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The Fraidoon family are bringing back the lost art form of bronze casting by creating their own objects of desire as well as preserving the work of fellow artists.
After spending seven years in Germany working in mechanical engineering, Fraidoon Fraidoon, moved back to Bahrain to pursue his dream of launching a mechanical workshop.
In 1988 the 2000 Workshop Company was born but little did he know that one day he would also be opening an art foundry to support the growing creative community in the kingdom.
The foundry, which is now called MASBAK, was unveiled in 1992 in Hidd to transform artists’ clay figurines, wooden fixtures and other designs into sought-after bronzed beauties for them to sell at different exhibitions. In 2008, it was run by Fraidoon, 72, and by his son, Mohammed, 37, who is also co-founder.
His daughter Noora, 30, the director of MASBAK art foundry, said: “How a mechanical engineer got interested in art is a story of friendship. My father’s life-long friend is the brilliant Bahraini artist and sculptor Khalil Al Hashimi.
“These two would spend their time together either in Al Hashimi’s studio or Fraidoon’s workshop and this unusual blend between the arts and engineering sparked the idea of a unique technical workshop that creates art!”
Historically, during the Bronze Age, different countries used this style of casting to tell a tale about the past. For example, Chinese bronzes depicted ceremonial images, Africans cast images of nature and the Greeks recreated the human form.
It is the most popular for cast metal sculptures and can be adapted for statues or as reliefs - a technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material.
It can also be used to make small statuettes and figurines as well as bronze elements to be fitted to other objects, such as furniture. It is often gilded to give gilt-bronze or ormolu. Making bronzes is highly-skilled work and a number of distinct casting processes may be employed including lost-wax casting (and its modern-day spin-off, investment casting), sand casting and centrifugal casting.
At the moment, the bronzing company conducts lost wax, vacuum and resign casting. Their skilful style of bronzing has attracted various artists from different backgrounds.
Noora said: “Many artists have expressed the fact that they feel trapped artistically because the canvas is the only accessible means of expression. Therefore, we are providing them with a new platform through which they can express their visions and inspirations.
“At our foundry we receive artists of all styles and backgrounds such as realism, modernism, abstract art, deconstructionism and cubism, to name but a few.
“They would present their original sculptures to us and then we discuss the best method to carry on with the work.
“In the past there was no art foundry offering artists an opportunity to create their works in metals such as bronze and brass, which in return resulted in a very limited range of materials available for artists to express their inspirations.”
The MASBAK team works closely with artists and some pieces can take a month to complete in bronze, brass or aluminium.
Aside from assisting them, the Fraidoon family members also create their own collection of works such as the Dilmun seal and have participated in several exhibitions. In 2001 they partook in the Invest in Bahrain Show staged at the Bahrain’s Art Society. They also joined in Art Bahrain Fairs in 2015.
Noora explained: “In these participations we have exhibited an array of art pieces and services ranging from original bronze sculptures by local and international artists in addition to the debut of our first utilitarian-art collection that were commissioned, designed and fabricated by MASBAK.
“We have received tremendously positive feedback on the utilitarian-art prototypes. Currently we are working on the final design and fabrication of a new collection that should be revealed by the end of 2016. Also, we are expanding our range of services to include sand-casting and cold casting methods in order to help realise other artists’ visions.”
Their art work has been used as corporate giveaways and as gifts for special occasions. Prices start from as low as BD5 for one piece. They can even bronze jewellery upon request.
For details, visit www.2000artfoundry.com
