RANIA ABULHASAN
Rania Abulhasan is a Kuwaiti mix media painter and illustrator. Her work is strongly influenced by her experience in fashion and product design: she emphasizes life and movement, using shapes and colours to express her ideas and communicate her message. Her delicate work bring a sense of peaceful calm and serenity to the viewer.
Professionally working in Art and Design since 1998, Rania finds that her passion for her work, and for sharing her love of beauty, continues to grow. Rania holds a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts from The New School at Parsons School of Art and Design, both in Paris & New York. She majored in Fashion Design while minored in Product Design at Parsons. Her passion for art and design continued which led her to attend a fine arts program and gained a degree at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Throughout her studies, Rania worked with many influential artists and designers in New York, Paris and Milan.
THE WORK
“Unruffled”
Inspired by the coasts of The Mediterranean from the beaches of Protaras in Cyprus.
These paintings are an exploration in colour, composition and texture.
They balance freedom and risk with compositional intent and have been happy new spaces for ideas to flow and find their way from thought into physical space.
I hope you feel a similar sense of stillness and calm leading you to a meditative state of wonder and possibility while being with them.
These paintings where created specially for Dar Nur Art. A series of 8 paintings and 5 minis.
AWARDS . EXHIBITIONS . COLLABORATIONS
1995 Recognition for series of self portraits from Parsons Paris
1996 Received an award from L”Ecole des Beaux Arts for a series of textile inspired mix media works, Paris
1996-1999 Participated in group shows (NYC & Paris)
1997 Awarded Silver Thimble from Zang Toi, NYC
1998 Awarded recognition and selected to work with Donna Karen on senior year project, NYC
1998 Portfolio selected to show at The MET, NYC
1999 Gained recognition in group show at the LVMH head quarters, Paris
1999 - 2004 participated in group and solo shows in NYC, Paris, Marseille, Nice, Cannes, Deauville, Geneva, Antwerp, Brussels, Bologna, Milano, Madrid
2002 featured on W magazine
2005 - 2007 Had ongoing exhibitions at Bait Lothan, Kuwait
2008 Became member at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada
2008 - 2016 Continued to showcase and exhibit art while attending workshops with established Canadian artists
2009 Showcased slide show of works and guest speaker at Pecha Kucha Vol. 6, Kuwait City
2010 JAMM Contemporary Art Auction
2010 Featured in Marie Claire Magazine
2015 Showcased a series of work at The Nuqat Conference week in Kuwait City
2014 Collaboration with Mexican based candy company Bujas/Liverpool to create artwork for the packaging for their duty free airport line
2016 - current Represented by various European based curators showcasing and exhibiting which resulted in gaining recognitions and awards
2018 Mirror 2nd Edition Exhibition at The HUB - Showcased The Gathering Series, Kuwait City
2019 Mirror 3rd Edition Exhibition “Filtered” at The HUB - Showcased Ocre Havane Series, Kuwait City
2020 - 2023 during Covid continued to work and shifted to online exhibitions
2021 Created work for Taiba Hospital
2021 Collaboration with Paper & Nest, Oleana Boutique, Barre, Hassan Abul, Quehaus & The Yard
2021 Featured in the magazine and Awarded The Contemporary Art Curator Award
2021 Butterfly Effect Exhibition by The Contemporary Art Curators
2021 Featured on the cover of Bazaar Magazine
2021 Featured in Kuwait Time
2021 - current Showcased work at The VIV Terminal at The Kuwait International Airport
2021 The Brighter Tomorrow Exhibition at The HUB Kuwait City
2022 Gained award on the Butterfly Effect online Exhibition
2022 Ataya Exhibition in Dubai
2022 Awarded The International Art Award for Voice of Tomorrow Exhibition
2022 Plant Smiles to Yield Love Exhibition at The Contemporary Art Platform in Kuwait
2022 Received a finalist award from Circle Foundation for the Arts, for the Exhibition New York Contest
2022 Featured in Circle of Art Magazine for the finalist award
2022 Faces of Peace International Art Prize
2022 Artistic Excellence Award for Circle Quarterly Review Magazine Contest
2023 Artistic Excellence Award for Artis of the Year Contest
2023 Haus Exhibition at Dar Hamad
2023 Artistic Excellence for Spotlight Magazine Cover Contest
2023 The BMG Foundation Art of Vision Exhibition and awarded The Diplomacy of Award for THAWB, Zay & Tranquillity Collection, Riyadh KSA
2023 Dar Nur and H & M Home Collaboration
2023 Published on Faces of Peace book
ADLANE SAMET
Adlane Samet, born in Algeria in 1989, is an expressionist painter based in France. Samet completed his education in Algers, the capital of Algeria, where he also studied at the School of Fine Arts. Samet defines himself as a painter of instinctive moments. His work shows affinities with the movement of free Expressionism and Art Brut movements. Structured by an incisive, sometimes sensitive but at other times aggressive stroke, Adlane paints in acrylics but makes room for the purity of the medium with its transparency and bright colour variations.
