Deep and lasting impression

THE Arab Spring has led to dramatic changes across the region and it has carved a deep and lasting impression on young minds.

A year on, the enormity of the movement has been captured on the tortured canvasses of students at St Christopher’s School using a liberating and creative deluge of art. They are the children of an early 21st Century defined by the suicide of a Tunisian protester, regional unrest and the downfall of the Gadhafi regime in Libya.
 
The school invited guests to its Isa Town premises to delve into their work at its annual art exhibition, displaying the profound projects of 60 pupils at GCSE and A-level.

Entering into the exhibition space, a musky aroma of paint and pastels confronts the viewer into a world of exploratory art, where a number of the students, overcome by political tension, showcased their own version of the Arab Spring.

Head of Art Paula Carr said: “It’s strange to see the different directions the students go after brainstorming ideas. They’ve all come up with different ways to showcase their creativity and talent.”

As exhibition titles go, you could hardly get more captivating than Combinations and Alliance at A2 level, Exploration and Discovery at AS level and Making the Ordinary Extraordinary at GCSE level.

The exhibition was the perfect embodiment of originality, with its voyeuristic qualities and an almost uncomfortable association with the dark desire to use their freedom in creativity, their work was pregnant with representation and symbolism.

Nadeen Eshehawi, a French Libyan has taken the idea of ‘freedom’ and plasters it on a woman veiled in the new Libyan flag that was flown by the jubilant rebels as they descended on Tripoli. Wide-eyed and scared, she represents ‘the free woman’ as translated in English.

“My work is about the revolution in Libya. It’s about the fight of the people for their freedom and their rights from a tyrant that ruled us. A tyrant that killed many of my family’s friends,” she said. “My work portrays hope for my country that has suffered for the past 42 years.”

The recent uprisings have made a lasting impression on the young across the world, clinical psychologist, Dr Anna Mostafa explained: “The youth’s thinking is more along the lines of black and white, or good and bad, that’s why they have been affected the most.

“They are generally more idealistic and energetic than their elders. Perhaps it is the idealism and sentiment which makes them strong proponents of beliefs they hold.

“They use art as a way of processing things, a way to transfer exactly what is in their minds without words.”

Saudi artist Faris Al Haddad used political faces to take over his exam board, reflecting the effects of corruption and the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa.

“I chose the four most notorious dictators of the uprisings at the time which were Bashar Assad, Muammar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia,” he said. “Coincidently, Gaddafi was killed while I was in the middle of painting his portrait.

“I decided to paint a separate landscape portrait of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire in protest, which is the biggest piece in my series and placed in the middle to show his superiority and how one person can have such an effect on the rest of the world.”

Dr Mostafa suggests that the creativity and art are a production and constructive means of expression. “Art is a means for the artist to express his view, and for the observer to enjoy and share his vantage point,” she said.

“Art can be a means of communication which nonverbally imparts an image or sound which takes us on an imaginary journey with the artist into feelings, experiences and perceptions. It can be awakening, where we obtain a novel perspective, one we may not have noticed or thought of before.

“Many find it hard to express themselves verbally and the emotions may get lost, so it gets translated into art. Words cannot describe what is meant for eyes, art is directed for the eyes to see.”

Amnah Al Yousif’s work dominated the floor space, with a startlingly personable sculpture, imbued with political significance.

Placed in the middle of the exhibit, it undermined the traditional erotic representation of women by male artists, using the idea of a woman as a metaphor for hidden social issues.

Her examination work focused on the September 11 attacks and how the western media attacked Islam. With the uprising bringing a lot of light to her research, Amnah said: “It wasn’t specifically the Arab Spring that inspired me, but the Western media’s coverage of it.”

The exhibition is open to the public until tomorrow. For more information, call 17788101.