Art Portfolio - March 2013

Tamadher ali

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Contemplating people surrounding me and the life I am living, I ask questions of cultural conflicts and religious mis-conceptions. These questions are morphing into different forms and transmitting into different mediums every time. From art installation and live performance to designed objects my concepts are sometimes ironic, other times are serious, or can be simply humorous. My questions may not have black and white answers, but they are certainly shaping my world.

Abo

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Biography

Although she is coming from an interior design background, Tamadher contributed in several art workshops, and she was a member of the Bahraini team in Venice Architectural Biennale (2010). In her MA thesis, Tamadher investigated the idea of creating a new image to Islamic art and design based on philosophical references and by going back to the profound principles of faith.

Tamadher is currently working as a Teaching & Graduate Assistant in Interior Design Program in University of Bahrain. She has exhibited her work few times in Alriwaq Art Space between 2010 and 2012. Also, she is working on establishing a local brand that would reflect the identity and culture in a modern - and perhaps sometimes ironic- context.

Current Pro

jects

Project: Ulafa’a Reconciliation Art ProjectYear: October 2012 - Ongoing

Ulafa’a is an Arabic term (plural) that describes a group of people who are familiar with each other and possibly share common feelings

Ulafa’a is an art project that aims to create opportunities for people to express themselves and to strengthen relationships of respect and understanding among the different communities of Bahrain. The project is based on the belief that people can express themselves through a variety of artistic forms, and that these expressions can facilitate communication and the sharing of stories.

Publications

Project: Diary of A Mad Arabian Woman Self-Published Work Based on Al-Zine Workshop Year: September 2012 - Ongoing

A zine (small circulation, non commercial publication) that talks about the contradictions and uprising arguments in the middle east in the eyes of a young lady. The publication tip-toes on several topics between culture and religion in a funny- sarcastic way, expressing a person who is struggling to define the line between what’s right and wrong.

Public Art

Project: T.V NostalgiaStreet Art (Paste) Year: August 2012

The work resembles a shot from a classic Gulf T.V show “Rgayya o Sabeecha”. The show among many others has been drawn in everyone’s memory in the region, the perforemance and the content are one of the great factors that we lack nowadays. A location was found that goes perfectly with the subject - where a building has just been knocked down and only traces of some walls left there

Project: Alwan338 - “Al-Sha’b Yureed” “People Demand”Subject: Mixed media - Live PerforemanceYear: March 2012

Living in a time when words like “religion” and “human rights” are being abused; politics became the main theme subject for the young and the old... “al-sha’b yoreed” or “people demand” has been extremely popular until it reached a point where it became an expression for the individual rights rather than group rights... The piece demonstrates this conflict between “I” and “the people” and how “alsha’b yoreed” has been abused to represent rather individual demands for the price of the others’.

Public Art

Project: Manamatna - December 2011Subject: “We have different Flavours” - Art InstallationYear: August 2010

Manama is a city of craftsmanship merchandise, food, spices... A promenade for the young, and the old... A home for the Bahraini, and the tourist... In the heart of Manama you will find the mosque, the church, and the temple all weaved together in a wider web that shelter people from all walks of life.

The concept behind the installation piece is to represent the colorful communities in Manama with different colors like the one we see in the spice market. Since language is a prime indicator of one’s culture, in this piece it is represented through letters as a metaphor for the Arabian, English, Persian and Urdu communities of Manama.

Public Art

Project: Bahrain International Participation in Venice Biennale of Architecture (TEAM WORK)Subject: ReclaimYear: August 2010

“The Kingdom of Bahrain’s first National participation at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition- La Biennale diVenezia, is an investigation in the decline of sea culture in the Island. Three fishermen’s huts disrupted from their original sites in Bahrain, form the focal point of the exhibition. The awkwardness of their situation, disconnected from their coastal scenery, speaks of the discomfort of our current relation with the sea.”

Co

llectives

Project: Bahrain International Participation in Venice Biennale of Architecture (TEAM WORK)Subject: ReclaimYear: August 2010

I was a part of a research team which consisted of 6 young researchers. We were responsible for an extensive study which investigated the geographical and urban changes affecting the coastal areas of the island from the 1930s till today, as well as identifying the multiple social, political and economic factors which contributed to this evolution.The result was a publication which was distributed in the pavilion, giving the visitors a chance to go through the concept and the information behind the pavilion on their own time instead of overwhelming them with loads of infomration on site which has taken the form of an installation art.