He has borrowed heavily from children’s composition and graphic gesture to develop a new visual language, which breaks off with the codes of academic realism. The artist succinctly confesses, “I paint moods.” These moods, or manifestations of e- motions (energy in motion), are evident in the undulation of both colour and movement vibrancy in his work. Each piece is a meditation, a transgression of programmed thought, instead Samet’s work transmutes familiar and popular concepts into a portrayal of the infinitely possible, producing a subjectivity of ethereal quality. Samet’s work typifies what it means to be an artist – the creator of something entirely new and idiosyncratic; the completely imagined.
AWARDS AND ACHEIVEMENTS
2nd Prize – Competition for young talents at the College of Fine Arts. 1st Prize – Workshop – Meeting
of art schools and young talents in Mostaganem, Algeria 2013.
2nd Prize – National award contest of the young painters, Société Générale Algeria, 2014.
1st Prize – Ali Maachi, 2014. (1st prize of Algerian painting).
2016-2018, Master in Plastic Art and Artistic management – at the University of the Art of
Valenciennes.
2009-2014, Graduate and Major of promotion – at the Higher School of Fine Arts of Algiers.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023, Solo show ‘’We are clowns‘’ Los Angeles, USA - Over the Influence Gallery
2022, Solo show ‘’New World’’ Bangkok, Thailand - Over the Influence Gallery.
2022, Solo show “Monsters have heart” Paris, France - Open Bach
2016, Solo show “Regard’s” Algiers, Algeria - gallery ESPACO.
2013, Solo show “Moi, ma force, mes blessures” Oran, Algeria - French institute of Algeria.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023, Group show ‘’Spring group show‘’ , Taipei, Taiwan, Vins Gallery
2023, Art fair Tokyo, Japan - Over the influence Gallery
2023, Group show “Interaction”, Paris, France - Galerie Zberro,
2022, Group show “Box of surprises”, Paris, France - Galerie Zberro.
2022, Group show Miami, USA - Pen Project Gallery.
2021, Art3f Luxembourg– gallery Norty.
2019, Art3f Marseille, France - gallery Norty.
2019, Art Madrid fair, Spain – gallery Norty.
2018, Art Fair Cannes, France – gallery Norty.
2018, Group show Algiers, Algeria - Seen Art gallery.
2018, Group show London, England - Josephine Clavel Gallery.
2017, Art3f Paris, France – gallery Norty.
2017, Art Fair Amsterdam, Bruxelles, Stockholm – gallery Norty.
2016-2017, Art Madrid fair with – gallery Norty.
2016, Teacher of painting and drawing – Contemporary space of El Achour.2015-2014, Art Fair (ST-ART) Strasbourg, France – gallery Norty.
2014, Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, Netherlands – gallery Norty.
2014, Carousel du Louvre Paris, France – gallery Norty.
