Beautifying Bahrain

Meet Bahraini artist Khalil Al Shaikh, who has been embellishing ma’atams (‘gathering spaces’) across the kingdom for decades. He reminisced the chance beginning of his artistic journey, including his striking tile work typically found at these events, coinciding with Muharram, which begins tomorrow, June 27.

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri calendar.

Every year during Muharram, thousands of Bahrainis flock to stunning ma’atams around the country to admire them and their beauty. However, not many stop to think about the hands that put the tiles in place, or about the heart and soul that men and women put into the beautification process.

Among those men is veteran carpenter and tile worker, 73-year-old Khalil, whose creations have been admired by many.

His portfolios spans Islamic artwork, woodwork, gypsum designs and tile work, which are exhibited at various locations in  Bahrain, including Ma’atam Shabab Al Hamala, Ma’atam Mansour Bin Nayem in Muharraq, Ma’atam Al Khoder in Bani Jamra, Ma’atam Alasfoor in Sitra and Ma’atam Al Basri in Bilad Qadeem.

He loves making works with the name of Allah on it; perhaps his pièce de résistance, is a glow in the dark piece with Allah’s name as a centrepiece.

Khalil’s tryst with art began during his school days. At 15 years old, he seemed like just your typical student with an interest in handicrafts. One rainy day, his life changed when he took a detour on his way to school.

“My books got really wet because of the downpour,” the Buhair resident said.

“Instead of going to school, I stopped by a carpentry workshop to dry off.

“I just stood there at the entrance of the shop, and the man asked me what I wanted.

“Without thinking, I told him that I wanted to work for him and learn from him. He let me stay for the day.

“I stood there admiring his work, and later, he just handed me the keys to the workshop and told me to open shop in the morning and clean up.

“From there, everything just happened to fall into place.”

Khalil spent years honing his craft as a carpenter, eventually finding himself in workshops across the country. Although he loved woodwork, what really ended up capturing his curiosity and passion was working on traditional styles.

“I met a man named Ahmed Al Areifi in the late 70s, and he asked me to help him make indoor décor using gypsum for a shop,” he said.

“I took to it much faster than I did with carpentry, it felt so simple, so flexible and yet so elegant.”

Khalil’s handicraft gradually gained fame, designing artwork and pieces for the Bahrain National Museum, the Housing and Urban Planning Ministry, and, once he learned tilework, both indoor and outdoor décor for ma’atams.

He proudly states his work is ‘100 per cent Bahraini made’.

Even though he is still going strong, Khalil hopes to see a new generation of Bahrainis take up more handiwork.

“I will be more than happy to teach them,” he said. Nobody knows our culture and tradition better than us Bahrainis.

“If you have the love of traditional handicraft and the desire to learn and grow and be creative, then I will take you in and teach you everything I know,” he added.