Virtual art exhibition brings together Jordanian talents

AMMAN — A virtual art exhibition, titled “Jordan from Dreams to Reality”, was launched on Sunday evening, showcasing more than 30 artworks by 14 Jordanian artists.

“The idea began when my friend the cartoonist Omar Abdallat told me that he was seeing a lot of emerging artists in Jordan without sufficient support or a platform to display their works on, and we decided to do something about that,” Rana Sweis, who initiated the exhibition and is the founder of Wishbox Media, told The Jordan Times.

The project started with workshops and a small local exhibition, she said.

“This virtual exhibition was then initiated with collective efforts from Wishbox Media, Qalam Hurr, I have Learned Academy, Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung, and oVRexhibit to provide a global platform for both emerging and well-established Jordanian artists,” Sweis added.

Before taking the visitors on a virtual tour, Randa Farah, founder of I have Learned Academy, hosted a panel discussion with five of the exhibiting artists.

Rawan Hammad, an animator and digital artist, made a short animated video about a ballerina.

“To achieve this result, I had to create 400 drawings over the course of four days,” Hammad said during the discussion.

Abdallat, who is the founder of Qalam Hurr, also has cartoon drawings on display.

“When I was a kid, I had speech problems, so I used to communicate with others through my drawings,” he told The Jordan Times, noting that art has always been a means of self-expression for him.

Abdallat added that he also uses his art “to advocate for the Jordanian citizen, be vocal about injustices, and shed light on political and social issues around him”.

Zaina Said, another Jordanian artist, participated with a digital collage artwork titled “desert trail”.

The collage gathers images from different sources to tell the story of bedouin life in Jordan, Said told The Jordan Times.

“I was drawn to their unique relationship with the stars and the element of freedom shown in their nomadic lifestyle,” she added.

Other exhibiting artists include Shaun Rabah, Ameera Al Sharif, Hadeel Khader, Juman Nimri, Mahmoud Rifai, Marah Hassouna, Nawal Abdul Hamid, Osama Hajjaj, Rafat Al Khatib, Roa’a Zaitoun, and Sarah Ghraibeh.

The virtual exhibition will run for an entire year, allowing visitors from all over the world to enjoy the artworks in 3D and VR through https://artsandpolitics.me/Jordan/ .