Here we are friend! 2021 is clocking out as we write.
I remember a friend, a year ago booking us in for the Van Gogh exhibition as far in to 2021 as she could so "we know where we are with Covid" and yet we were wearing masks, trepid with fear of new Omicron mutation, none the wiser about the future.
We have lost much and we have gained much. I mean, we are having to be more aware acutely of what's going on and what's happening to our beautiful world. Remote knowledge gives us a step back to choose what we wish to hear, see and experience. We can't undo many things but through art we can heal and send powerful messages out there. This is the year art went online big time and you could visit virtually any gallery virtually! Traditional Ateliers, me myself and I along with my beautiful cohort of students have also been on a journey. I am very happy to announce the new list of courses for the first quarter of 2022. As always these will be live sessions and available to access later. We have three courses planned in line with what I hear students saying they would like more of:
Whilst these are online classes, I am please to announce there will be some face to face classes in the 2022 January Newsletter. Now, 2021 has been a year of giving. At Traditional Ateliers, I have been thankful for the setting up of my studio space at home. I've also been thankful for the 4 major projects/commissions. I was invited by Turquoise Mountain Trust to design a manual of Afghan motifs, in particular Timurid style, to identify patterns specific to Herat and put Afghanistan back on the map for its illustrious heritage in carpet design. The work involves mobilising 6000 carpet weavers, mainly women, working with designers like Sebastian Conran. As you can imagine, we await with nervous anticipation to see the fruition of our works with in the coming months. The book I wrote will be a standard for Afghan artisans to own their ornamental heritage.
From the desk in my North London studio to Bamiyan, Jeddah and India, feels quite surreal. I was also involved in designs for Leighton House Museum in London, for a new range of furniture based on their artefacts.
As a designer, specialising in Islamic Art, the final quarter of 2021 greeted me with an invitation of the highest accolade to date; to analyse the patterns from the Prophet's Mosque in Medina and see the creative expression of my designs through plaster carvers, wood and stone carvers in the international mosque conference in Saudi Arabia, hosted by Aramco and ITHRA. The images below are samples of designs from the Hijrah exhibition, a unique exhibition about the sustainability of crafts and design in Mosques around the world. Finally, and equally humbling is the consistent love shown by committed clients for private commissions, an icon, a painting and of course the launch of my new website. I look forward to continue to serve you, my friends with more enriching and fulfilling art. Sharing my good news feels like sharing good energy to all my readers.
May 2022 be auspicious and abundant for us all. Here is to our health, happiness and peace.