Co

llectives

Project: MENA Lab, part of MENA Series, Dubai (TEAM WORK)Subject: Distance Between Cultures (Lab. 08) Year: February 2010

An intensive five-day interdisciplinary laboratory in a dynamic, creative, intensive and collaborative environment. The labs are run by tutors selected from different corners of the World. Labs address various topics of design ranging from art, architecture, documentaries, fashion, film, photography, storytelling, technology, urbanism, and visual communication. The aim of these labs is to help to address societal, cultural and economic issues in Dubai; ultimately working towards an understanding and diverse interpretation of this years topic “Designing Change”

Interventions

Project: MENA Lab, part of MENA Series, Dubai (TEAM WORK)Subject: Distance Between Cultures (Lab. 07) Year: February 2010

Working under the supervision of two art directors; Eric Baker and Tyler Blik, Lab 07 was about investigating the diversity of society in Dubai and how can we reach a conclusion that can be reflected an art installation. After 3 intensive days of interviewing people in the market and other public area, taking photographs and signatures, we realized that distance between cultures does not necessarily come between countries, but also between people.

What we have found out that the category of people who are not originally from Dubai and are commonly called Bidoun “means without” have a strong sense of belonging. Therefore we thought to shed light on this category and present faces that you see every day but never knowing what their story is.

Given the fact that the labs were located in Bastakiya, a historical location of renovated houses in Dubai, we thought of preparing an installation art that can blend with the surrounding, With its authentic rough texture and the perfect day-light that filters in, a narrow dead-end corridor which is located in a turn that people rarely notice was the perfect place to represent “Forgotten People”.

Interventions

Project: Art On CancerSubject: Artistic Modifications on FurnitureYear: April 2010

A workshop under the name of “Art For Cancer”, organized by Al Riwaq Art Space, aimed to produce furniture pieces modified to reflect the subject of cancer.

As a participant for workshop, I have submitted two tables; the concept was to manipulate with words in order to give a different optimistic perspective to people who suffer from cancer. The pieces were sold in a silent auction in which the profits were donated to Bahrain Cancer Society.

Interventions

MA

Project

Project: Folded FaithSubject: MA Signature Project, BIAD - United KingdomYear: September 2011

The pavilion targets the cultural sector, specifically the creative arts…With emphasize on re-forming a cultural identity, the project aims to promote the creative talents of the Muslim World who are constantly challenging the paradigm of “Islamic Art Cliché”

Yet the common perception still needs to be reconfigured and emancipated from the glory image of the Islamic art legacy.

Brief

Tube Map

MIND-GROUNDTransport for Tamadher’s Mind

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Mobi l i ty

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Museum/ exbBehavior

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Space Syntax

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Key Reflections

Technology

PHD Opportunity

Geometry

Materials

Knowledge

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Remembrance

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Thesis

To-do List Procrastination

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Design Manifesto

Anti-thesisExtractValues

HistoricalEvidences

Common Perceptions

Ethnographia

Take picturesDay-dreaming

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Modify

MarketEditing

In-design

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SubmissionCourt

Scan-mania

Photoshop

Forever Google

Prefabricated

Architecture

Current Interpretations

2D Visuals 3D Experiments

Design Development

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Review

MA

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Education

- MA Inter ior Des ign (Dis t inct ion) f rom B irmingham Inst i tute o f Ar t & Des ign , B i rmingham Ci ty

Un ivers i ty.

Bache lor in In ter ior Des ign obta ined f rom Univers i ty o f Bahra in , 2008 wi th GBA = 3 .60 .

- Graduated wi th Honor f rom Hidd High School for Gir l s , 2004 wi th GBA = 94 .6 .

- Rec la im | I t a ly Bahra in In ternat iona l par t i c ipat ion in Ven ice Arch i tectura l B ienna le 2010A member o f the research team, s i te preparat ion , and trans la t ing ar t i c les for the pav i l ion ’s o f f i c i a l pub l i ca t ion .

-Dur ing my work in AG Inter ior Des ign Consu l tants , I have been invo lved in :

1 . Pear l ing , tes t imony o f an i s l and economy |Bahra in(A pro ject nominated for UNESCO’s Nat iona l Her i tage L i s t )Preparat ion o f an aud io-gu ide sys tem: prepar ing a conc i se s tudy about urban and arch i tectura l h i s tor y o f Muharraq

2 . Marad House & Ma j l i s | Pear l ing Pro ject in Muharraq , Bahra inConceptua l Des ign Stage : Comprehens ive s tudy about the h i s tor y o f the house and the fami ly+ Manag ing the pro ject in the sense o f coord inat ion between a l l des igners ( l andscape , arch i tecture , in ter ior)

To v iew the fu l l por t fo l io, p lease v i s i t : h t tp : / / i s suu .com/Tamadher /docs /por t fo l io_sep2012/1

Read ing | Photography | Drawing |Ca l l i graphy | Graph ic Des ign | Sketch ing I Gouache and Water Color pa int ing | Ar t Ins ta l l a t ions

Projects

Interests & Skills