When we last spoke to Jalal Luqman back in February, he was a very busy man. In his annual Art Trip, the irrepressibly enthusiastic Emirati artist and gallerist has given Abu Dhabi a creative institution, in which some of the city’s brightest talents have cut their creative teeth. Having ventured out on an eye-opening voyage beneath the Arabian seas at the start of April, we spoke to Jalal again amid preparations for the grand climax of this year’s trip – a week-long exhibition of work from his latest protégés. And though it turns out the trip was by no means plain sailing, it seems we’ve plenty to look forward to at Inspirations from the Deep.
Did everything go smoothly on the trip?
No. Haha! Nothing went smoothly. The sailboat I had booked had been taken by a big TV station which was doing research about underwater creatures, so I lost that one. One of the sponsors pulled out too, but luckily I managed to replace them. I still think we managed to pull off a successful trip. And you’re going to see the results in the exhibition, insha’allah.
Did everyone get on okay with the diving?
We didn’t do as much diving as we wanted to, it was mainly snorkelling. On the first day, the water was totally infested with jellyfish. Which was actually a good thing, because it forced people to walk around and study the island.
How do you think the standard of work compares to that of previous years?
This year I wasn’t as forgiving as I have been in the past. I was really strict with the artists, and also with the work they produced. Even with the selection process – normally I would take 15 people, but this year I only took 11. The ones who are hardcore, they stayed with it. But the ones that weren’t just cracked. After the workshops, two people didn’t make it to the final exhibition. One dropped out and the other was asked to leave. I think because my expectations have risen quite significantly the quality of work has been much better than in previous years. I expect all the work to just be phenomenal.
What sort of work can we look forward to seeing?
This year, we have two filmmakers and two musicians, which is something that hasn’t happened before. The music is going into the documentary that’s been made by the filmmakers, so it all kind of fits, it’s a recycling of creativity. It was really interesting during the workshops, because I’d be busy with one artist telling him how to work with the colours on a painting, then I’d turn around and tell the singer to sing with his eyes closed, then I turn to the filmmakers and tell them to edit this and edit that. So every session had me wearing many different hats.
Tell us about the artists themselves. Do their different backgrounds show through in their work?
No, the work is work regardless of the nationality of the artist. And that’s the nice thing. I don’t want an Emirati artist to paint within the boundaries of Emirati culture. I don’t care about your sex, age, religion or nationality, and the same thing goes for your artwork. We have Emirati artists, Filipino, Indonesian, British – it’s a real mix. I just want art to be produced by artists regardless of where they came from.
Do their creations convey any common themes and ideas?
It’s very interesting, because all have been inspired by the same thing, yet everybody made their work with their own personality in it. And it’s really interesting that everyone would see one rock and everyone would see different things. I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m really excited because the work is more interesting than I could ever have imagined.
Sounds like some really diverse work. Is it going to be difficult to set up?
Well I’m going to supervise them setting up their own exhibition. I still have some criteria that I have to maintain in the set-up, but I just want to see what they come up with on their own, with as little intervention from me as possible.
Just as long as they don’t tear down any walls…
Haha, yes! I almost did that once before myself.
Inspirations from the Deep opens on June 2 at 8pm at Ghaf Gallery, and runs until June 13. Entry is free. For more information, call 02 665 5332.
