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Altruistic artists and compassionate chefs across the kingdom have been digitally flocking to the Gulf Hotel Bahrain’s social media to channel their creativity towards appreciating and helping healthcare providers during the fight against Covid-19.
The ‘Art for a Cause’ initiative, launched by the five-star hotel last Sunday, has attracted almost 60 creators from across the island to submit pictures or videos of their paintings, drawings, kitchen creations, films and more.
Every day, a batch of these creations has been shared via the hotel’s Instagram Stories, with users voting on their favourites. The winning creators then get to send a meal to anyone that they choose – a healthcare provider, a volunteer or just a friend with whom they miss sharing a meal.
The hotel then delivers to the intended recipient, as part of their new #GHDelivers programme.
Fares Yactine, area general manager at The Gulf Hotel Bahrain Convention & Spa, told GulfWeekly: “The marketing team came up with this initiative to encourage people to create while staying at home. Today, we are in a very unusual situation and our healthcare workers have been on the frontline of dealing with it. Our team launched this initiative to give some great artists, and so forth, a platform and an opportunity to express their appreciation to someone who has been on their mind during the past few weeks – whether that person is a doctor, nurse, medical worker, volunteer or perhaps even a friend they haven’t been able to see, in person.”
The first week of the initiative was themed around artistic creations and every day, a winner was picked based on the popular vote. Nearly 3,000 votes were cast on average per day.
The first winner was Farah Siraj (Instagram: @the.siraj); the second winner was Vadakkedath Sreedevi (@vadakkedath.sreedevi) with a video of her bookmarks; next was Zainab Bucheeri (@zainabbucheeri) with her delectable Van Gogh themed cakes, followed by Minu Sanal Jithin (@awanderlust_bee) with her picture of a boy practicing traditional handicrafts at Bab Al Bahrain.
For submissions received over the weekend, Sausan Saleem (@thecookbook89) and Najiya Nasrin (@dhera_rihana) won the most votes with their Bahraini sunset cityscape photograph and ships on the ocean painting, respectively.
Farah, a 29-year-old content creator and choreographer living in Juffair, and the first winner of the initiative, said: “I was happy to share one of my recent videos and showcase my art through this initiative. I decided to pay it forward to my best friend’s mother, Annamma Babu, who works as a nurse at Salmaniya Hospital. She’s often caught up with work and has been spending very little time at home with her family because of this crisis. This was my way of giving back and thanking her for all that she does as a health worker putting her own life at risk to save lives.”
The initiative continues this week, with a focus on the professional chefs whose dine-in outlets have been closed due to public health restrictions during the Covid-19 crisis.
Chef Tala Bashmi from Fusions by Tala and Chef Kevin de Guzman from Sato restaurant will be offering demos of some of their best dishes on the menu, so that the Gulf Hotel community can try them out at home.
Home chefs are also encouraged to share videos and photos of their culinary creations, whether inspired by the professional chefs or their own stroke of isolation-based inspiration.
The submissions that win the most number of votes will again have a chance to commend a friend, loved one or medical worker for a Gulf Hotel-catered meal.
Sunuj Deen, food and beverage manager at the hotel, said: “Food is an essential part of everyone’s life, even in times of crisis. In Bahrain especially, Gulf Hotel has been one of the market leaders when it comes to food and beverage. This is our way of trying to make a difference, while also staying in touch with our loyal customers and the Gulf Hotel community. It gives them a unique way to help share the gift of a meal with those who have been working extra hard for the last few weeks.”
As part of its community initiatives, the hotel also started distributing desserts and sweets to the 80 staff at the newly opened Covid-19 testing centre in Sanabis this week.
The ‘Art for a Cause’ initiative continues this week and home-based chefs are encouraged to share their creations with the hotel via Instagram @thegulfhotelbahrain or by WhatsApp: 37372111.
