Fantasia: Solo Exhibition by Asma Bahmim

Cover image Asma Bahmim, Peace in Quiet, 2022. Natural indigo rose pigments, watercolor and lipstick pencil on Indian mulberry paper, 100 x 65 cm.

Asma Bahmim (b. 1979, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where she resides and works) is a researcher in the field of Philosophy of Children’s Art and Geospatial Art and a faculty member in the Fine Arts Department at the King Abdulaziz University, from which she has received her undergraduates and graduates degrees from. Bahmim graduated with a Bachelor degree of Art Education from the College of Art Education in 2000, a Master’s degree in drawing and painting from the Department of Islamic Arts, King Abdulaziz University in 2008 and PhD in Painting and Arts from the University of Jeddah in 2018.

Bahmim endeavors to revive the art of miniature paintings, preserving its technique and aesthetical allure. The depicted figures and multi-layered complex scenes not only raise questions on the notions expressed, but about the nature of art and the perception of its former understanding and practice. Her work explores underlying themes that construct visual narratives of our contemporary lives. Inspired by Islamic miniatures, the artist was keen to explore current themes of today’s world byway of reimagining its content and form.

She has participated in various local, regional and international group exhibitions including, Amakin, Ithra, Saudi Arabia [2022], Amakin, 21,39 Jeddah Arts, Saudi Arabia [2022],The Secrets of Alidades, 8th edition of 21,39 Jeddah Arts, Saudi Arabia [2021], solo exhibition at the Islamic Arts Festival 21st exhibition, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates [2018], Bisat Al Reeh, Riyadh [2017], Abu Dhabi Art, United Arab Emirates [2017], Dreams and Memories, Athr Gallery, Saudi Arabia [2016], 9th Cairo Biennale, Cairo [2013], and various exhibitions presented at the King Abdulaziz University art space.

Yassmeen Tukan is a cultural advisor, curator and an independent researcher. Previously, Tukan was senior project coordinator and a curatorial assistant at the Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF), where she served in various capacities focusing mainly on organizing, managing and producing the Sharjah Biennale and other programmes between 2011 – 2017. In 2009, Tukan obtained her bachelor’s degree in Traditional Islamic Arts and Architecture from The World Islamic Sciences and Education (WISE) in Amman, Jordan, and a Master’s degree in History of Art and Curating from the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon in 2020.

Her latest curatorial project titled Jam’iyyat al-Fann (The Arab Artists’ Group): A critical cartography of the Art scene in Jordan from the 1970-1980 through the archive– where she provided a historical survey and critical cartography of the emergence of art institutions in Jordan. In which she emphasized on the role of Jam’iyyat al-Fann (The Arab Artists’ Group) and its impact on or relation to the art scene in Jordan through the notion of the “archive”’ between the 1970 - 1980. As part of her research, Tukan was able to collect rare archival documents that unfold narratives about the history of The Arab Artists’ Group.

“Fantasia: A World Between Reality and Imagination” is an exhibition that features dialogues between animals, whether they are lions or birds. All of these fables carry moral messages that we lack today. Bahmim created fictional animals for contemporary topics; we see the fox with a wing of gold, the turtle with a shell packed with precious stones, and the king of elephants debating the rabbit Firouz by the Moon pond. The artist sought to provide moral wisdom gained from stories passed down from one generation to the other through books and folktales about mythical creatures found in popular culture and human heritage. The tiger protects the cornfields, while the sharp-sighted and quick-witted peregrine falcon, also known as “Al-Shaheen”, guards the horizon. These events take place outside the ordinary, in a fictional world full of wisdom, sermons, and imaginary creatures that depend on miniatures.

Solo Show - Asma Bahmim

Essay and curation by Yassmeen Tukan

“Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.”

— Gibran Kahlil Gibran

Being inspired by the fantastical questions related to the life and behavior of the animal that coexists with us, Asma Bahmim drew her work around this. Bahmim’s inspiration stems from mythical animals that have typically appeared as heroes of folktales or as depictions in Islamic art. These fables usually ended with wisdom narrated by the animals, teaching us things that humans were unable to understand

as if these carried messages full of wisdom which does not depict a lived reality. Through an unfamiliar fantastic vision and creative contemporary processing of the mundane, the exhibition attempts to present another reality of life. Fantasy is a fictional genre in which the supernatural is a key element. In light of this, the inspiration originating from myths and folktales remains a concept.

