Spring of Culture events

March 17 to 22 Title: 'My Orients' by Eliane Chiron

Venue: House of Poetry

Time: 8.00pm

In this exhibition Eliane Chiron, professor at the Sorbonne University and director of its Centre of Visual Arts, displays larger-than-life photographic collages together with a video installation. She will also give a lecture on 'Body of Creation' where she will elaborate on her artistic work and the influence of the French poet and philosopher Paul Valry.

March 18

Title: Ghalia Benali

Venue: Arad Fort

Time: 8:30 pm

Winner of World Music Award 2008, Ghalia grew up in an artistic family in the south of Tunisia. Since childhood she has been accustomed to different kinds of music and poetry including French chansons, Egyptian and Indian music, melodies from Syria and Iraq and the 'tartil', the sung lectures from the Koran and the poetry from Oum Kalsoum. She is also a dancer, actress and artist in plastic arts.

March 19 and 20

Title: Dan Zanes and Friends

Venue: Arad Fort

Time: 5:00 pm

Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Album for Children, Dan Zanes and Friends plays music that is geared towards families with children of all ages. Through reinventing old songs and creating new ones he encourages his audience to sing along and dance to his infectious upbeat tunes. The New York Times called Dan Zanes' concerts 'a cause for celebration'.

March 20 - 22

Title: Children's Cheering Carpet - A Painted Garden

Venue: Salman Culture Centre

Time: 11am and 5pm

CCC is dedicated to the poetics of gardens and to dance. The Project is composed of three shows - the Japanese garden, the painted garden and the Italian garden. The Painted Garden is a garden created by Rebwar Saeed where the colours of the Kurdish landscape and the geometric harmonies of the Islamic garden merge and play with each other.

March 20

Title: Lecture 'The Centenary of Abu AlQassem AlShabi' by Mabrouk Al Mannai, Najib Aloufi and Al Alawi AlHashmi

Venue: House of Poetry

Time: 8pm

March 21

Title: Mahmoud Darwish's 'Jidariyya' cantata by Bachar Zarkan

Venue: Culture Hall

Time: 8pm

Bachar Zarkan brings Mahmood Darwish's famous 'Jidariyya' play to life through an expressive and modern musical masterpiece, inspired by the Arabic musical mold, creating a new modern style.

March 22 to April 22

Title: Adam Henein

Venue: Bin Mattar House, Muharraq

Time: 8pm

Egyptian artist Adam Henin is one of the great names in contemporary Middle Eastern art and one of the most famous artists in Egypt. Heir to the legacy of Pharaonic Egypt, its science of proportion and material, its long tradition of craftsmanship and architecture, he is nonetheless highly modern in his artistic expression. Adam Henin works in numerous media, but is renowned for his sculptures. The exclusive selection of sculptures and paintings that form the core of the exhibition at the newly restored Bin Mattar House come directly from the artist's studio in Cairo.

March 23

Title: Lecture 'Manners of the Press' by Dr Anas Al Rasheed

Venue: Al Zayed House

Time: 8pm

Dr Anas Al-Rasheed of Kuwait City, Kuwait, is currently a professor of journalism and media at Kuwait University and is respected worldwide for his leadership as former Minister of Information for Kuwait and member of the Kuwaiti cabinet. He served on the faculty at Kuwait University, and was named media advisor to the Kuwait Minister of Education. Dr Al Rasheed has chaired numerous international conferences on media and ethics, both in Kuwait and throughout the world. Under his direction, Kuwait passed a law making it the country with the greatest freedom of the press in the Middle East.

March 24 to 31

Title: Nostalgic Terrace exhibition by Nabeela AlKhayer

Venue: Albareh Art Gallery

Time: 7pm

In this exhibition, 40 mixed media works will be showcased. Nabeela portrays the woman and her feelings, emotions and memories and all that goes on around her. Nabeela, a Bahraini artist, has participated in both solo and group exhibitions around the region.