Aqaba becomes artists’ studio as leading painters convene with their ‘ingredients’

AQABA — “This symposium is like an artistic Babel Tower,” said Amina Rezki, a Moroccan artist who took part in the International Art Symposium that concluded on Saturday at the Ayla Oasis Development Company (Ayla) in Aqaba.

Rezki was one of the 20 Arab and international leading artists who convened to Aqaba for the second edition of a “unique artistic event”, according to the event supervisor, Jordanian painter Mohammad Al Jaloos.

“Each one of us comes with his/her own universe, his/her own story and techniques,” the Moroccan artist who has been living in Brussels for the past years told The Jordan Times. 

“Because I spent all my life in Europe, I felt the need to go back to my roots, to work with Arab artists and interact with them to get their cultural input,” she continued, adding “this workshop is like a big kitchen, where everyone came with his/her own ingredients, his/her own utensils and recipe.” 

“It is very important for artists to get out of their studio and exchange in a common place,” said Jaloos about the setting of the event, a vast open-air studio where artists spent 10 days working on their paintings. 

“It is not only art that is going on here, it is life itself. Interactions, relations, inspirations have been spawned throughout the event, which brought even more to the artwork,” the supervisor said.

In spite of the language barrier, the 20 artists have exchanged ideas, techniques and inspirations during a 10-day workshop that saw the participation of world-famous French-Egyptian artist George Baghoury.

“I still learn about art, even after 30 years of practice,” the 85-year-old said, noting that “this event allows me to see other perspectives and fresh talents.”

Maha Ibrahim is one of these “raw” talents who attended the workshop, coming from her art studio in Luxor, Egypt.

“I cannot imagine myself doing anything else than art. I have learned so much being here; these artists are amazing and so inspiring and they have all helped me so much. They treated me like family,” the 23-year-old said, as she is now aiming to enroll in a master’s in fine arts where she hopes to “learn how to capture the core of things from the very first look, like these artists do”.

On Friday, the participants — who came from Russia, Bulgaria, the US, Belarus, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar and Morocco — displayed their final work on the main square of Aqaba, in an “unprecedented” public exhibition.

“This event, held for the first time in Jordan, aims to share art and convey a message of peace, beauty and humanity,” said Nasser Shraideh, chief commissioner of Aqaba at the exhibition ceremony.

“Held in the heart of our city, open for anyone to see, this exhibition comes in line with His Majesty King Abdullah’s vision for the country and the city of Aqaba, to promote a message of peace and moderation,” he continued.

For his part, Managing Diector of Ayla, Sahl Dudin, said: “I am honoured to be welcoming such distinguished artists here and I truly hope to see Aqaba become a hub where artists can converge, reflect and create together.”

Participating artists included George Baghoury, Ahlam Lemmseffer, Ali Amr, Amina Rezki, Bahaa’ Eldin Amer, Ebtesam Al Saffar, Eman Osama, Farouk Lambaz, Abbas Yousef, Hani Ali, Inna Pantelemonova, Ismael Azzam, Juliya Zhukova, Maha Ibrahim, Thomas Cox, Oksana Evdokimenko, Svetla Radulova, Tayseer Barakat and Mohammad Al Jaloos.

The symposium ran between November 2 and 12.