By Faten Omar

Den Gallery celebrated International Women's Day by organizing a live painting and music event titled 'The Sound of Life'.  "The idea of Sound of Life is to do a live painting with live music playing, where my painting is to explain this music," Iranian artist Reza Doust told Kuwait Times. He explained that on International Women's Day, he wanted to talk about young Iranian women who are fighting for their rights. "I drew an innocent girl standing without showing her face with a dark background to express the black history of Iran, but the girl is full of bright colors because she wants to be free and seen," he said.

The final painting

Doust pointed out this is his first time painting live in front of a big crowd. "The live music was very touching; I could not stop crying while painting. It was a great experience. The main goal is to show support for these young girls. They just want to live like any other girl in the world; they do not have special demands or a desire to fight," he said.

Doust revealed he got an offer to do larger painting at Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre in the next season. "I will also exhibit my artworks in the Netherlands in May and do a similar live demonstration. And in September, I will have a show with CAP gallery in Kuwait," he revealed. He called on people to be open to art and expose themselves to foreign artists. "I would love to see more people show interest in such events, where this is a good opportunity for people in Kuwait to meet artists from other countries to learn more about the different ways they see the world."

Iranian artist Reza Doust with his painting

Iranian musician Arshan Rahimi performed live music during the event, expressing his happiness to see Kuwait care about art and artists. "Art is the last lifeline for humans," he affirmed. "Art is a common universal language between peoples. We can communicate our feelings to each other through art. I am proud to present my work of art with one of the most famous artists, Reza Doust, in my second homeland Kuwait," he said.

"We presented a mix of visual and auditory arts for an hour that was full of emotions on the occasion of International Women's Day at Den Gallery, where a beautiful audience attended to celebrate women. The success of this event exceeded our expectations, and we are proud to present this work to every woman, as she is the foundation of society. Thank you to all art lovers who attended and the Den Gallery family," Rahimi said.