LEBANON: Kuwaiti painter Tamara Samarraei holds exhibition in Beirut

At one of Beirut's old colonial houses, now a modern art gallery known as the "Zawiya", a Kuwaiti painter on Saturday (January 13) held an exhibition of her extraordinary paintings which the artist believes evoke memories of her early feminine experiences. Tamara Samarraei, who holds a Kuwaiti nationality, but whose father is Iraqi and mother is Lebanese, chose Beirut as the city to present her first exhibition in more than a year. Samarraei says that the work she has presented in Beirut is based on her childhood and was inspired by her family photo albums. "This work, or these paintings are related to my memories and my childhood. Most of the paintings are taken from the family photo albums that my parents collected and my grandmother and too," said Samarraei. "This work is very personal," she added. Samarraei painter left Kuwait in 1995 and headed to Lebanon to study art in the Lebanese-American University and stayed in Beirut because of her love to this city. Despite her long stay in Beirut, Samarraei fresh approach to painting reflects her attachment to her family and the country in which she grew up. "I Have never tried to work in Kuwait but my work is linked to memories in Kuwait because I was raised there, I lived there and I am from there. All the paintings you see are inspired by my experience there," she said. The exhibition attracted many visitors who seemed to be impressed with Samarrei's subject matter and style of painting. "(The exhibition reflects) women's childhood in all its aspects. It reflects its playfulness and its seriousness," said Marwan Taher, who visited the exhibition with friends. "It is a personal and distinguished experience. She (Tamara Samarraei) is not trying to imitate anybody, and she is not trying to be impressed by any external influences," added Lebanese painter, Najah Taher. Samarraei will have her debut Kuwaiti exhibition in February.

ITN Source | January 14, 2007

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