AMIRA BEHBEHANI
Amira Behbehani a Kuwaiti self-taught artist, born in 1964-Kuwait. She began painting in 2001and participated in various international and local art exhibitions. In 2011, she got involved in an international peace organization called PEACE ONE DAY and marked Kuwait the first Arab country to celebrate peace on the 21 September 2012. In 2013, Amira was appointed as the peace ambassador for WPMP (Peace Project Marker Project) in Kuwait, and in 2015 became a member in the organisation Abolish 153. In 2018, Amira joined LAPA (Loyac Academy of Performing Arts) as Head of Fine Arts department.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008, Banana Republic-US, Kuwait
2009, Kingdom of Attachments, Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
2010, Traces of a Scent, Court Yard, Bahrain
2010, FA Gallery, Kuwait
2016, The Fifteen Years of Amira Behbehani, Contemporary Art Platform (CAP), Kuwait
2018, The Eternal Ta’a, Dar AlFunoon, Kuwait
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2004, Teacher and the Apprentice, Dar AlFunoon, Kuwait
2006, Unity & Diversity, Dar AlFunoon, Kuwait
2006, Artists for Lebanon, Gusto Gallery, Kuwait
2006, Institute De Monte Arab, Paris,
2008, For Bayt Abdullah, Dar AlFunoon, Kuwait
2008, Arab Women Artists, Al Waif Gallery, Qatar
2011, Tilal Gallery, Kuwait
2011, FA Gallery, Kuwait
2011, MENASArt, Beirut
2011, the Opening of Contemporary Art Platform (CAP), Kuwait
2011, group exhibition with JAMM, Contemporary Art Platform (CAP), Kuwait
2011, Art Istanbul, Turkey
2013, KURSI Kuwaiti artists and designers Design Terminal, Budapest
MARTIN GUSTAVSSON
Born in 1964, Martin lives and works in Stockholm and London.
Educated at Middlesex University in London and The Royal Institute in Stockholm.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019, Un Chant Ecarlate, Konstakademien, Stockholm
2019, In No Particular Order, Galleri Flach, Stockholm
2016, Saints and Fuckers w, Rhodas Cnbl and M. Abbadon, Proyecto AMIL, Lima
2015, El Mirage, Participant Inc, New York, also part of Performa 15 New York.
2013, Indentations, Maria Stenfors, London
2011, In No Particular Order, Göteborgs Konst Museum
2011, In No Particular Order, Galerie Crone, Berlin
2010, In No Particular Order, Maria Stenfors, London
2008, Wrath of God, Oslo Kunstforening, Oslo
2007, Wrath of God, Brändström & Stene, Stockholm
2005, Daisy Chain, Karizma Gallery, Kuwait
2004, The Gospel, Brändström & Stene, Stockholm
2003, The Gospel, Malmö Art Musuem, Malmö
2003, The Gospel, Konsthallen, Bohusläns Museum
2000, Double Happiness, Taro Nasu Gallery, Tokyo
PERFORMATIVE READINGS
with Ian White
2010, In No Particular Order, Maria Stenfors, London
2012, In Particular Order? No!, Eastside Projects, Birmingham
with Rodrigo Gomez Olivos
2018, In No Particular Order, Sprigg Gallery, London
with Cara Tolmie
2019, Bouquet- A Particular Song, Galleri Flach, Stockholm
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018, Dak'art Biennial of Senegal
2015, Nature Morte, Artists reinvigorating the Still Life Tradition, Traveling Exhibition, Norway
2015, Uddevalla Sweden 2016, Warsaw Poland 2017 and London 2018.
2015, The Art's Festival of North Norway, Harstad Museum, Norway
2006, Art 37 Basel, Brändström & Stene, Stockholm
2005, Art 36 Basel, Brändström & Stene, Stockholm
2005, The Mirror of Desire, Milliken Gallery, Stockholm
1999, Mr Fascination, Thread Waxing Space, New York
1998, Ice Garden, London
IN THE COLLECTIONS OF
Moderna Museet
Göteborgs Konstmuseum
Malmö Konstmuseum
Norrköpings Konstmuseum
Collection Juan Carlos Verme, Peru
NEDA TAVALLAEE
Place of Date of Birth: 1973, Tehran, Iran
Education: B.F.A from the Art University of Tehran, 2000
Member of Alborz Painters Artists Association.
