BizBahrain_December_2016

Exclusive Feature | The Bahrain Bay Initiative
What I think it will also do is it will
not only put Bahrain Bay as a company
and a development on the Bahrain map,
I am quite sure that it will put Bahrain
Bay as a development in the region and
the world map. I expect when cruise
ships come here and visitors come here,
when they have a list of things to do in
Bahrain, this will be one of them - we
have to drive down to Bahrain Bay, have
coffee at the Four Seasons and look at El
Seed’s artwork.
It is a really brilliant concept that
you’ve created, very unusual and out of
the box. Anything new that we should
look forward to next? Anything in the
pipeline?
His strokes are amazing and how he does
it with a spray can is really very unique.
So believe it or not, I actually sent an
email to him on his website, introducing
myself and what I intended to do. I
described where Bahrain Bay was. El
Seed had never been to Bahrain. He’s
been all around the Middle East but had
never been to Bahrain. So he called me
2 days later when he was in Dubai and I
said, “It’s just a short flight, please come
over. Have a look at the project, have a
look at Bahrain and see and decide for
yourself.
So a week later, he was here with
Ouahid his manager. He came for a drive,
he saw it and at the end of it, he told me
that he wants to do it and the rest, as
they say, is history. He’s here now doing
an absolutely phenomenal job. I can’t
wait for him to finish to see what the end
result will be.
What is the message you want to convey
through this?
Our message to not only just Bahrain,
but to the region, is that art just like
music is an international language.
Everyone appreciates art and when you
have large- scale developments, with
large- scale areas, we are developing a
public realm. We just had the Sea festival,
where we had 18,000 people. Next we
will be inviting people for National Day.
I think such locations should include art
as an element. It expresses the inner side
of human beings, it expresses the culture
of a place and I think there is no better
medium than music and art to portray
that. So our message is I would encourage
people to promote art, music and culture
as much as possible. This whole region
has a very rich culture within itself.
Has this created a buzz already? What
has been the reaction, and what do you
anticipate?
The buzz is quite amazing. It’s like a
snowball that is gathering mass. Daily I
hear a few thousand people clicking on
Instagram and Twitter responding and
engaging with us and El Seed. We have
had school children come, we have had
local artists come. A few days ago, two
Bahraini and Kuwaiti break-dancers
came down just to meet El Seed. They
wanted to dance in front of his artwork
and they took a video which was put up
on Instagram. So it’s bringing out very
interesting emotions and very interesting
reactions in people. He posted a simple
message yesterday with a photo of one of
his half finished work saying “Anybody
wants to come stop by and bring me
karak?” Lo and behold, he had 10 litres
of karak yesterday! People bring him
sweets, and stop by just wanting to say
hello to him and watch his work.
That tells you how much depth there
is in his work and how much love people
have for it.. The reaction has been very
positive and we are every happy with
that.
Very much so. If all goes well, and
things work out the way we are planning
it to be, we will be opening our public
realm, and promenade for National Day
this year. We are expecting about 20,000
people to come to Bahrain Bay. We will
be opening up the promenade which
will be a 1.5 kilometre walk with kiosks
and food and beverage served. We are
working very aggressively towards this
goal. If not all of the promenade, at least
half of the promenade will definitely be
open. And what that will do is when the
weather is nice in Bahrain for the next
3-4 months, families in Bahrain will
have a new place to visit and take a walk,
fly a kite, get a coffee, eat something, and
just enjoy the outdoors.
Is there anything more you would like
to add for our readers? Any special
message?
I am very grateful to all the audience
and all of Bahrain to be supporting
this. Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed
Al-Khalifa, of the Cultural Authority,
Shaikh Nawaf bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa,
Electricity and Water Authority (EWA)
Chief Executive and, Sheikh Rashid bin
Khalifa Al-Khalifa, honorary President
of the Bahrain Arts Society have all been
very supportive in helping us put this
initiative together. Special thanks also
to my Chairman Atif Abdul Malik, and
all of the Board of Bahrain Bay for being
supportive of helping us as a company
promote such amazing initiatives.
18 December 2016