Hassan Shameem, Oil on Canvas, 25 x 40cm approx.(early ‘90s)
It is wonderful that I am able to feature this image here. It is a work of Hassan dating back from the ‘90s – possible early ‘90s – which I first saw many years ago. I came across it again in late 2007 during a visit to Hassan in Male and photographed it with some other works from the same period (‘90s).
Hassan Shameem, Collage, 25 x 40cm approx. (1980s)
This is a collage portrait Hassan made with pieces from images of human skin. The portrait is of an illustration on the cover of a ‘How to Draw’ book then available in Male. Apparently the portrait won an award at a national exhibition, but then Hassan had trouble with his school (Majeedhiya) because he took part in a competition that was not for students.
Hassan Shameem, design for screen print, 1990s
This is a design which was much printed on t-shirts and as a set of limited prints when Hassan had an outlet where he screen-printed t-shirts. Produced under the label of ‘Pink Coral’ the studio printed several series of designs inspired by local motifs and subjects (as the one seen here).
Details of this image of a work completed by Sarudhaaru Donbe at least two decades ago have not been clarified yet. But it is a fascinating and surrealistic rendering of the charged atmosphere when a traditional fishing dhoni comes across a school of tuna and the entire crew becomes completely engaged in catching the fish. The scenery is also rich in its narrative power, with the complete sequence of birds who indicate to the fishermen the direction to pursue from a distance. Once the dhoni has arrived at where the tuna are, bait is thrown to further lure the tuna to stay put near the dhoni. But in an interesting distortion of perspective, the birds and the tuna and bait are right in the foreground of the picture and is proportionately much large than the dhoni shown in the distance.
More works have been brought to the National Art Gallery as part of consolidating the collection of his works. All were made in the last few years, with most of it produced in the last year. We have also managed to collect some rare photographs of his early works, dates in which they were produced even Donbe cannot recall exactly. But I plan to sit with him sometime with thumbnails of all his works so far collected. The text which we had commissioned for the catalog accompanying the collection has also just been revised with a new preface outlining a short biography of Donbe with references to the important developments in art history during his lifetime.
A small note at the bottom of the painting says it is the main harbor area of Male 30 years ago. Further information on this image still needs to be collected.
