Sharjah: Othman Hassan
The vocabulary and landmarks of the Emirati heritage are what preoccupies the Emirati visual artist Manal Abboud Al Falasi, who tends to highlight some of the features of this heritage in her paintings, especially the natural desert plants, and to a lesser extent, places such as houses and their vocabulary of doors and windows. She tends towards the school of realism and gradual influence. From 19th-century French Impressionism, which sought a more accurate representation of color.
Manal Abboud was influenced by the style of the Emirati artist Abdul Qader Al Rais, and his school of drawing doors and windows, as Al Rais was known for his skill in drawing details with charming color transparency.
Manal Abboud confirms that the beginnings of her passion for drawing go back to her primary school days, when she used to draw paintings that were admired by the art supervisors in her school, and at the end of the drawing competitions, these paintings were chosen on the list of honor boards.
At an advanced stage, Manal worked as an art education teacher in the field of education, and here, she began another journey in the field of drawing, and she began participating in the art festivals that take place in the country, and the year 1999 witnessed her first participation in a group exhibition organized by the Ministry of Education. In cooperation with the Dubai Marketing Festival, it was held in the Burjuman Shopping Center, followed by a second participation in 2002, within an exhibition organized on the occasion of Mother’s Day in which a large number of visual artists participated, in a large tent in Dubai Creek, and then continued its participation in today’s events. The 52nd National Day of the State, in which she presented a group of paintings through which she expressed her love for the homeland and its achievements, in her own way, including its customs, traditions, and values worthy of note. Manal continues her activities, as she is scheduled to participate in an exhibition in mid-February. This February, with a group of traditional sailing ships presented with a special impressionistic touch through color gradations.
the colour blue
Speaking about color, Manal Abboud confirms that she always prefers to use the color blue in her paintings, as she says: “I adore the color blue, and I am often captivated by this romantic color, which represents the color of the sky, the sea, tranquility, freedom, and balance, and I adore to a greater extent the shades of this color than violet.” Which is a mixture of red and blue, passing through light blue, turquoise, or turquoise, and other colors that provide me with positive energy and motivate me to continue drawing until late at night.” In the midst of her talk about color, Manal Abboud recalls two important names in the Emirati plastic experience. , Hind. Najat Makki, Salma Al Marri, and Dr. Najat Makki, the artist describes her color experience as dazzling and enchanting, in which she uses radiant colors, especially in her paintings that depict women and other elements of the Emirati heritage. Manal confirmed that Najat Makki has a special color imprint and a different philosophy, and she uses color to create a unique combination. Full of the pulse of life. As for Salma Al Marri, she uses a high technique of color through which she depicts many details of people, creatures such as cats, birds, different animals, and landscapes. Manal Abboud confirms that Al Marri accompanies the viewer on an amazing color journey that mimics the vocabulary of reality in every way. It contains changes and changes, as its colors are distinguished as it is according to Dr. Najat Makki, with a power that attracted a great deal of charming expressionism.
Safaa
Manal Abboud talks about those fleeting moments that she experiences while she is practicing drawing. At first, she points out that these moments are rare, and when they surprise her, she experiences the most beautiful moments of her life. They are moments of beauty and mental serenity, as she describes them, as this serenity is reflected in the beauty of the product that she encounters. Her eyes, and this target may be the moment the sun reflects on the ground, or it may be a natural scene with many details such as desert plants, or trees, and here Al Falasi comments and says: “Trees mean to me to be rooted in the place.” Among these plants, Al Falasi mentions that she is fond of drawing Ghaf. And palm trees, and other plants spread in the Emirati environment, as the artist continues to draw these scenes and participates through them in exhibitions organized throughout the country.
Women and heritage
Heritage, as we mentioned previously, was the inspiration for the artist Manal Abboud, and here, the artist goes back to the year 1998, when she was working as a teacher in the field of education, and an exhibition was organized about Emirati women. She presented a heritage glimpse of women’s clothing through the details of the dress (the abaya and the shayla). The abaya, as Manal explains, was a traditional color of black, and is a long, elegant outfit worn by women in the Emirates. The artist presented this traditional outfit: That is, the abaya is usually made of silk fabric with black hand embroidery.
Manal Abboud also presented drawings of the traditional shayla (head covering), which was used in the 1950s, and which expresses a national identity that highlights women with their modesty and dignity. Manal indicated that she presented this style with a modern touch of designs that highlight beautiful forms of embroidery that add vitality. On dress in keeping with contemporary times, as this dress still represents an identity that must be preserved, and there is nothing wrong with providing a contemporary touch in some details such as sleeves, colors, and some small details that today’s girls prefer.
light
Artist Manal Abboud, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from the United Arab Emirates University in 1997. She has been practicing art for more than 20 years. She participated in many local and international exhibitions, including: the UAE Pavilion at the Venice Biennale – 54th session, within the training program of the Emirates Foundation 2011. She also participated in an artistic training workshop in the city of Dundee – Scotland, and participated in the Education Ambassadors Program 2019, at the University of Toronto – Canada. The artist has won many awards, including: first place in the Sultan Al Owais Award, for the most beautiful artistic painting 2020.
