ShaikhRashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (born 1952) is a member of the Bahraini royal family, an artist and the Chairman of Bahrain's National Council for Arts. He is the first president and the current honorary president of the Bahrain Arts Society.[1] He has painted over a period of 50 years, beginning with landscape painting in the late 1960's. His recent work continues to explore his immediate landscape and the traditional architecture of his homeland, through wall based, structural installations created with aluminium. He is widely considered one of the Kingdom's most renowned artists.[2]
German artist Sebastian Bieniek talking to Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa at the Views Bahrain exhibition in 2016.
Rashid Al Khalifa was born in Riffa in 1952.[3][4] He is the second son of Shaikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who was the eighth son of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the ruler of Bahrain from 1932 until his death in 1942.[3] Rashid was exposed to literature, philosophy and music in high school and his interest in painting was encouraged by the late Emir, Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa as well as Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the late Prime Minister of Bahrain (1970-2020), both of whom showed genuine interest in Rashid's work when he participated in a local art exhibition at his high school.[5]
Rashid held his first solo exhibition at the Dilmun Hotel, Bahrain, in 1970 when he was just 18 years old, and then moved to the UK in 1972 to study at the Hastings College of Arts and Technology in Sussex. After returning to Bahrain in 1978, inspired by Europe’s greatest Impressionist masters, he began his own renditions of his country’s landscapes, producing a series of atmospheric paintings of the desert, sea, and historical sites. These works were first presented at the Middle East Institute, Washington, D.C., USA, and at the Sheraton Hotel, Bahrain, in 1982. Rashid developed his painting by responding to certain movements and styles such as geometric abstraction, hard-edge painting and colour field work. In 1983, Rashid and a number of other Bahraini artists, formed the Bahrain Arts Society, a non-profit organization for Bahraini artists, whereby Rashid was named its first president. He continues to hold the title of honorary president.
The artist’s vital decision to merge elements of his figurative and landscape works in the late 1980s was an entirely conscious one. He was driven by a greater sense of individuality, which emulated the ambiance and aura of his own surroundings. His female figures became barely decipherable, as hints of fabric, suggestions of limbs and movement, and cascades of hair all dispersed into the melding colours of the land. Rashid’s further transformation of his work in the early 1990s denotes his desire to contain and redirect his previously gestural and fleeting. mark making. Gradually becoming more controlled, his imagery began incorporating more decorative elements. This series of works were first presented in 1996 in solo exhibitions at the De Caliet Gallery in Milan, Italy, and the El Kato Kayyel Gallery, Milan, Italy, as well as at the Shuman Arts Organisation in Jordan in 1997. During this time, Rashid also experimented with a shapelier backdrop, forming a triangular prism with three canvases. And while he appreciated its three-dimensionality, which allowed the work to stand unsupported so viewers could look from all angles, he was unsatisfied with the result.
Further investigations and an unintentional discovery resulted in his characteristically ‘convex canvas’ which emerged towards the end of the 1990s. Beginning in 2000, this new canvas became the mainstay on which the artist merged all his imagery - landscape, figurative and abstract expressionism - into his own colour field language. From 2006 onwards, along with his continued application of bright and vivid colour schemes, his practice adopted a conceptual framework. Organic shapes and unusual patterns swirled together, allowing for the emergence of animate and abstract imagery.
By 2009, his work underwent a definitive change, where the formerly bold lines and distinct forms of the late ‘90s became a synthesis of colour and gesture. Broad sweeps of colour met with blended paint and thick impasto which was then scratched and scraped to reveal the remnant hues and imagery beneath the surface. Employing the convex surface for over a decade, Rashid methodically and continually developed his style with a far more minimalistic approach. In 2010, an important solo exhibition at the Bahrain National of his work, presenting his journey with this newfound form and its Museum entitled ‘Convex: A New Perspective’, showcased a decade influential role on his style and practice. Along with his earlier painterly works, he introduced a new series of lacquer paint, fabric and glue complementing the curvature of the canvas. Rashid manipulated these materials to open up opportunities for light to fall differently on and more intense in nature, imparted far greater dramatic effects. In each surface, thereby emphasizing his multilayered relief technique.
The scale of his canvas became grander and the imagery itself, darker essence, this ‘new perspective’ intimated the changes in the physicality of Rashid’s work and ran parallel to his personal growth. His ongoing experimentation signified his need and openness for innovation and renewal. In this phase, Rashid began to consider and equate, to an even greater extent, the susceptibility, mechanics and geometric processes involved in certain aspects of the designs and architecture he visualized in Bahrain’s ever-changing landscapes. He quickly began to incorporate these findings into his practice. The incandescent, smooth lacquer surfaces seen in much of his 2010-2011 work demonstrates his affinity for symmetry and balance in form and purpose. By late 2011, Rashid took this further by experimenting with chrome which allowed him to paint over, manipulate and warp reflections of his environment. This body of work was showcased in solo exhibitions the following year at the Bahrain Financial Harbour, Manama (2012), Beirut Art Fair, Lebanon (2012) and Abu Dhabi Art, UAE (2012).
