ShareBy Ghadeer Ghloum
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti and Australian street photographers came together to celebrate their works at an exhibition titled 'the Speculative Horizons' organized by the Australian Embassy in collaboration with Polestar and Contemporary Art Platform (CAP). The exhibition was inaugurated on Wednesday displaying works of cross-cultural street photography. The exhibition will last for two weeks until Feb 22. With great enthusiasm and joy, Kuwaiti and Australian artists joined hands to display their works and share their talents and experiences in photography.
At the opening of the exhibition, Gallery Coordinator Lillian Mascarenhas said that this exhibition is the outcome of a collaboration between Australian and Kuwait-based street photographers where the artists share their ideas and techniques in photography. They will also conduct symposium in the presence of the Australian photographer Dr Kristian Haggblom, Dr Saad Al-Sharrah and many others on Saturday (Feb 11) where lectures, talks and workshops. There will also be a photo walk in Friday Market which will be held in order to learn more about photography.
Highlighting the purpose of the 'Speculative Horizons' exhibition, higher education course director, Dr Kristian Haggblom told Kuwait Times: "The exhibition is an exchange program initiative and we hope that this will help us in the future in moving forward to creating a dialogue between Kuwait and Australia through photography."
In approval and encouragement of this event, the Australian Ambassador Melissa Kelly expressed her pride and satisfaction about the collaboration between Australian and Kuwaiti street photographers. She told Kuwait Times: "It is wonderful to see creatives from both Australia and Kuwait come together in a beautifully coherent exhibition that explores people and place, and multiculturalism and identity." She also said that the 'Speculative Horizons' exhibition is a statement of the talented creatives across both countries and underscores the importance of connection and exchange between the thriving arts communities across continents.
Australian Embassy, Polestar and Contemporary Art Platform are the sponsors of 'the Speculative Horizons' exhibition.Both Australian and Kuwait are largely urbanized societies with multicultural communities. She praised and congratulated both of Dr Saad Al-Sharrah and Dr Kristian Haggblom for making the exhibition a success. She also congratulated all the photographers who are part of 'Speculative Horizons'. To further show her support to the exhibition, she said that the Australian Embassy is very proud to be able to play a role in supporting this initiative and that it is hoping for many more such programs between Kuwait and Australia.
Madeline Sherburn, content and social media manager of 'Speculative Horizons' project.The exhibition created a link between Australians and Kuwaitis as it introduced two cultures to each other through photography. Australian Artist Madeleine Sherburn, who is also the content and social media manager for this project told Kuwait Times, "With this exhibition, I have got to know more of the community here in Kuwait and getting to really see what is involved in their project and what photography can be like across the two countries." Holding this exhibition gave Sherburn and other Australians an opportunity to learn more about Kuwaiti culture and vice versa.
Additionally, Kuwaiti Artist Eman Al-Shawaf shared her thoughts about the importance of the exhibition. She told Kuwait Times, "This exhibition is important because there haven't been enough local exhibitions that speak about photography. Photography has always been in the culture but to look at it as an art is something new and much-needed. So, creatives are craving for exhibitions that happen around this topic." Al-Shawaf also added that 'Speculative Horizons' offered a wonderful opportunity for her and other artists to exhibit. "It was an open call that offers everybody a chance to participate."
