1. Art and Diseño

4
Gulf Daily News
Friday, 30th January 2015
Email: [email protected]
An artful way
to be creative
AN innovative art space
designed to bring local
artists and musicians
together is opening today
at Amwaj Islands.
Malja (sanctuary) is made
up of four sections – a café,
an art and dance studio,
a gallery and a recording
studio.
It is a non-profit venue
that has been put together
by Red Bull Bahrain and
designed by Bahrain-based
Spoon Design Consultants.
It was created to give artists a permanent outlet to express themselves and showcase their talents, said Red
Bull Bahrain communications specialist Julie Tegho.
“After two years of hold-
By LAALA KASHEF ALGHATA
ing all these Red Bull events
with a lot of incredible talents,
we were being told that they
didn’t have a space to express
themselves,” she told GDN.
“That’s when we decided
we wanted to have a space that
could host all these people and
give them what they need to
create.
“Malja is free to access for
all residents of Bahrain and the
region, although for workshops
and use of facilities there will
be an entry fee depending on
the event.
“We have had artists bringing in their ideas for the space
because they understand what
the urban scene needs here.
n Inside the Malja space during construction
“Malja is important because
it gives the opportunity for
artists from different backgrounds to come in one space,
brainstorm and come up with
creative ideas. They can also
present them there.”
The art space has been built
on the old Alosra Supermarket
grounds and will be open to the
public tomorrow.
“Starting on Saturday we’ll
be open from noon to 6pm, having a sort of open day for the
public to come and see what’s
going on,” said Ms Tegho.
“In the evening we will hold
workshops with regional and
local artists as a sneak peak into
the kind of workshops we will
have at Malja.
“Among other things, on
Thursday, we will have a talk
by DJ Outlaw and an intro to
stand-up comedy with Imran Al
Aradi.”
The cafe at the venue has
been named the Energy Station,
while the gallery is called The
Wall and the recording studio is
named QTF (Quarter Tone Frequency) Sound Space.
“The Energy Station is a
place to hang out and relax.
The food available is locally
produced and you will be surrounded by a music and art library,” explained Ms Tegho.
“In The Wall, we will have
one permanent exhibition from
January to December curated
by Stafford and Sharabi Art
Consultants.
“That will be taken down
four times a year for short-term
projects and exhibits in March,
May, September and November. Those exhibits will last two
or three weeks each.
“The gallery will also have a
stage that can host concerts and
events for up to 250 people.
“It’s an opportunity for artists and anyone who has a creative mind-set in Bahrain - they
can apply on the website to get
involved.”
The QTF Sound Space is an
electronic music production
studio equipped for musicians
and will have monthly hourlong shows featuring independent musicians from the
region.
Musicians can sign up for
studio time online through the
website, www.maljabahrain.
com.
The art and dance studio
aims to encourage young dancers in the island, as well as artists who need space to work on
their projects.
The exterior of the building is a special installation
by Conor Maguire and Sarah
Valente, as a bird’s wing recreated by re-purposing old supermarket shelves that were meant
to be thrown out.
For more information, visit the website or Instagram @
maljabahrain.
[email protected]
Schedule
of events
MALJA will be open daily
from noon to 5pm. This
week’s schedule is:
Saturday (January 31)
12pm to 4pm: Graffiti (Outdoors)
12pm to 3pm: Meet the
Curators - Fran and Yasmin
(Gallery)
2pm to 4pm: Photography
discussion (Art Room)
3pm to 4pm: Talk by guest
artist Monstariam (Gallery)
4pm to 8pm: Monstariam’s
Class of Awesome workshop - Graffiti (Outdoors)
4pm to 5pm: Questioning
Photojournalism workshop
by Stephanie Ravel (Gallery)
5pm to 6pm: Talk with
Malika (Gallery)
6pm to 7pm: Talk with Tamir
(Gallery)
Sunday (February 1)
5pm to 7pm: The Art of
Movement workshop by
Bahrain Parkour (Outdoors)
6pm to 8pm: Battle in Battle
B-Boy workshop by Triple X
(Art Room)
8pm to 10pm: Hip Hop
Dance 101 workshop by
Little A (Art Room)
Monday (February 2)
5pm to 6pm: Curating
Double-Tap workshop by
Frances Stafford and Yasmin Sharabi (Gallery)
6pm to 8pm: Graffiti and
Skills workshop by Huvil
(Outdoors)
6pm to 8pm: Drawing 101
by Ramah Al Husseini (Art
Room)
8pm to 10pm: TASTE workshop by Leon D & Tamadher
(Art Room)
Tuesday (February 3)
5pm to 7pm: Photography
101 workshop by Eman Ali
(Art Room)
8pm to 10pm: How to Produce a Film by Joseph Tito
(Art Room)
Wednesday (February 4)
5pm to 7pm: NajBas Beauty
101 by Najla Bastaki (Art
Room)
7pm to 9pm: Blogging and
Social Media in the Arabic
Fashion World by Duaa
Zainal (Art Room)
Thursday (February 5)
5pm to 7pm: No Funny
Business workshop by
Imran Al Aradi (Gallery)
6pm to 8pm: Intro to DJing
by DJ Outlaw (Sound
Space)
8pm to 10pm: Starting a
Track by Ahmed Zainal
(Gallery)
Registration will
start at 9am
n Spoon Design Consultants architect Mr Maguire guides the construction of his piece at the
entrance of Malja Bahrain