Marwan: Topographies of the Soul
Barjeel Art Foundation in collaboration with Maraya Art Centre announce the launch of two concurrent exhibitions. Both exhibitions are accompanied by illustrated publications.
The first exhibition, entitled “Marwan: Topographies of the Soul”, is a solo show of Marwan Kassab Bachi (b. 1934, Damascus) aims at introducing regional public to the varied spectrum of the artist’s works. The publication, which will accompany this exhibition, will feature essays by Dr Charlotte Bank, Ismail Al Rifai, and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi.
In this solo show, visitors will be able to see the artist’s large-scale oil on canvas paintings, aquarelle works on paper, as well as etchings and quick sketches executed in pencil. The show presents portraits derived from life, political subjects, and stylised representations of faces, and includes several depictions of masks and still life.
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, Founder of Barjeel Art Foundation, who has visited Marwan Kassab Bachi in his studio in Berlin in April 2014 said, “Although Marwan spent most of his life in Europe, his relationship with the Arab world endured through his paintings and the friendships he developed with other intellectuals from the region. The purpose of ‘Topographies of the Soul’ is to present and honour, in a very modest way, this towering figure of art and intellect.”
The second exhibition “aide-mémoire” features artists that reference personal or collective memories, showing how they can be recorded or fictionalised through aesthetic creation. A spectator’s response to a work of art often takes place in a moment of solitude when they first encounter a piece, and visitors to this exhibition are invited to capture their immediate responses to some or all of the art objects they encounter in specially provided notepads.
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi added, “We are very excited to share this diverse selection of modern and contemporary Arab art with the public, and hear back from our visitors on the personal encounters they have with the pieces on display.”
