MOHAMED KHOULAIDI

DOHA EXCLUSIVE paintings of Qatari artist Faraj Daham were on display as part of an exhibition titled ‘street language’ at Katara on Thursday.

The main objective of the exhibition, according to Daham, is to spread the message of painting to the ‘people on the streets’.

“I decided to start highlighting this subject in 2006. It is necessary for intelligent people to understand artworks of painters and their interpretation of daily life in the streets, and transform it into painting. I tried to study this issue at various levels — artistically, theoretically, observing it on the ground, and then collecting ideas and opinions. The paintings at the exhibition showcase ‘a point of contact’ with the people,” Daham said.

The painter also conducted a group discussion session where he spoke about his “journey into the world of painting”.

“I tried to highlight the visual effects and introduce a dialogue between a painter and an onlooker through my work.

It is not easy. It actually requires a twoway understanding for a painter to work towards his own agenda and simultaneously keep the interests of the people in mind,” Daham added.

Talking about the interactive ‘point of contact’ sessions, Daham said, “The ‘point of contact’ sessions will continue throughout the exhibition. These sessions will be interactive in nature. There will be group communication and an attempt will be made to connect with art experts and the fans.” Furthermore, there is a need to promote the country’s vision of highlighting local art and culture to the outside world, he said. “There will be group discussions during the sessions. We will also study the different concepts of art and highlight the significance of team work and artistic patterns — local and global,” Daham said.

“Some of the paintings also speak about traffic safety panels which you often see on the roads. It is essential for the drivers to follow such panels while driving. I wanted to focus my artworks on traffic safety measures which gel well with the main theme of the exhibition, ‘street language’,” the Qatari artist concluded.