Co Founder and Head of Visual Arts Department, Boom Zang Rang Art Institute, Alborz Province.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021, Vallette Gallery, Kuala Lumpur / Online
2017, Atbin Gallery, Tehran
2015, Jana Comparative Contemporary Art Gallery, Tehran
2014, Siin Gallery, Tehran
2013, New Heritage Gallery, Cape Town
2013, Beautiful Life Building, Cape Town
2011, Siin Gallery, Tehran
2011, Haft samar Gallery, Tehran
2002, Khaak Gallery, Tehran
RESIDENCIES
2018, AE the Project Room Studio at Art Eye Gallery Residency funded by Mercedes Benz, Johannesburg
2017, Kooshk residency and Chhaap Foundation cultural exchange program, Vadodara
2016, I:O Art Residence at Helikon Art Center, Izmit
2014, USF Verftet Bergen, Bergen
2013, Young Blood Arts and Culture Development, Cape Town
2012, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town
2012, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020, Iranshahr Gallery #atelier99, online group exhibition
2020, Jaffer Modern, CapeTown
2019, 7 Art Gallery, Istanbul
2019, Aknoon Art Gallery, Isfahan
2019, Vallette Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
2019, Say Art Gallery, Tehran
2018, Vartan Gallery, Tehran
2018, Afrand Gallery, Tehran
2018, Negar Art Gallery, Tehran
2018, Latitude28 Gallery, New Delhi
2018, Prizma Sanat Merkezi Gallery, Izmit
2017, Gallery Chahar, Tehran
2017, Alborz Painters Artists Association, Alborz
2017, Open Studio Chhaap Foundation, Vadodara
2017, Edge Projects, London
2017, Latitude28 Gallery, New Delhi
2017, Open studio Mohsen Gallery, Tehran
2016, I:O Art Residence at Helikon Art Center, Izmit
2016, Art for Peace Festival, Tehran
2016, Atbin Gallery, Tehran
2015, Kargah-e-Honar, Tehran
2015, Atbin Gallery, Tehran
2014, Haftnegah Art Fair, Tehran
2013, Siin Gallery, Tehran
2012, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town
2012, Beautifull Life Building, Cape Town
2012, Shangri-la Open Studio, Beijing
2012, Haftnegah Art Fair, Tehran
2012, Hamnavayi Art Fair, Tehran
2012, Villa Kuriosum and Parking Gallery, Berlin
2001, Shafagh Gallery, Tehran
1997, Golestan Gallery, Tehran
1997, Jamshidieh Gallery, Tehran
1996, Golestan Gallery, Tehran
Gol e Mordaab (Flowers of the Marshlands)
Performative Piece
Amidst the darkness of this night your roots entangle in wet soil,
Two hundred lullabies upon your lips, break in your heart,
You flower of the marshlands.
Softly you sway, like a drunken flower in the wind's embrace,
A cold kiss upon your cheek, you give your heart away,
You restless heart.
You redness of wine in the goblet,oh delicate little bird,
shall sing the song of love at dawn once more.
You purest wine,
You restless heart,
You flower of the marshlands.
HUDA ABDULMUGHNI
Huda Abdulmughni (b. 1964) is a Kuwaiti photographer whose work focuses on portraiture and place. Starting from her time as an interior design student in Amman in the late 1980’s, Abdulmughni’s images and photographic projects are inspired by her curiosity for the world around her and in particular by people’s own stories. She sets her subjects in their own unaltered environments, making use of natural light and familiar objects. Being adept at analogue and digital photography, Abdulmughni switches between both media depending on the subject in question.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019, East Ahmadi Market, Souk Mubarkiah, Kuwait
Placed life-size prints of twelve different storefronts photographed from the old Ahmadi market in 2015. This exhibition was a self-curated and funded with the help of private supporters.
