Waheeda Malullah - A Villager’s Day Out (2008). Photo of Francesca Cristellotti.
Pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrain
55th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
Mariam Haji, Waheeda Malullah, Camille Zakharia
In A World Of Your Own
Commissioner: Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Culture
Curator: Melissa Enders-Bhatia
1th June-24th November 2013
Arsenale
Campo della Tana
Castello, Venice Italy
In a World of Your Own is the Kingdom of Bahrain’s first national participation at the 55th International
Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia.
The pavilion, located at the Arsenale Artiglierie, was commissioned by Her Excellecy Mai bint
Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and curated by Melissa EndersBhatia.
A subjective exploration of culture and self lies at the core of the art practices of Mariam Haji,
Waheeda Malullah and Camille Zakharia. With an emphasis on the importance of identity, the pavilion
examines the expression of interiority and private meanings in these artists. Mariam Haji’s drawings of
imaginary landscapes and personal confrontations represent the artist’s personal and highly internal
struggles relating to gender, spirituality and social norms. Realistic in style yet imbued with strong
personal symbolism, Haji provocatively questions traditional modes of thinking and cultural
stereotypes. Playful exploration is the hallmark of Malullah’s art practice. However, through a careful
staging of her photographic compositions, the artist explores deeper issues regarding the role of
women, dress and religion in her more traditional community. Lebanese born Camille Zakaria has
practiced as an artist in Bahrain for close to twenty years. An itinerant, his collage art practice focuses
on the themes of belonging and memory. Using images from his archive of over 20,000 photographs,
the artist compulsively reconfigures these images in an attempt to make whole a life characterized by
chance and geographical and personal dislocation.
These three artists reflect very different personal experiences and personal contexts in a country
characterized by rapid modernization, urbanization and resulting social and economic heterogeneity.
Self-taught Malullah, internationally educated Haji, and nomadic Zakharia are indicative of the varied
and complex experiences of being an artist in Bahrain, a relative newcomer to the world of
international contemporary art.
Ludovico Centis, Matteo Ghidoni and Michele Marchetti were responsible for the exhibition design of
the Bahrain pavilion.
Web:
www.bahrainpavilion.bh
For press enquiries, please contact
bahrainpavilion@moc.gov.bh
