BAHRAINI AUTHOR TAKES HIS STORIES TO AUSTRALIA
PRESS RELASE
A Bahrain-myth inspired story will “touch” the art community all the way down under, in Australia, during a special art festival. Award-winning author Ali Al Saeed will be taking part in the Arc 2009 Biennial of Art in Brisbane between September 4th to 27th.
An art installation based on the short story written by Al Saeed will be created by the author in collaboration with Irish artist Keith Winter. The installation will expand on the concept of the story, which was published in a 6-part series in the monthly FACT magazine, illustrated by Bahraini digital artists Fawaz AlOlaiwat.
The “Red Hand” tells the story of a mysterious supernatural phenomena that spreads in an primary school for boys in the mid 80s and leaves a trail of troubled victims behind.
“It was something that I remember from my school days as a youngster and as with things like that, they tend to stay in your mind as a kid,” explains the author, “In the story, I wanted to discover the mystery and delve into my own interpretation with it, while attempting to delver an important message,”
The art installation in Brisbane will be an interactive piece that will pull people to be involved with it, painting their hands in red, splattering their hand prints on the walls, and even writing their own “Red Hand” story.
“Keith and I developed an interesting concept that will see the story expand to reach further grounds. I’ve always felt that the idea behind the story had the potential to become phenomena. I hope we will be able to achieve that in Brisbane and then take it across the world!”
Artist Winter has also introduced an element from his own culture, The Red Hand of Ulster, to the piece and draw comparisons between the two myths.
Al Saeed will also be involved in readings and talks during his trip to Brisbane, which is sponsored by House of Travel, and will be attending the Brisbane Writers Festival (from September 9 to 13) and the opening of the Brisbane Festival, one of Australia’s leading international arts festivals, on September 12.
Tell us what you're thinking! >>