Manahi Marzooq just left my office, he was advised that as my brother Hani (a digital effects compositor, flame artist with credits that includes Gladiator, Merlin, Black Hawk Down, Harry Potter and variouis spots) he might have some friends in high places that would consider publishing his art and wanted me to send some of his work to Hani to take around London or New York. I know that Hani is pretty busy and most probably doesn’t have contacts within the publishing industry – Hani if you do, let me know now!
Like almost any artist in Bahrain, Manahi is broken. He clearly believes in his art, but is put down by the machine. He chooses to express himself though the mundane pencil, but when you see his drawings you will undoubtedly feel that he makes his medium, the pencil, talk.
Publishing a book requires a serious investment not just for printing the work, but more importantly for marketing and distribution. There is no one that would undertake these tasks without a clear revenue stream, no one is in a position to take a risk on any kind of art, which is a shame, because for its population Bahrain probably boasts the most artists per capita than any other country in the Middle East.
There is no support for artists in Bahrain. About the only venue they can turn to is the Ministry of Information. But, the Ministry is more interested in penalizing any form of expression rather than promoting it, so it is left to the artists to fend for themselves. If they are good “ass kissers” by painting royalty then they will be published, if they’re just doing it for the love of art and to express themselves then no matter how good they are, they’ll probably join the multitudes of broke and unappreciated artists.
click for larger view
One of Manahi’s friends created a simple website to show off his work, have a look at it here. It’s not the Louvre, but it’s a good start.
I asked Manahi if he would like to sell some of his originals but he said that he regards each one of his creations as his child, “how can a father sell his own flesh and blood?” He’s clearly not business minded, but he wants to publish his work so that others might benefit from his experiences. He’s got an idea that art students can study his creations and discover new ways of utilising such a simple resource as a pencil to express themselves.
He printed two books entitled “The Converted” showing two collections of 200 prints each. One was printed in Syria while the other in Thailand using his own meagre funds. I look at his sketches not as “converted” but rather “mutations” as he marries various forms of life, morphing and juxtapositioning of various parts of animals and human beings.
Manahi’s imagination is clearly without bounds. I wish him luck and hope that he will find a publisher to really bring out his work to the world. The world will be a drearier place without art and artists.
Comments
Mutations
Hi Mahmood…
Manahi’s work is amazing. It’s like an organic Escher print. I’d dearly love to help but like you said I don’t have any contacts in publishing.
I’ll pass the link to Manahi’s website to people that I know in London and if anything comes of it I’ll follow it up.
See you soon (end Jan hopefully!)
PS.. Great blog! One of my daily links!
Re: Mutations
Hey welcome aboard (officially!). Yes Manahi’s sketches are really excellent and he should be exposed more. His idea is to be used as a character designer in the film industry. He left me his two books, calendars and contact sheet. If you want to have a closer look at his work, I can FedEx them to you on Thursday. No obligation of course to do anything at all with them except enjoy them.
on another subject, I’ve entered little Laura’s picture in a weekly competition, hope you don’t mind! 🙂
Are you still in New York or did you return to London?
Mutations
I’m still in New York. I leave on Friday night and I can’t wait. Being away from Laura & Gillian for 3 weeks isn’t easy.
Saying that though, for the past two weekends it was snowing like you won’t believe! A blizzard on the first weekend and gentle snow yesterday.
BTW, immigration in this country is absolutely nuts. I had to queue up for an hour and a half to get to the customs agent and I though they’ll just take a look at the visa (which took me 4 months to get), stamp my passport and then I’m through. Forget it… they took me to a special area for “registration” where I was photographed, fingerprinted and “interviewed”. That took the best part of 2 1/2 hours.
Mutations
PS… They also have to interview, fingerprint and photograph me when I leave the country AND this will happen every time I fly over.
Nuts!
Mutations
PPS…
They photocopied my credit cards to track my purchases!
Double nuts!!!
Re: Mutations
and you arrived in the States the VERY day they announced that they discontinued the special registration requirements for Bahrainis..
tripple nuts!
Just imagine if I were to visit the States again…
hmmm Muslimi – check (amber)
Arab.. check (red)
Pilot .. HOLD IT! We need an ultra special interview please sir!
quadruple nuts!
Mutations
Hi Mahmood,
Has your friend considered illustrating children’s books? New York publishers might be interested – both because of the wonderful art itself and because of its “exotic” origin. There are books that might help: “Childrens Writers & Illustrators Market” and “Artists and Graphic Designers Market,” updated each year, available through Amazon.
Laura SF (referred to your site by an LGF comment)
Re: Mutations
Thank you very much for the suggestion Laura, I’ll make sure Manahi explores the options you describe.