Within this form, fiction and its elements can be identified, hidden, or can seep into the framework of our real world. These characters can be drawn and exist in their fictional universe by using elements of imagination, in which they can become part of the world as a whole.

Asma Bahmim. Meshaab the Cheetah, 2022. Gouache, Arabic ink on cardboard, hand drawing and lithograph 28 x 21 cm.

A mythical animal that lives in a fantasy full of wisdom. A show of mythical animals inspired by the tales of Kalīla wa-Dimna. It introduces a world that lies between reality and imagination based on fantasies created by Asma Bahmim. We can see the king of elephants, ‘Dollar’, debating who owns the moon pond with the rabbit, ‘Firouz’, and the hoopoe carrying what appears to be a page of Eli Magazine. The exhibition focuses on more than 30 dialogues between two animal characters who discuss an encounter, such as a tiger with a horse’s body, a fox who turned into a dragon after becoming angry, and a child with a bird’s body. It is the embodiment of these characters in the world of fantasy and wisdom.

Through this exhibition, Bahmim seeks to revive book art by showcasing the process of weaving, papermaking, and presenting book art miniatures and decorations’ design while preserving its technicality and aesthetics. Simultaneously, the artist explores the current issues and notions of the contemporary world, through the use of mythical creatures at times and realism at others, to narrate moral stories told by animals and birds. The fables continue to include several intertwined stories as they attempt to go full circle, with each story leading to the next. This creates a world full of wisdom and experiences that the viewer can capture and use, providing a new reading distinguished by its style and conceptual depth.

Asma Bahmim, Cooperation 2, 2022. Gouache, pigment and 22k gold leaf on recycled paper, 18 x 12 cm.

Within this artistic form, the narration of these fables by animals is a method by which one might acquire moral and cultural wisdom, while it tends towards symbolism in the meaning behind the characters and the events they embody, particularly debate. In reading the miniatures, the witness traces the image of the actual characters, that might be told by both animals and humans. The exhibition seeks to ponder and reflect on two axes; what kind of

dialogue can occur within the animal world, and the exploration and revealing of wisdom at the end of each story.

In artistic practice, two states of consciousness and subconsciousness intersect within the artist, resulting in a semi-unconscious state discovered only by those who have talent and imagination, similar to the ability to fly in a vast infinite horizon. This state is not deliberate or self-controlled, rather, it emerges

Asma Bahmim, Reflection, 2022. Gouache, pigment and 22k gold leaf on recycled paper, 30 x 22 cm.

from the artist’s emotional sincerity. Therefore, imagination is perceived as the unfamiliar, which may be met with rejection at first, but eventually, people adapt to it, and it becomes part of their heritage. Hence, we often indulge in fantasy, to live reality and symbolize it. Mythical creatures have been present in the depths of human existence in the arts of all countries throughout the ages and are not

subject to specific rules for their creation in popular culture. The medieval style dominates the literary genre of fantasy; where the imagination does not exist within reality, but rather constructs its own by generating new innovative images. If we only relied on the world of reality, our lives would be devoid of imagination, perception, or improvement.

Asma Bahmim, Straightening, 2022. Gouache and 22K gold leaf on recycled paper, 18 x14 cm.

Asma Bahmim, Absolete Measures, 2022. Arabic ink and digital printing on recycled handmade paper from palm waste, 28 x 21 cm.

Asma Bahmim, I Don’t See Well, 2022. Watercolors, pencil, 22k gilded reed threads, watercolor gold, and Arabic gum, 100 x 65 cm.

Asma Bahmim, Moon Pond, 2022. Arabic ink and digital printing on recycled handmade paper from palm waste, 30 x 40 cm.

Asma Bahmim, Trust and Creavity, 2022. Gouache, pencil and reed threads on recycled paper, 27 x 17 cm.

Asma Bahmim, Lunar, 2022. Gouache, pigment and 22k gold leaf on recycled paper, 26 x 18 cm.

“It is said that there is no permanency or stability in certain things: in the shadow of a cloud, the friendship of the ignoble, the love of women, false praise, and great wealth”

— Kalila wa-Dimna