a visual journal of maldives

Recently I was in New Delhi with a Maldivian art exhibition which featured the work of 6 Maldivian artists. Two of the artists whose work was represented in the exhibition, Afzal Shafiu (Afu) and Fathmath Zuhura (Dhury) were also with me. While there we also tried to explore the fine art scene in Delhi. We visited some artists’ studios and galleries. The occasion also gave me an opportunity to pursue some thoughts I have had for some time; on making art, what it is for, what it does, etc.

Dhury at the Lalit Kala Studios, Gadi, New Delhi, with the work of an artist which we thought had similarities in style to some work Dhury had done earlier (Bandiya Dance series, etc.), 2007


When I began making art – which was primarily drawing and painting - I was very conscious of not belonging to a tradition that I could claim to belong to the community of which I was part of. Unlike in European countries or even other parts of the world, in the Maldives where I grew up and where I have mostly lived, we do not have a tradition of painting or fine art in the sense that it is understood in the west. We do have very old craft traditions, a lot of it now not practiced in its original context such as wood and stone carving. Two of the craft practices that has survived to recent times and which it seems like will survive into the future are lacquer working and Thundukunaa Viyun or mat weaving from a variety of grass found in the southern atolls of Gaaf Alif and Gaaf Dhaal. But lacquer work is also practiced in Sri Lanka, India, China and Indonesia. So I doubt if this could be claimed as a distinctly Maldivian practice.

With a sculptor at the Lalit Kala Studios, 2007


Having undergone an art education in the west, I have been increasingly getting conscious of the differences as well as the similarities in which the arts are approached in the west and east. However they seem to manifest in the social and public sphere in quite different ways. For instance, in India so much of what can be defined in the ‘western’ sense as art (in a purely secular sense) is actually embedded in everyday routine and ritual, in both religious and worldly contexts.

Opposite Khoj Studios. New Delhi, 2007


Dhury with Chitra Ragulan, Founder, Gallery Pallazzo, Chennai. Chitra has worked with the National Art Gallery, Maldives to bring an exhibition of contemporary South Indian painters to Male in 2006.

Maldivian identity is closely related to that of the Indian. However, it is more like a single strand of multiple strands that makes the India of the one billion people and the thousands of years of history and culture, which is organic and seems to be changing all the time; in its texture, its intensity, its levels of coherence, etc. (to be continued…)

Maldivian artist Mariyam Naeema Omar has completed a residency in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The residency was organized by Theertha International Artists’ Collective as part of their regular, annual international art exchange program. Artists were invited from Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan and Hong Kong to travel to and reside in Colombo for a period of one month in shared accommodation/studio space and produced work for a group exhibition at the end of the residency. The exhibition was held at the Red Dot Gallery from 19 – 28 August 2007.

This is the second year in which a Maldivian artist has participated in the program. The objective of the international residencies is to provide a creative environment to stimulate artistic practice by bringing artists from diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds together to experiment, participate in dialogue and exchange artistic knowledge and experiences. The international residencies are also part of a series of activities undertaken by Theertha to strengthen the artists’ network it has established in the South Asia region in collaboration with Khoj (India), VASL (Pakistan), Britto (Bangladesh), Sutra (Nepal), and the Triangle Arts Trust (UK).