It’s back. After closing over the summer, creative arts group Elham is launching its third season on Tuesday 23rd September 2008 in collaboration with Albareh Art Gallery and a talented cast of emerging artists traversing the creative spectrum.

For starters, there will be a screening of digital artworks by graphic designer, artist, photographer, writer and DJ Fawaz Alolaiwat, who will spin music as his dramatic images flash across the screen. A visual-communications graduate from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, USA, multi-talented Fawaz revels in the opportunities offered by the “nu-digital age” to express his experiences, dreams, hopes and imagination ever more creatively. But, if the effect is sometimes futuristic, his inspiration is very much in the here and now: “Growing up in Bahrain, a place of culture, history, beautiful people, worn textures, orange skies, wide open sea and silent desert, has given me much inspiration over the years,” he says.

Next up, there’s a reading by Yacoub Salman Al-Slaise, who started his writing life aged 10 when he penned his first detective story, “The adventures of Inspector Yak: in search of the missing Shampoodle”. Today, when he’s not training teachers, he blogs and writes short stories about “the little things in daily Bahraini life that nobody notices” (they will now). This will be followed by a screening of the intriguing short movie “Woken Shell”, shot in a Manama office block by Vijesh Rajan, who studied filmmaking in Australia and currently works in the advertising industry.

And hot young musician Ali Milad will round things off with a solo performance on the bass, influenced by funk, rock, indie, and post-rock music. “The bass guitar is generally used as a rhythmic rather than a lead instrument, and is viewed by some as boring,” says Ali, “but, by playing purely instrumental music, I aim to show people that it’s an important and interesting instrument in its own right.” Come along and see if you agree.

Elham’s second season saw attendance at monthly sessions swell, and culminated in the group’s first F1 arts party, Live Art ’08, at the Palace Bahrain Hotel, which was a resounding success. This season, the group will continue to showcase exciting new talent at Albareh Gallery, now Elham’s official gallery partner, and at several alternative venues such as Cocoon Lounge in October. The group also has plans to shake things up with a few satellite events, including its first fringe arts festival early next year, for which it is currently seeking sponsorship.

“Over the past two years, Elham has been a real passion for the team and it’s been a privilege to share it with so many,” says founding member Ali Al Saeed. “There’s so much talent and creativity in Bahrain and we’re extremely excited about our third season, when we plan to further expand our scope by introducing some new creative concepts to the mix. We believe in the power of art and literature and hope that even more people will participate this season; we also hope to gain the support of commercial entities to help us grow and bring some of our bigger ideas to fruition.” Elham (Arabic for ‘muse’) is open to anyone with a creative cell in their being.

Elham’s upcoming session takes place at 8.30pm at Albareh Gallery in Adliya; the gallery café will be open from 6pm for Iftar (see www.albareh.com for a map). For more information or to be added to Elham’s mailing list, visit, www.elhambahrain.net, email: elhambahrain@yahoo.com or call Arthur on 3962 3381.

Attachments: included are portraits of the musician Ali Milad and writer Yacoub Salman Al-Slaise, as well as images created by digital artist Fawaz Alailowat whose work can be viewed at www.fawazalolaiwat.com. For more information or to arrange an interview with any of the artists, please contact Melissa van Maasdyk on 392 39308 or Ali Al Saeed on 366 96536.