Category Archives: Art
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Art
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Our favorite Gulf artist, Khawla Al Marri, recently exhibited her new series Archive80 based on 80's "khaleeji" TV shows. Khawla never fails to impress us with her originality, creativity, brush strokes and color. If you haven't already checked out her site then do it.
THIS IS ART. KHAWLA, YOU'RE A STAR.
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I love graffiti, I love how bold and subtle it can be at the same time. You can walk by it and never realize it's even there or it will hit you as soon as you see it. It's the kind of the art you actually appreciate but are too afraid to admit it because it can be seen as "untraditional" or merely as "street art". The fundamentals of graffiti are words/tagging - calligraphy. Calligraphy has always been at the heart of of Islamic art.
eL Seed is a graffiti artist who bringing back Arabic calligraphy in a modern form. eL Seed's art has been featured at the Islamic Arts Festival in Sharjah and at Calligraffiti event at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. His work captures the bold and subtle qualities that I love about graffiti and pushes the boundaries with his dynamic short films.
Head to his Facebook for more pictures.
Images: el Seed
Sweet Stuff bakery in Dubai is one of our favorite places, mainly because we like to indulge in our sweet tooth but more than that Sweet Stuff is a lifestyle. We prefer to live in a sugar-filled world where the cherry-on-top isn't optional, it's mandatory. Sweet Stuff really thinks out of the cake box when it comes to their branding (check out their Eid greeting here) and now their food has become fine art, thanks to Emirati artist Khawla Al-Marri.
It seems that someone in the kitchen upstairs was thinking about us when they teamed up Sweet Stuff and Khawla Al-Marri as we're massive fans of both. Khawla's paintings references many symbols we associate with the Sweet Stuff lifestyle, a kitsch, pop-art, small town Americana meets Khaleeji world.
Lunch-ing has become so passé, it's all about cup cake-ing and we can't wait to enjoy Sweet Stuff while admiring Khawla Al-Marri's paintings.
Images from Sweet Stuff
We've said it before and we'll say it again, it's not what you're against, it's what you're for. We're for a creative, peaceful and happy world. Every day and every post is dedicated to showcasing talent and creativity to come from the Middle East - and every day we find ME treasures in such unique forms from all around the world.
Today, our friend Maryam posted a music video to Facebook that sent us on a viral internet search to find out more about the Arab hip hop artist (thanks Maryam and social media!). The artist is The Narcicyst, originally Iraqi, born and raised in Dubai, and now living in Canada - a mixed background that many of us in the ME can relate to. The Narcicyst is through and through hip hop with beats and lyrics deeper than BP can drill for oil. We couldn't stop thinking about what he said in his P.H.A.T.W.A. video, "Don't you know that Iraq is the new black?".
We've spent the day with our headphones, downloading (via itunes btw) and listening to The Narcicyst's self-titled album. He raps about politics, peace, pop culture and Arab culture. The Narcicyst describes himself on his twitter page (@TheNarcicyst) as an, "orientalist's nightmare".
The Narcicyst's videos are crisp, fresh and graphic - he delivers on music and video. The Narcicyst is extremely talented and we're impressed with how he uses his creativity to elevate his voice and his thoughts.
www.iraqisthebomb.com
Image from World Up
Creative design firm Pentagram had the opportunity of creating a visual identity for New York University Abu Dhabi. Their task was to make the visual id of NYUAD work seamlessly with the NYU branding.
Pentagram tiled NYU's torch symbol to create an abstract geometric pattern which emulates Arabesque design. Arabesque art originated during the rule of Abbassid period (750 CE). Abstract, geometric, organic and vegetal patterns as well as calligraphy became the heart of Arab design as it was considered haram to portray the human body.
We think Pentagram has done an amazing job, they took a simple symbol and created modern take on graphic Arabesque design.
!شو حلوة كتير
All pictures are from Pentagram (http://pentagram.com/en/new/2010/09/new-work-new-york-university-a-1.php)
