success. The contradiction between the mixture of staff available at the event created a diverse setting, attracting people all around Shargiyah to attend. From cooks, to artists, to entrepreneurs, to photographers, Mathaq insured the contrariety and variance in not only its staff, but its crowd as well that enjoyed the event whether they were children or adults. 

It was truly an overwhelmingly exquisite experience to catch sight of the pieces of art presented at the event. Unenthusiastic was not a word the artists knew, as they exuberantly exhibited their art for the visitors to see, not giving blasé a fortuitous chance. With development being their goal, we are sure that local artists will continue to flourish and thrive. Be sure to view our favorite art pieces attached above!

​Describe yourself and your work. 
My name is Lama Alsulaimani I am a finance graduate from Prince Mohammed Bin Fahad University, which is nothing related to art. However, I am enchanted by painting as it has helped many people to run away from their own thoughts. Art was a part of my childhood because I could always make drawings of simple things, such as flowers which required minimal painting and simple color patterns. Art classes enhanced my drawing skills, and now artwork has become my hobby.
 
When did you start doing art and why? 
I started painting and drawing when I was seven years old and I used to do it while at home and school. I have been infected with Hypothyroidism for like ten years now. The doctor who attended me in my childhood was very friendly and open to conversation. To every appointment with her, I used to bring some of the drawings that I made. She hung the paintings in her office. Together with my mother, they inspired me to continue drawing and painting. My mother is an artist too, and I could copy some ideas from her drawings.
 
What difficulties do you face being an artist in Khobar ?
Whenever there is an event, a lot of fees are required for one to present his or her work. It is also difficult to get a chance to introduce your piece because there are many artists in the area who apply to participate in the event. Consequently, such a difficult situation discouraged me. Many people in this region are not interested in artwork, hence it is hard to get the market for drawings. To gain publicity in such area, where people show no attention to artwork, is also problematic and challenging.
 
What changes would you like to see happen for the art world in Khobar?
In Khobar, there are art materials in only few stores and libraries. Supplier stores for painting and art materials should be opened in the city in order to make it easy for the artists to buy what's needed. The supplier stores need to be capable of meeting the demand of the artists within a region. More art workshops can also be established to provide enough opportunities for the artists to present their works.
 
What type/genre of art would you like to see get more attention here?
I got a chance to do some art pieces in the Sanad in wonderland event that highlighted its theme in a beautiful way. I noticed that all of the participants who got a chance to present their works did very amazing and creative art. I do not have to choose a specific type of artwork because I think that Saudi artists are very talented and everyone has his or her own type of art. As an artist, I can only say that we create new types and styles every time. But If I were to answer this question, I would say that I would like to see Islamic calligraphy art getting more attention since we are in an Islamic country and I did not notice a lot of young calligraphers here.

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What is your own definition of art? 
I believe the beauty of art is that it doesn't have a specific definition, it's different for every person and is beautiful in all it's forms. Art is more than just a form of expression, it's in everything we see. Life itself can be seen as art. 
When did you start doing art and why?
I've always been inspired by things around me, and art has always been a part of my childhood whether it be through music, poetry or dance. Art classes were a major aspect of my childhood and further developed into a hobby. 
What's your main inspiration? 
The little and abstract things in life. The way water drips so elegantly from the side of a glass, or the simple facial expressions caught off guard are what inspire me the most. I like to focus on things that aren't often given much attention to. 
What difficulties do you face being an artist in khobar? 
Unfortunately, I haven't given myself the chance to venture out of the comfort of my own home or art classes when it comes to art. Therefore I don't think I've faced any difficulties if there are any. I experienced my first exhibition a couple of months ago, which has definitely inspired me to participate in more.
What changes would you like to see happen for the art world in khobar? 
To be honest we have a lot of art events which are all lovely to attend, however I'd love to see a permanent art gallery with different varieties of art as there is a lot of potential and talent amongst our people.
How do you think we can be able to help the "closeted" artists? 
Social media has been a huge help in expressing ones work, and seems to be a popular destination for people. 
What type/genre of art would you like to see get more attention here?
I'd love to see more interactive and 3D art as it is such an incredible scene which hasn't delved into enough in Khobar, or even Saudi Arabia.

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Mawada's Instagram
Yara's Instagram

Describe yourself and your work.
My name is Mubarak Al-Johi. I'm an event planner so my work consists of lots of planning, marketing, managing, and designing. I’ve done my first event when I was 19 years old. Art and designing has always been a passion of mine and that's why it was a great source of inspiration. I always believe that dreams come true and nothing is impossible in life. Also, I believe that I can change our society to the better. My idea was to involve the work of artists in Khobar in the event and present them in the whole park to be a unique gallery that no one has ever seen. I always say that when you do something you must do it big or go home, that was my message in 966 Box Park. You must inspire the people by your work, that is what I had in mind when planning for 9BP and I am proud of what I have accomplished. 
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What inspired you to do that?
I have visited a lot of events around the Kingdom, and all of them had the same concept and design. I wanted to take the concept and theme of events to a new level. The love I have for artwork and events were what inspired me the most, and the idea of making a whole event from the start with no budget was the biggest challenge that I had to overcome.


What challenges/difficulties did you face with your line of work? 
I faced a lot of difficulties when starting to work on 9BP, and I took these difficulties as challenges. In the beginning I didn’t have any kind of support, not financially, and not emotionally. The theme of my event was having containers all around the warehouse and using them as booths didn’t attract the community in the beginning. Street Art was not common in the community of Khobar, it was really great to introduce people to another type of art, which is truly creative and hard to do. A hidden message I was trying to deliver through 9BP was the importance of recycling and how we can use reuse things. We reused crates, tires, and old furniture pieces for the design of the event. The team I worked with was really great and we helped each other to overcome these difficulties. 

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What changes would you like to see happen for the art world in Khobar?
We have a lot of creative artists in Khobar with a great potential and future, but these artists don’t have any kind of support. As a community we need to support the young talents so we can make a change. I promise these artists that I’ll support them in my future events, that’s the change I wish to make in the art world in K-town. In the end, all I want to say is: Get ready to have your mind blown in my next event.

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