Hesham Malik's brush with African tribal life

Dubai, January 15: An exhibition titled "Ilat" (rain) depicting the work of internationally acclaimed artist Hesham Malik opened at Showcase Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai on January 12, 2015.

This is the first time Bahrain-born Hesham is presenting his collection of paintings based on his experiences in Africa, especially the time he spent with the tribes in Kenya. It is one of the most anticipated exhibitions to be held in town featuring 26 exquisite paintings by the artist whose career spans almost three decades. The exhibition will run until February 28.

Hesham, who is now based in the Czech Republic, is humbled to display his work in Dubai which has a long history in art and painting. In his work, he portrays different tribal myths while giving it his personal style with different elements of design. Hesham says the tribes shared with him their essence of living which is 'gratitude'.

“Gratitude is the best learning I took from the tribal people. They always see the good in a person, not the bad. They are grateful and happy with what they have," said Hesham, who interacted with the Samburu, Gusii and Masai tribal groups during his trip to Kenya.

"Life for them is a journey which according to them takes them to the beginning, not to the end. For them, the body does not matter - it's the soul that matters most. They give importance to it because the soul is their identity. The tribal people also stress on evil because they say without it they would never learn much. According to them, each one of us has a little bit of evil in us, it all depends on how we treat our own evil,” Hesham added.

Curated by art expert Manisha Sugandh, "Ilat" was chosen by the Showcase Gallery because of their complimentary tributes to African art.

Manisha conceived the exhibition as a journey across the artist’s most significant and creative paths. “When I speak of Hesham as an artist, I am not thinking of anyone that would be confined to space and time. His work goes beyond time and it's not burdened with spatial dimensions,” said Manisha.

“His work is about something that anyone who has spent some part of their lives reading about African tribes can understand well. It is the work of an artist and at the same time of a global citizen,” added Manisha, who has been organising and curating a number of prestigious art exhibitions in the UAE.

Hesham is noted for his ability to move effortlessly between abstract paintings to stylised representations of creatures, to work that is contemporary in style and feel.

"I would like 'Ilat' the exhibition to be personal, so people know more about different African tribes and their mythical beliefs," said Hesham.

"When the African tribal folk found out that I was an artist, they invited me to learn from them. I made notes, instead of sketches, so I would not ruin the moment. It took four years for me to develop and do justice to the artwork, and also find a gallery that would take pride in the African sector," he added.

Hesham wanted to be an artist from a very young age. Both his parents were supportive of his decision to become artist and encouraged him in his career choice. After completing his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Waterloo, Canada, he travelled the world to hone his skills. His early work focused on Abstract Expressionist ideas and techniques, but he expanded the genre by endowing people and objects with importance.

During his time in Canada, he created his paintings not just for a niche audience, but also for the general public. Over the years, Malik has been creating work that cover a range of diverse subjects including Sufism, Hindu deities, Arabic calligraphy and abstract portraits.

Showcase Gallery is one of the first galleries to be established in the UAE, in the 1990s. The gallery has a strong reputation with art collectors and designers, whilst obtaining wide scale recognition within the Middle Eastern and African Art World.

Showcase Gallery is commended for its acknowledgement of African art practice and has also been a major voice in communicating the work of African Artists into the Contemporary Art sphere.