2017, Yemen Now, Shaheed Park, Kuwait
Curated by Huda Abdulmughni with contributions the photographers Sami Alramyan and Alex Potter.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Annual Photography Award, Honorable Mention / Person : Portutre 2023 Finalists of IWPA
Award 6th Edition 2022 Addis Foto Fest Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2021
Artifacts Of Education Sulatn Gallery, Kuwait 2021
Chemistry of Feeling GPP,Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2021
Belo Horizonte’s International Festival of Photography Brazil 2020
Gulf Photo Plus Slidefest Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2020
Gulf Photo Plus Slidefest Sponsored by Art Jameel Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2019
Vantage Point Sharjah 7 Sharjah Art Foundation United Arab Emirates 2019
Night of Photography Tbilisi Photo Festival Georgia 2019
Gulf Photo Plus Slidefest Muharraq Bahrain 2019
The Portrait Darkroom Gallery Vermont, USA 2019
A Photographic Journey Through the Islamic World Asia House UK 2019
Connected Street Photography Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait 2018
Our Summer Tblisi Photo Festival Georgia 2017
Date Souk Boushehri Gallery Kuwait 2016
London Analogue Festival UK 2014
London Analogue Festival Uk 2013
Mumbai Shortlist FotoFilmic United States 2013
WPO Exhibition Somerset House UK 2012
PUBLICATIONS
2021, Mashrabiya Stories, Zericrafts Blog
2019, Kuwait Ice Skating, CNN Arabic
2019, Kuwait Taxi Series, CNN Arabic
2018, Sadu Weaving Atharna x Brownbook Magazine
2017, Mubkhar Atharna x Brownbook Magazine
2017, Al Kawakeb Brownbook Magazine
2017, Artisan Hands Kuwait Times
2017, Interview with Mai al Nakib Brownbook Magazine
2014, Yemeni Collective Wedding Brownbook Magazine
2013, Date Souk NSEW by Film Shooters Collective
ABOUT THE SERIES
Nowruz Sayadeen (Fishermen’s New Year)
During the searing summer heat in Qeshm Island, the village of Salakh is overcome by the celebrations of the annual Nowruz Sayadeen (the Fisherman’s New Year). On this day all fishing – a symbol of the village’s livelihood – comes to a standstill out respect to nature’s bounty. In the midst of the celebrations an array of characters’ push through the crowd, teasing and frightening anyone in their path. The only make-believe characters, the Shushis, toys with the crowd the most. The palm leaves brandished on each of their hands are used in dance, and the long woven reed hat on their heads guarantees they never get lost in the crowd. The other characters include; the shtoor (camel), asb (horse), rooba (bird), and the booye saroom (pastor’s son).
East Ahmidi Market
Ahmadi town was founded in 1946 with the discovery of oil in southern Kuwait. The town served the needs of the newly hired Kuwait Oil Company workforce. Designed by the British architect Mr. James Wilson’s (1887-1965) Mason and Partners, Ahmadi represented a new concept in urban design to Kuwait. The town’s souk, which was built in 1961, served as a point of exchange and interaction for its residents. In fact, many of Kuwait City’s (al-Deirah) residents would venture to Ahmadi on the weekend to visit the souk.
The souk housed several shops in two large concrete structures, topped with a lattice wall that ventilated and illuminated the space. Grocers, dry cleaners, bicycle shops and more were lined side by sides. The store signs were each drawn by hand, and displayed a variety of Arabic scripts. Each store-front carried information on the year in which the store opened - most ranging between 1961 and 1974 - and the names of the respective Kuwaiti, Indian, Iranian, and Palestinian shop-owners.
In 2013, the National Council of Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) announced plans for the restoration of this historic market into a culture platform.
HANNAH LUDOW
Born in Cornwall in 1977, Ludnow grew up in a creative environment and painted from a very young age. The artist moved to London at 18 to study art at university where she studied a mixture of skills; painting, life drawing, ceramics, and print, geared towards commissions for contemporary spaces.
Since graduating, Ludnow has focused on painting. The coastline of Cornwall is usually the artist’s starting point as it seems to be etched into her memory. The amazing light, the huge and ever changing skies and beautiful dramatic coastlines, she has always greatly admired the Cornish abstract impressionists, Peter Lanyon, Patrick Heron and Ben Nicholson, whose work draws directly from experiences of a dramatic or calmness in nature and landscape.
Ludnow’s work is rarely an actual place, instead she hopes to build an atmosphere in a painting which draws you in and allows you to imagine yourself there, stood on a cliff, a beach or behind the dunes, exposed to the elements and the unpredictability of nature. The artist strives to capture a feel and recollection of somewhere the viewer knows or remembers wherever in the world this may be. Her paintings are more about the light and the feelings a place can evoke in the viewer, the emotions that a memory of a place and time can stir within. A memory of thoughts and feelings within a landscape, often a special and private moment, where the vastness and beauty of the landscape around you brings a sense of perspective, clarity and calm.