10 July 2019
Culture Authority Artist Najla al-Khalifa’s Talk and Live Virtual Arts Show
The Art Centre held earlier today, Wednesday 10 July, an artist talk and live demonstration titled “Art in Another Dimension: Virtual Reality” with Bahraini Artist Najla Al Khalifa, as part of the Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities to enhance the cultural and artistic scenes in Bahrain.
At her inaugural address, Mrs. Farah Mohammed Khalid Mattar, Director of Culture and Arts at the Bahrain Authority for Culture &Antiquities (BACA), stressed BACA’s keenness to present the latest artistic creative manifestations in Bahrain, as well the full support to the new talented generation of artists, who are driven by a pioneering cultural and artistic new ideas in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Artist Najla Al Khalifa, for her part, expressed her sincere thanks to Bahrain Culture Authority for organizing this event, arguing that the virtual world has recently been involved in art world with crystal clear way and cutting-edge technology, and no more limited to the education per se. After, the artist interacted and shared her artistic experience with the audience and a selection of intellectuals and culture figures in Bahrain, explaining the beginning of the virtual world technology, its development and its involvement in all aspects of our daily lives.
The artist further emphasized that she started using the program in 2017, the same year the program that she frequently uses was released, called “Tilt Brush” by Google. “What appealed to me the most about the medium was that I was able to “experience” art rather than solely viewing or analyzing it,” she said. During her talk, artist Najla Al-Khalifa demonstrated her program along with a local Virtual Reality hub, which was set up with headsets for the audience members to personally try demonstrations of the art program. Her work on ancient Dilmun culture was on view as a part of the 45th Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition, as well as she created a model of the Shaikh Salman bin Ahmed Al-Fateh fort, also known as the Riffa Fort, using VR. The model was then 3D printed multiple times to be used as embassy gifts, as part of the Bahrain National Day celebration at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.
The artist added that she applied this VR art on depicting historical houses of Muharraq, reflecting the city’s traditional urban architecture and social fabric. Najla Al-Khalifa further explained that she started using VR technology since 2017 in her art creative works, exploring thus, an multi-dimensional world of unlimited possibilities. Indeed, spectators are able to “walk into” her paintings, that mostly focus on architecture, abstract art, history, archaeology and the human condition.
Worth tom mention that artist Najla Al-Khalifa, ggraduated with a Bachelor’s of Art in Art History from the American University of Paris, has explored an entire realm of art that is both immersive and a constant learning experience. Her work on ancient Dilmun culture is currently on view as a part of the 45th Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition and she was awarded with Youth Honorary Award for her work “ Where the Sun Rises”, in which the video progresses into an environment that shows a colorful and lush Dilmun, trying to stay true to its historical and mythological descriptions of being “paradise.” The art in this part of the video is directly influenced by the art style on Dilmun seals and artefacts.