In May 2015 the artist officially participated in the 56th Venice Biennale, Eye of the Thunderstorm: Effervescent Practices from the Arab World’, in both the ‘Nomi/Names’ joint exhibition and a collateral event, ‘The commissioned by the Contemporary Practices Journal. This was followed with his participation in an Arab delegation of artists to Brazil for the TRIO Biennial dedicated to three-dimensional art. Around this time Rashid’s convex surfaces took on textured layers of aluminium, which he manipulated or excised to reveal layering underneath. In doing so, he abandoned the painterly style of previous years to allow for a pristine and symmetrical façade. These structural features, as well as his move towards minimalism, directed his new focus on elemental forms of design and their receptiveness to light and consequent shadows.
In 2018, the artist presented a solo show at Ayyam Gallery in Dubai, UAE, entitled ‘Hybrids’, which showcased this transition with a selection of works created between 2015-2017. In the same year, this fresh and innovative approach defined his ‘Parametrics’ series of large-scale installations that premiered, to international acclaim, in a major solo exhibition entitled ‘Penumbra: Textured Shadow, Coloured Light’ at the Saatchi Gallery in London. In continuation of this style, in 2019, Rashid exhibited alongside artist Mary Bauermeister and sound artist Simon Stockhausen at the me Collector's Room, Berlin presenting a selection of his parametrics. In 2020, Rizzoli publishing house, released an elegantly illustrated publication of Rashid Al Khalifa's work, entitled, 'Rashid Al Khalifa, Full Circle', showcasing the artists deep connection to the light and landscape of his homeland.
Rashid Al Khalifa’s latest work continues to explore the myriad dynamics of light and colours that are characteristic to Bahrain’s geographical and cultural diversity. His current interests lie in the interaction of these properties to further inform his bold interpretations of his cultural heritage. Through splendidly commanding structures, comprising meticulous forms and complex designs, Rashid’s art practice stands as a contemporary tribute to traditional Middle Eastern design and architecture.
Rashid held a government post as the Undersecretary for Tourism and Archaeology for the Ministry of Culture, Bahrain until June 2011. After the first Gulf War, he was appointed Undersecretary of Immigration, Passports and Residence Affairs.[5] In 2021 he retired from this position and has since been named the Chairman of the newly established National Council for Arts. Al Khalifa is married to Luluwah bint Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, only daughter of Khalifa bin Salman, former Prime Minister of Bahrain.[3] They have six children, three daughters and three sons.[3]
Exhibitions
Solo
2021 Opera Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2021 Tesselate, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
2019 In Parallel, Bait Muzna Gallery, Muscat, Oman
2018 Penumbra: Textured Shadow, Coloured Light, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa was a Bahraini royal and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bahrain from 10 January 1970 until his death in 2020. He took office over a year before Bahrain's independence on 15 August 1971. He was the longest-serving prime minister in the world. Under the 2002 Constitution he lost some of his powers, with the King now having the authority to appoint and dismiss ministers.
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The House of Khalifa is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Al Khalifas profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe, some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which migrated from Central Arabia to Kuwait, then ruled all of Qatar, more specifically Al Zubarah, which they built and ruled over before settling in Bahrain in the early 17th century. The current head of the family is Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999 and proclaimed himself King of Bahrain in 2002, in fact becoming a constitutional monarch.
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bahrain:
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The modern Bahraini art movement emerged in the 1950s, with the establishment of an Arts and Literature club in 1952. The club served as an umbrella group for professional and amateur artists, musicians, and actors in Bahrain. In 1956, the first art exhibition was held in the Bahraini capital, Manama. Expressionism and surrealism, as well as calligraphic art are the popular forms of art in the country. Abstract expressionism has gained popularity in recent decades.
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Yasser Hareb is a writer and TV presenter from the Emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai awarded Yasser Hareb, the Arab Social Media Influencers Award in the Positivity and Tolerance category in 2016. He was acting CEO and as vice president of culture and education at Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation. Prior to that he was director of special projects at The Executive Office of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He was also secretary general of the Arab Strategic Forum and director of operations at the Dubai Institute for Human Development. Currently he is a member of Supreme National Committee for Tolerance established in the UAE, by the president, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to celebrate 2019 as the Year of Tolerance. He is known for his novel “Take Off Your Shoes” whose foreword is by Paulo Coelho. He is also a co-founder of Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies global forum, which is hosted annually by Abu Dhabi City.
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