مقابلة الفنان مع Yemen Observer

2011-12-27

Between surrealism and realism: Saudi Arabian artist Abdullah al-Hejje speaks .

Written By: Anahi Alviso-Marino
Article Date: Feb 28, 2009 - 6:18:10 AM

Abdullah al-Hejje graduated with a degree in Art Education, and for the past twenty years, he has been teaching art at a Middle School in Unaiza, Saudi Arabia. Painter and teacher, he has participated in several exhibitions in countries such as Slovakia, Qatar and Bahrain. Al-Hejje’s is also the current vice-president of the artistic group in Unaiza. Two of his paintings are presently being exhibited at the Bait al-Thaqafa (near Maidan Tahrir), in a group exhibition being run alongside “Saudi Cultural Days in Yemen” , running from February 24th to March 2nd.

Yemen Observer (YO): -How did you start painting?
Abdullah al-Hejje (AAH): -When I was a kid, I loved landscapes: every time I went outside my home, my town, I loved to spend time just looking at the sky, the landscape. When I was seven or ten years old, I used to like to sit near my art teacher, just to look at what he was painting. During my childhood, I remember that at school, during break time, all my friends would go to eat except for me: I did not want to go and eat, I wanted to see how and what my teacher was painting. Also during my childhood, near my house there was an artist, not a well-know artist, just a small-time artist, and with him I started to paint my first pieces. Once I finished school, I moved to Riyadh, where I studied art and how to teach art for three years. For the past twenty years, I have been teaching art to children from middle school. I love art, and it makes me very happy to see kids becoming interested in it. When i find interested students, I take them and teach them how to improve, step-by-step.

YO: -Who are the artists you looked up to while starting to paint?
AAH: -When I was a kid, I only wanted to open my eyes and see. Later on, during the first years I started teaching, a very good friend of mine –Saleh al-Nigiba- invited me to see a number of exhibitions in Riyadh, Daman…many different places, and I think this taught me a lot about art. There isn’t anyone in particular that I looked up to, and at the same time, all the artists I came to know inspired me in one way or another.

YO: -How would you define your style?
AAH: -I really like surrealism; when I see it on paintings, it makes me feel happy. In my work, sometimes, I tend to be close to realism or impressionism but I like surrealism because it enables you to express what you have in your heart, and helps you to imagine outside yourself. Your imagination is expressed outside your head. Maybe the first attempt is weak, so you try again and again. In general, I can say that I am divided between surrealism and realism.

YO: -Is there a subject that attracts you more than others?
AAH: -Sometimes there is a subject, sometimes there is not…You sit down with your paper and pencil and just start drawing. You try sketches, and then the subject comes out. In general terms, Saudi culture or Saudi heritage is always present in most of my pieces, like one of the two exhibited in Bait al-Thaqafa.

YO: -What can you tell us about that piece, which portrays a man drinking water?
It’s an old way of drinking water, when they used to use an animal’s skin to carry fresh water. Instead of putting water in the freezer, man used to put it in what we call in Arabic “girba,” which kept the water very cold.

YO: -Can you explain to us the other piece, the man tied with wires and screaming?
AAH: -It is called “Shout,” and it is interesting because some friends of mine when they saw it thought about people in Guantanamo, but it is actually not political at all. Another friend thought about the theme of the war when he saw it, but it has nothing to do with that. I started painting this because I was sitting in my house, without my wife and children, and I stayed alone around fifteen days…I wanted to talk to my wife, to my children, and the fact of being alone made me feel like I wanted to shout, to scream. Later on, I worked on some sketches for this piece and after that I started painting first the background until the rest appeared on the canvas, the head, the body.

YO: -Is there a Saudi artistic movement developing in your country?
AAH: -Yes, and it is a very strong style="color: #0F9BC1;" one. In 1990 there was the war between Kuwait and Iraq, and in my town, we made a special exhibition for Kuwait, and provided two paintings that were later exhibited in other countries.

YO: -What is the state of art in Saudi Arabia?
AAH: -It is very, very good. Saudi Arabia is a big country, and in every major city there is an artistic scene. Artists in Saudi Arabia are everywhere. Also the new generations are very promising: I have a student in my school who is a very talented artist; I have taken him to exhibitions, I exposed him to other teachers, and some people have even mistaken his paintings for those of his teachers. It is a great honor for me to see one of my students being so good at painting, and loving art so much.

YO: -What is the situation for female artists?
AAH: -There are many female painters in Saudi Arabia. For instance, in the exhibition at Bait al-Thaqafa, there are many paintings done by female artists.

negative sides of being an artist in Saudi Arabia?
AAH: -The positive side is that there are many new people, new artists, constantly bringing new works. About the negative side, I don’t know, I cannot think about anything negative. I understand the question but I don’t know what to say that could be negative. Perhaps one negative thing is that for artists coming from small towns it is hard to make their work reach big cities like Riyadh or Jeddah.

YO: -What are your future projects?
AAH: -I am now working on different things like photography and watercolors, and I am planning on putting all my works into one book.

مقابلة الفنان على القناة الثقافية

2011-02-22

قام التلفزيون السعودي ممثلاً بالقناة الثقافية باستضافة الفنان التشكيلي عبدالله الحجي وذلك في برنامج المحترف من إعداد وتقديم الإعلامي ناصر الموسى .

حيث تناولة الحلقة الحديث عن بداية الفنان في المجال الفني واستعرض المشاركات المحلية والخارجية وعرض بعض اللوحات .

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