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MEMORIES of Ramadan during her growing up years feature in a fabulous collection of fashion ware and poignant posters produced with a commercial twist by creative Weaam Sperinck.
Her unique range of handbags, shirts and artwork showcase a range of everyday fast-breaking favourites which are a fond and nostalgic part of local culture.
The items are being quickly snapped up and the positive reaction has helped justify her decision to give up a steady day job to allow her artistic talents a chance to succeed: “I have recently received a lot of orders and bookings. In one month’s time I will be entirely devoting my time to illustration and design work so I needed to hit the ground running,” she said.
The 32-year-old has developed a colourful line in time for the holy month showcasing images inspired by what people who have grown up in Bahrain will easily identify with, from burgers and fries served at fast food chain Jasmis to Crystal hot sauce poured on cheesy puffed Bahraini snacks, called Meno, because ‘that’s the right way to eat it’.
Her collection also highlights other popular items sold at the barada, the Bahraini word for cold store, during Ramadan, such as Vimto, Tang and Awali Rose Milk.
The British Bahraini, who is leaving a teaching job to pursue her creative career, said: “Since I made this collection for Ramadan and I had to think of quintessential Ramadan items.
“Of course my first thoughts were of traditional foods such as dates, gaymat (sugary sweet dumplings) and Arabic coffee. But I wanted to veer away from homemade treats and look at the commercial side of Ramadan.”
“There are products like Vimto that are always in large supply around Ramadan time so the idea quickly developed into a commercial and nostalgic food themed project. I started to ask people what they remembered most from their childhood - their barada favourites, things that were always in the fridge, what they took to school and so on.
“Before long I had collected quite an extensive list. I started illustrating some for the Ramadan Collection like the Rose Milk and Meno, but I can see a scope to continue this project even further, perhaps with things like the KDD ice cream sandwich.
“I’m toying with the name of the Barada Collection because of some of the imagery but, for now, I’m just calling it the Ramadan Collection.”
Weaam, who lives in Umm Al Hassam, has worked with fabrics before but this has been her first time working with two or three colour prints, a more complicated and costly venture.
Her items were printed at a little Bahraini-owned workshop Papillon in Umm Al Hassam that was recommended to her by a fellow illustrator, Jenine Sharabi.
Delighted with the reaction they have generated, she recently sold her four designs screen-printed on limited edition posters, T-shirts and tote bags priced from BD6-BD12 each at Gallery 21’s Ramadan Boutique in Adliya over the weekend.
She also sold little sticker packs for BD1-BD2 for those who just want a little souvenir to decorate their laptops and phones.
“I love seeing places like Gallery21 open their doors to local artists and designers to show their work,” added Weaam. “It’s really important that more venues like this support the local creative scene and provide these opportunities.
“I’m especially grateful that this was offered to us free of charge and I think everyone would agree that it’s a wonderful way to start Ramadan.”
At the moment, her work is currently available at Sonder Café in Sanad but she is hoping to expand to other venues. Next step will be to open up social media platforms to take online orders.
The former St Christopher’s School student graduated with a BA in Visual Communication from the Glasgow School of Art in 2009 and later decided to complete her MA in Illustration from the Interactive Design Institute in Scotland in 2015. Aside from teaching art and design, Weaam freelances for various clients and takes on commissions doing anything from illustrating children’s books and painting murals to rebranding businesses.
She has showcased her art around the island in recent years. She featured her collaborative series with photographer Summer Ameen along with 13 artists at the Red Bull Space in Amwaj Islands for its first anniversary celebrations in 2016. She also participated in a global October #Inktober ink drawing challenge created by well-known American illustrator Jake Parker.
She explained: “It helped me to produce some merchandise for an IGN convention that was staged last November which was my first experience in terms of selling my work in a market.”
In January, she began creating new collections and just weeks later was approached by Sonder Café to exhibit some illustrations for Not Art #005- a monthly creative initiative.
Weaam also displayed a collaboration that she had put together with Glaswegian poet Kevin P Gilday in March. She said: “I’ll be participating in a variety of markets coming up, so keep a look out!”
